Bitsie Tulloch – Grimm

By starrymag | March 20, 2015

Q) Can you talk about kind of that experience getting into that character and also working with any special effects? I’m not sure how much is makeup and how much is digital.

A) I just finished an interview and someone was asking how much fun was it to shoot the scene with Claire? And I said we really need to give credit where credit is due. And because it takes so much time to actually get into prosthetic makeup, we simply don’t have the time to do it. I just finished an interview and someone was asking how much fun was it to shoot the scene with Claire? And I said we really need to give credit where credit is due. And because it takes so much time to actually get into prosthetic makeup, we simply don’t have the time to do it. So what happened when we morph is that we’ll shoot the scene. And then everybody kind of has a different way that they morph. Like I have a little bit of a head toss and I hiss. I don’t know that anyone else really makes a sound. But I’ve always sort of interpreted it like snake like. And I always hiss and I kind of toss my head. But when that happens, they apply little yellow drops with latex on top of our makeup. And then they’ll remove them and we’ll continue the scene. So that’s what happens with the morphing. And then if you go onto my Instagram and my Twitter whenever I’m ADR, I kind of take pictures so that people can see what it looks like during the process of the VFX team going in and sort of painting me in as Hexenbiest. As far as psychologically, and it has been such a great storyline because there’s such a push-pull with her. Where at first she really didn’t want. She just wanted to have her normal life back. But now that she’s sort of learning how to control the Hexenbiest within she’s realizing just how powerful this makes her. And to an extent, as much as she’s been able to contribute to the Scooby squad as a veterinarian and then also as somebody sort of good with a gun. This is the first time that she has sort of supernatural powers. So it’s really the question going back and forth of do I want to be normal again and be with Nick? Or do I want to stay a Hexenbiest because this is kind of fun. And I think the Hexenbiest are pretty wicked. And so she’s definitely going to the dark side and that’s the intention. And I think that’s really where they’re going with the character at least in the immediate future and for the rest of the season.

Q) Do you want her to stay Hexenbiest just in your own opinion since you have to play it?

A) I think it’s pretty fun. I’ve had pretty crazy arcs for my character since Season 1. Season 1, she was rather passive in order to serve the story with Nick kind of hiding everything from her. And then Season 2 she was in a comma and lost her memory. And, had this love triangle with Renard. In Season 3 she finally found out and was able to kind of join the Grimm gang and that was a really fun season. But this has been, this sort of really changed everything. And I was really thrilled when I saw the first script. And we had no idea and I remember texting with the cast. And everyone was like what? This is so crazy; what an awesome idea. And yes, going forward it’s adding a new element to the series for sure.

Q) So the scene with Nick that we’re going to see in this Friday’s episode he looks almost I guess embarrassed at this point for all the things that have happened to Juliette as a result of him being a Grimm. Why do you suppose she continues to stay with him? And how do they sort of get over this latest wrinkle in their relationship?

A) Well I think the reason they’ve stayed together thus far is that there’s a lot of love there. And it’s been one of the things in both of their lives that even though it’s sort of wreaked a lot of havoc you always go back to home. And I think he represents home for her and vice versa. And they’ve so far kind of managed to get through everything together even if it’s been tough. And so the initial question like how they’re going, obviously, how are they going to handle this because this is the craziest thing obviously they’ve had to deal with. Because the Hexenbiest are basically – they’re mortal enemies of the Grimms. And they just want to kill them and vice versa which is why Juliette took so long to tell him the truth because she was terrified. Both that he would have a gut reaction and go after her and kill her. Also it’s been made apparent to her by this point that she’s incredibly powerful. More so than Adalind or Renard who are both Hexenbiest could ever dream of being. And she doesn’t know how to really control it yet.So if he started to attack her and she morphs into a Hexenbiest like could she kill him. So I think that makes sense. But really the question going forward can they live like this or not. And I think she’s kind of given up hope because she looks in the mirror and all she sees is this ugly monster. And she hasn’t really embraced it yet. So she’s like I can’t handle the way that you look at me when I look like this and this is what I am now. Because we’ve tried and Juliette tried with Henrietta and there seems to be no cure. So that’s really the question going forward. But it’s a little bit of – it’s almost becoming like a Romeo and Juliette situation. Where, yes they’re in love but they can’t really be together the way it is right now.

Q) I’m wondering if you could tell us a little bit about the collaboration with the writers. And how much they sort of have clued you in as to where this is going to go? If this is going to be a permanent thing or if it’s maybe going to resolve or change at some point either later this season or next season?

A) That’s a really great question. Sometimes we know more and we have a little bit of a heads-up. And then sometimes what I’ve found with the showrunners, Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt, is that they’re really open to ideas and stuff. And it’s very much a collaborative process. But a lot of the times stuff changes because the show moves pretty quickly. I mean the episode that’s airing tomorrow night at 8 pm we shot in January. And it’s already airing. And they go on Facebook. They go on social media. And they see the stuff that the fans really like. And they’ll give them more of that. And so the Hexenbiest has been incredibly popular among the fans. And so don’t expect that to be going anywhere anytime soon. And but no, I think sometimes they sort of like seeing the cast reaction to crazy storylines. I remember nobody knew was it Season, maybe either the beginning of Season 2 or Season 3, whenever Hank found out. We were all like wow that was early. We didn’t know he was going to find out that early that Nick was going to tell him. And then there have been a couple other storylines the thing with Adalind being pregnant. That was another one that happened honestly, part of the reason that happened is that Claire Coffee actually got pregnant. And Bree Turner was pregnant Season 2. And they shot around it. And this time they were like are we really going to shot around another pregnancy? Or is this actually kind of a blessing in disguise. And we could add a sort of new element to the show using her actual pregnancy. So sometimes stuff just pops up and they’re responding to it. But yes, the Hexenbiest thing I didn’t know about. The Season finale for this season is the biggest game changer we have ever had. I mean people will lose their minds. There’s going to be gosh, I don’t know what I can say without giving it away other than yes, we’ve never done anything this big on the show before. So that’s going to really change everything going into Season 5. And the Juliette Hexenbiest storyline has a lot to do with that. And the reality is going forward you’re going to see a lot of the push-pull with psychologically wanting this power. And I think it adds a really interesting element to the story for her to turn really, really dark.

Q) Really loving what’s happening and loving how empowered you’re getting even if you can kill a few ones.

A) Yes, it’s probably my favorite, one of my favorite — I wouldn’t say my favorite but it’s been one of my favorite storylines so far.

Q) So let’s just step back if I can ask, if you could be any Wesen which Wesen would you be?

A) Well I like the Wesen I am right now that’s for sure. It’s fun getting to walk into these scenes and basically just kick ass. And she has power over everyone. I mean she’s just stronger and faster and she could have easily killed Adalind if she wanted to. I don’t know that she was mentally prepared to do that yet. But so that’s always been really fun. Prior to becoming a Hexenbiest, my answer was always Mauvais Dentes which was the saber tooth tiger from Season 2. Just because I like how sort of quiet and powerful and stealthy that character was. And it always reminded me of that sort of viral YouTube video of the Ninja cat who you turn the camera away and then it’s three feet closer to you. It’s just really spooky. So I used to say the Mauvais Dentes but right now I’m obviously really enjoying this storyline as the Hexenbiest.

Q) I don’t know what you can tell us but there’s a rumor of some kind of pregnancy and the baby might be Wesen? And so is there anything you can tell us about what’s going to happen between these two?

A) Well, the previews going forward, there is like I just said Claire Coffee is actually pregnant in real life. And so they’re having her be pregnant on the show. So that’s the pregnancy going forward. And as to whether or not the baby is going to have weird powers or how are you going to have like a Wesen-Grimm baby. That’s just going to be like the weirdest baby ever. But, yes that’s the pregnancy storyline going forward. Juliette is not pregnant.

Q) Nick was kissing another woman. Can these guys ever get a break and have like a really good period between the two of them? I mean have you talked to the writers about that?

A) Well the whole thing with Nick kissing another woman you will kind of see what happens with that going forward. That might be a little bit of a red herring. No, I was just saying there’s no conflict in stability really. And I don’t know that a stable, loving relationship makes for great television. So it’s funny because the fans like constantly until we actually did the Adalind and Juliette fight that was the biggest thing everybody wanted. Was for Juliette to have it out with Adalind and kick some butt. And so she did that. And now all I’m really seeing is Nick and Juliette need to get married. They should just get married already. And it’s kind of fun seeing the fans come to Juliette’s defense. Well Nick better be understanding about this. Like look at how much he’s put her through. So that’s been really fun for me. I’m like yes, he’s put her through so much. Like come on man, you’ve got to be understanding about this. But yes, at some point you hope. I don’t know that they’re planning on doing it anytime soon because the writers are having so much fun with this sort of darker character. But yes, I mean you would hope that at some point maybe they’ll get married. And actually have like one day of rest.

Q) So you mentioned a little bit about the Season finale. And I know you can’t really give any big details away. But how big a role does Juliette have in the finale?

A) Everything. She is going to cause major, major problems for basically everyone involved. The reality is she misses Nick and she loves him. But she just can’t imagine a way for them to be able to stay together under the circumstances. She’s been told by numerous people now there’s absolutely nothing she can do about it. And so what else would you do? I mean you have to embrace your new life. And she has to go forward with that. And she is dead set on embracing it. And she’s like if this is how it’s going to be then I might as well be the best Hexenbiest I can. And there’s a darkness to that that’s going to seep into her veins. And you’re not going to really see the sort of sweet, loving girlfriend that everybody’s gotten used to for the last few seasons.

Q) And how has it been for you because kind of like we talked a little bit about in the first couple of seasons your character was really marginalized. And now you’re not just part of the group, you’re a dominant part of that group. So how has that changed your experience on the show?

A) Well I’ve always had a blast on the show. And they’ve always given me interesting things to do. I think Season 1 was probably the hardest for me because the character was so passive. And everybody else was kind of running around doing fun stuff. But it also really served the storyline. And Nick really needed to keep her in the dark. Because he was himself so in the dark about what it meant to be a Grimm and everything. And then Season 2 I had this great arc of losing my memory and not remembering Nick and that whole storyline and then slowly Season 3 kind of having the secret revealed and joining forces with the Scooby squad. That’s always really fun because those scenes are really fun to shoot. Because you have most of the cast together and everybody’s having a blast and chit-chatting in between scenes. But this has been really just cool because it’s the first time she’s had any sort of supernatural power. And so I personally have been having a blast with it. And it’s nice that they’re sort of using Juliette who up to this point hasn’t been this what’s the word? She’s coming in and she’s adding all the fuel to the fire. And so it’s sort of centered around the havoc that she’s causing among the group. And so I think especially going into Season 5 of a TV show, you need to really kind revamp stuff a little bit. Keep it interesting. Have there be a game changer. And there certainly is a massive game changer at the end of Season 4 in the finale.

Q) Moving into Season 5, with everything going on especially with the game changer that you’re talking about with the season moving forward, do you see your characters moving to different locations outside of Portland? Or are you still going to try and keep the home base in Portland? I would assume with the big game change you might have an exploration of different locations kind of how Adalind has throughout the series.

A) I’m not sure about that. I can’t imagine that Grimm is really ever going to take place in any other city besides Portland. Portland is the perfect setting for this because the city in and of itself has not only these luscious forests but there’s also a little bit of an eerie quality because the weather can be, it’s gray. You have these really thick forests and they get really dark during the day. And also the city has been so great to us and we love shooting here. And we certainly haven’t run out of locations to shoot in. I think if anything you might see a little bit more of a storyline with one character maybe going off to Europe or something. But otherwise I would imagine it would be pretty centered in Portland still.

Q) I’m wondering, you talked quite a bit about the changes with and what might be coming up with Juliette’s continuing changes. Do you see her losing her humanity through this? Is that going to be less and less of a quality?

A) I think that that’s, yes. I think the more that sort of evil takes hold inside her and she realizes that there’s really nothing she can do to get back to her normal life. Like I said before, she really needs to embrace it. And this is not a human character anymore. She’s a witch. And she is kind of a monster. But that’s her new reality. That’s the new normal for her, so to speak. And so I think that, yes, I mean if we’re going to a really, really dark place then that is what it would entail.

Q) And so far we haven’t seen that all the characters know. So is she worried about reactions from Rosalee and Monroe in particular?

A) Yes for sure. I mean that’s something that’s going to be resolved and sort of played out through the rest of Season 4. Initially of course, she has to do deal with Nick’s reaction. But yes. It’s scary. Her friends have known her to be one way all for this amount of time. And then all of the sudden she’s – they’ve all, as a group, collectively basically been hating on Hexenbiest for years. And now she is one. And she’s one of those people. And the reality is too is that there’s probably a little bit of resentment because they did this to her. They asked her to do this for them because Rosalee and Monroe were coming under so much fire. And in order to protect them, Nick needed to get his Grimm powers back. I mean the only way to do that was to use Juliette as a vessel. And she agreed to do it. But she would never have done that if she had known this would be the side effect. This was not something that she’s initially really excited about. I think that’s something that going forward is going to be pretty complicated.

Q) I was actually just going to ask about the others relationships with her. So how about is there anything else other than the finale that maybe you can tease that’s coming up either like other Wesen or just in general?

A) You haven’t seen the last of the Royals. There’s a new Royal who’s coming to town. Who’s kind of taking charge. So that’s a storyline that’s coming up. Obviously dealing with the whole Adalind being pregnant storyline is coming up. And then it’s definitely a big episode when there is a final reveal with Juliette and her friends and their reaction to that. And then really it’s kind of about her going to the dark side going forward.

Q) Now that the role has become more involved physically, do you do any strength training for your fight scenes?

A) I mean listen, I workout. I’m an actress I have to stay in shape anyway. The hardest physical stuff I’ve ever done myself was in a couple of episodes last season, I think nine and ten where Juliette has a friend, Alicia, in town who’s being abused by her husband. And then the husband shows up and knocks Nick out. And then Juliette has to jump in. And in that scene, I did a lot of my stunts. But I’m sure I would be asked to do more stunts. But the reality is when Juliette is doing most of the physical stuff, she’s morphed. And so that’s usually why they bring a double in who has the prosthetics on her face so not necessarily. I think going forward, if they wanted to get the character, I know David’s training constantly since he has the bulk of the physical stuff on the show. So he’s staying strong and active for that. But going forward if the character is having a lot more action to do, I probably would start doing more strength training as well. But we have a really awesome stunt coordinator. He’s been nominated for Emmys twice for Grimm. And there’s a lot of rehearsal. And we’ll kind of start out doing something and then our stunt doubles will step in and finish the scene.

Q) College is such a fun time for young women. And you were able to study at one of the most prestigious universities in the world. How does your background in literature and Fine Arts from Harvard help prepare you for an acting career?

A) I don’t know that the Fine Arts has not necessarily played into it that much other than having I definitely have an awareness of lighting because my first concentration within the Fine Arts was photography. And so I’m kind of always asking like what frame is that and how I am lit and what’s my major light source? So I’m more aware of that. But that’s sort of just a technical thing that actors tend to learn anyway. Because it’s like this joke that actors can always find the light. And the actors can always find the camera. As far as the literature major goes, I definitely think that, I probably analyze the text in perhaps a more academic way. That’s something that as I’ve acted I more and more sort of lose. But I read the script a couple of times and I try to, I really try to bring in like the past ways that the character has been influenced and so on and so forth. But I don’t know that if I hadn’t been a literature major that I would do that kind of in-depth analysis. But I loved college. And I was going to go and get my Masters degree in Fine Arts but I took a year off. And in that year off I started acting but that was never my intention. When I was at Harvard, I was really planning on getting an MSA in the Fine Arts. And I wanted to be a curator so. So I started acting relatively late.

Q) How is Juliette going to continue to get kind of control of her Hexenbiest power? And will she be turning to anybody else that would be able to help her out with that?

A) I think that’s sort of an issue of time for her. Like it’s not like all of the sudden she’s overtaken by evil. I think it’s like this slow, like (Vicky) said, it’s a very slow process of like gradually losing the human side and becoming more and more of a Hexenbiest. She’s tried to turn to Henrietta. That didn’t yield anything, the same thing for Renard. And the more she’s told there is nothing they can do then, the more she doesn’t really have anyone to go to. So she’s definitely going to be finding herself ostracized to an extent. And that might make her mad.

Q) Yes, I was going to say, how does Juliette handle that? I mean it sounds like it’s going to be kind of a lonely time.

A) Yes for sure. Yes, I can’t really give anything away but I think it’s enough to tease that going forward this is not something that has an easy resolution.

Q) Juliette is sort of this not quite like a damsel in distress. But she’s definitely a lot more vulnerable than she is when she assumes the Wesen form. As far as from a performance standpoint, did it seem too drastically different or jarring when you went from the more passive Juliette to the very powerful Juliette? Or did it seem just really fluid and natural?

A) I would say it was pretty jarring. Because the first time it happens she just sort of innocently, she’s been getting these headaches and stomach aches. And she’s like I don’t know if I’m pregnant and then she morphs. And it’s incredibly scary for her. She had no idea what was going on. She thought she was going crazy. And then every time it happens she has this sort of like sudden rush of just power and violence. And she’s killed a couple of people. And as dealing with the aftermath of that I think is slightly because the two people that she’s killed so far were people who were trying to kill her. So there’s a little bit of like wow I was really able to defend myself. That’s kind of great but also I just killed two people. And that’s insane and that’s crazy. And I’ve never done that before. But I don’t think it’s something that’s sort of until she starts to embrace it and learn how to control it more it’s very jarring every time it happens for her and then to sort of de-morph and kind of be human again. I don’t think it’s really intended like because she was – the big thing is she was made a Hexenbiest. She wasn’t born that way. So it’s probably fluid for all the rest of the Wesen. For them to morph and to creature out or whatever. But this is the first time this happened to her. So I’ve never chosen to play it in a way where it should be really smooth. It should be a little disconcerting every single time.

Q) did you ever anticipate when you first started as Juliette that she may have become such a violent character eventually violent character?

A) It’s a really good question. At one point I remember saying she needs to – it would be so cool if they made her either super, super evil or like super, super good and able to protect Nick. I was thinking like maybe she’s been secretly protecting Nick all this time. Either that or like wouldn’t it be so cool if actually she has been evil all this time. And now we know she hasn’t been evil all this time. It’s something that happened. But I think it’s a really, really smart way to take the series going forward into Season 5. To have this character who we’ve all come to know and love as being sweet and helpful and the just turning it on its head.

Q) I know Sasha was behind it for the Grimmster Fund and the money you raised with that great event you had in February.

A) Oh thank you. That was really exciting. We raised I think $310,000 for the Grimmster fund and Doernbecher Hospital that we’ve all volunteered at various points. We really love this city and we’re grateful to be here. And a few of us own homes here. Some people are thinking about staying afterward. And so we really wanted to sort of have a positive legacy on the city since the city’s been so good to us.

Q) I know that you were in Spain for a while. And your Spanish is so wonderful. I hope there will be a time where you’ll have the chance to speak more Spanish. I mean you clued us in on the Chupacabra. Hopefully there’s another legend coming down the pike as well.

A) I know, I loved that and the show does exceptionally well in Central and South America. So the fans really like when I do get to speak Spanish. I really haven’t been able to speak much Spanish in this season. But hopefully going forward that comes back into play because that’s always fun for me.

Q) How do you see your character being a strong female role model so far and then moving forward?

A) I think so far she’s been less so in Season 1 when the storyline sort of necessitated her being slightly more passive. But being someone who is capable of holding her own, who is capable of learning this life changing secret from her man. And just realize okay, there’s nothing we can’t do together. I can handle this. And I’m going to help you in whatever way, shape or form I can. And also really, she’s contributed a lot to solving these cases. And there’s been a lot of fun scenes especially in Season 3 where she was really into doing all this research and helping out with the whole veterinarian skills going forward. And then I think as the Hexenbiest, I hope nobody really like tries to do anything that Juliette’s doing as a Hexenbiest. But it’s always nice to have a very powerful female character whether I think whether for good or evil. To just have someone who is very much in control. Who is not relying on anybody else for anything. That’s one of the differences between Adalind and Juliette. Is that Adalind was really reliant on the Royals. And was sleeping around and stuff. And the Hexenbiest are very sort of sexy witches. And I think Juliette is kind it’s just everything that goes forward is going to be on her terms. So even if it’s evil like she’s doing it on her terms. And she’s in control of the situation. And she’s doing what she wants to do when she wants to do it.

Q) Have you met any young women out there who have identified with your character or just fans of the show that have made an impression on you?

A) Oh yes. I mean I’m very active on social media, on Twitter, and Instagram, and Facebook. And I try to reply whenever I can. And I see a lot people saying I love how strong she is. I love how smart she is. And especially they’re really liking the Hexenbiest stuff because they’re like what a badass. You like seeing a woman walk into a scene and just kick butt and be more powerful than. And the manticore scene, that was something that Nick didn’t even think he was going to be able to deal with. And Juliette just kind of instantly like took control of the situation and killed him. And so I think there’s probably a little bit of cheering when stuff like that happens.

 

 

*CONFERENCE CALL*