Bree Turner – Grimm

By starrymag | December 11, 2014

Q) Is there someone in the cast that you haven’t maybe worked a whole lot with yet, that you’d like to spend more time doing scenes with?

A) Yes, I would probably have to say it’s Reggie. It’s almost like there’s sort of three separate worlds happening in Grimm. There’s the Adalind world and the procedural world and then there’s the Wesen world. I would have said it would have been Claire, but we had that nice arc with her last season so really Reggie is such a beautiful actor and person that the few moments we’ve shared – our time together has always been super enjoyable, but as you can see we’re on a trajectory with him in the loop and a part of the Scooby gang and I’m really looking forward to more screen time with him.

Q) Is there any either Wesen that you can talk about that’s either coming in the back half of the season or maybe just some that you’d like to see that haven’t been on?

A) I like sort of referencing Wesen that we already know.  Kind of keeps the world familiar within – to the fans, within the story. And there’s a lot of (glutevaden) that are coming out that are against our marriage, our mixed marriage and to see sort of different kinds of (glutevaden) that I thought were really interesting that it’s also compare it to how much Monroe has bucked the system in terms of his species and sort of what they’re known for and to kind of see sort of a path that Monroe could have gone down if he wasn’t reformed is interesting to compare.

Q) Who is the cast member that you think most resembles their Grimm character? And you can say it’s you, if it is.

A) Well, Russell is a pretty dapper, smooth, intelligent man in his real life and I feel like Hank is really on par. I think Russell is such a great actor and I love the depth he brings into his procedural portion of the show and I’m always very excited to see him be able to expand out of that role with the scripts and I say he’s probably closest to his role, except that he’ll break out into a dance party on set every once in a while. He makes me smile when he gets goofy.

Q) Well, and you used to dance, so do you join him if he does?

A) Oh, yeah, Russell and I, we’re right in sync. We have the same taste in music so we know all the old R&B jams. We break out into a little dance-off, he and I, often.

Q) So, the whole issue with this group that is against Rosalee and Monroe’s marriage. How is that to play? Has it been difficult because of the obvious references and US history?

A) Yes, it’s been very challenging. Very satisfying as an actress but yes, very uncomfortable. I mean just even seeing – a few episodes ago, seeing the wolf (Songold) burning on our lawn, I mean just that visual is so powerful, so upsetting, deeply upsetting. And when you’re filming that night, you don’t have to imagine too much. You just sort of in the moment and you’re right there emotionally because it’s an ugly truth to our history and for be touching on that – within this genre is to be able to sort of discuss social issues like this, really I think powerful. And the episodes coming up where after Chupacabra where two episodes – two to three episodes are on this single handedly dealing with these group of people, the Secundum Naturae Order Nam Wesen it just gets so dark. It gets so heavy and I’m just so happy with – our writers are so good and I’m so happy that they didn’t hold back at all. They really went for the darkness and the ugliness of the subject matter and if Rosalee and Monroe – it’s life and death at this point.

Q) One of the things I’ve been following and I thought was interesting that in the short time the series has been on, your character seems to have gone through the most transformation. The most changes out of all the characters that we’re watching. What do you like about the changes, the evolution of Rosalee in this series?

A) It’s been so – since that assigned to play, I mean she was already such a fully formed character from her first episode and which is the reason why I wanted to join the show. I was like wow this is from the gate, she is who she is. And to come to the scene guarded, very –  so many walls up, distrusting, broken, and then to you know find this new way of living with being friends with the Grimm and sort of this brave new world that Nick and Monroe you know, were creating here in Portland. Sort of jumping into this friendship and then the eventual romance that Monroe – to see her become vulnerable and to live a life she wanted to live but was scared to live and to feel like she now deserves to be happy, deserves to have this love. And now – and the strength and as an apothecary her talent, she’s one of the best I think in the world at this point and her confidence professionally and with her talents are fully cooking now. And then what I love about this next arc of the – of Monroe being in danger and Rosalee, where a lot of that will actually full circle in the way that she goes back to – we see who Rosalee is inside and her street skills are definitely put into action again and her fearlessness and her scrappiness and her, you know, die for a cause, die for the man she loves. I think it is a bit of domestic storyline and then sort of remind the viewers of how losing Monroe would absolutely kill her. And also to see the fire within her that she is – will kill anyone who stands in her way of the people she loves or what she believes in. I’ve been so happy to see this kind of full circle exploration of who she is.

Q) I’m personally enjoying it as well as the other characters in the series. But I also wanted to ask you, what are Rosalee and Monroe’s children going to look like?

A) I think that’s a $20 million question. I don’t know. I think that’s obviously something that people are interested in. we’re interested in and the writers talked about it and it’s obviously something that’s in conversation and as we’re way farther ahead than the episodes are airing. It comes back into conversation again, especially in light of this horrible event that is about to be happening.

Q) So just to build a little bit on the last question, how is you’re feeling as an actress on the idea of making Rosalee a mother on this show? Because sometimes that can be an awkward thing on the show where the mother then doesn’t have as much story time or the baby is just never seen.

A) Well, I think Rosalee is such a strong character. I can’t imagine she’s going to be putting her skills in the back burner if she chooses motherhood. She’s already been juggling a lot. I’m sure she can juggle that, too. I think that there are -if this is something that we’re going to go down I think it doesn’t necessarily have to be straight forward. As most things in our show aren’t and usually they’re filled with twists and turns and complications. And what I love about what we do on our show is we take these magical worlds, these two creatures, these two Wesen having real life problems and just because they’re not wholly human, doesn’t mean that they don’t – and they live in this magical kind of world, doesn’t mean that they – and they live in this kind of magical world, doesn’t mean that they don’t deal with the same kind of stuff that regular people deal with. And I think if they choose to be pregnant, it might be interesting to have complications with that journey. I mean that’s something that a lot of people deal with and you know the fact that they are a mixed species, it might not be a straight forward kind of process having a baby, getting pregnant and sort of deal with those heavy issues might be interesting to see through the eyes of two Wesen.

Q) Because we are coming up on a break in this show, can you just briefly kind of give us a sneak peek on what we can expect when the show picks back up? Not just the Monroe storyline but anything else kind of interesting Wesen or any exciting episodes that stand out for you?

A) Yes. I mean, we’re on a strong – we’re on a bullet train down to some heavy, very dark territory with this mid-season finale. The whole – it’s absolutely life and death for Monroe and Rosalee and for everyone, for that matter. Juliet, her storyline is – gets so crazy good. I’m so excited for what the fans are going to see out of Juliet. It is going to be out of left field and no one will expect the straight shot that she is on with her new awareness of certain things in her life, her new reveals. And then Adalind, she and Victor, as you’ve seen, they’re teaming up. And two bad guys are way stronger together, so – than they are apart. So they’re joining forces and that connection Adalind has with Nick and Juliet just gets more murky. So it’s some very exciting stuff coming up once we come back in January.

Q) I’m wondering if you can tell me a little bit about what’s ahead for Rosalee and Monroe and a little bit about the tease for the viewers; like what is this life and death situation that’s ahead?

A) Well as we’ve been teasing the last several episodes, there’s a group of extremist, fundamentalist Wesen called the Secundum Naturae Order Nam Wesen and they are basically, you know, the KKK and a group of horrible, despicable monsters that have targeted Monroe and Rosalee as an abomination of their union because they’re mixed species couple. And so they’ve been doing these sort of violent acts towards the couple, but in this mid-season finale, by the end of the episode, you see that there’s no more teasing, that they have now fully entrenched themselves into our home and our world and you know one of us is – has our life dangling in the balance and its very scary and the next several episodes back in January – this is a major story line for the second half of the season dealing with – will they even physically survive this terror attack? And how are they going to respond to being on the front line of change? And can their relationship really hold up to this? This is isn’t like the in-laws not liking you. This is very, very serious life and death stuff. So very scary, very hard to shoot and very satisfying so we’re thrilled and simultaneously sick to our stomach the whole time, but I think the fans are going to really enjoy it.

Q) And so would you say this is like the darkest place that Grimm’s ever gone before?

A) Yes for sure. I would say for sure. Yes. And I love it because I think about our writers,  they always make that turn where it gets a little too light or a little too funny or a little too casual, the writers always – which is so great to give us some breath in the series, you know, so it’s not all intense. But right when they’re about to get a little too comfy, they just throw this nasty curve ball at us and I just I think it’s constantly keeping the fans on their and they think it’s really fun.

Q) I love the chemistry between you and Silas on the show, and I was just wondering is it the same working with him in person. What’s he like to work with?

A) I love that man. He is funny, he is smart. He is a very good friend and we just have a blast together. He’s a fabulous actor and it’s just always fun working with him. So I’m very lucky.

Q) do you have a favorite episode so far?

A) Honestly? I think this Chupacabra episode this Friday was one of my favorite this series. I think there’s so much packed into this episode, it’s not confusing. It’s a tight episode, well written, well directed. There’s a lot of pay-offs at the end of it and it’s very emotional and I think it just got to – it’s the best of Grimm’s I think in the Chupacabra.

Q) I’m wondering what has been the scene you’ve done has been like so fun? Not necessarily your favorite or most memorable, but just something that was a lot of fun to film.

A) Well this Christmas episode you just saw last week was so fun and it was – we all had such a great time filming it. It was a bit of a departure from the tone of the show but I think Christmas episodes you can get away with that.And it’s like when the cast goes to Hawaii. It’s sort of like it’s a separate kind of entity from a series. There’s special episodes and Bitsie and I always have a blast working together and it was really fun to kind of be able to allow from working in the moment and physical comedy and there are Wesen creatures. So many of our episodes are life and death and the stakes are super high and they’re super scary – and it’s kind of fun and refreshing to sort of deal with Wesen that weren’t necessarily going to kill us, but were just annoying and gross and so I think that kind of element allows for a lot of comedic moments from everyone’s characters because it wasn’t necessarily people’s lives were in danger. So yes I think that was one of my most fun scripts we shot.

Q) Are you and the cast and crew and everything doing anything particular for the holidays together?

A) Well, we just got together last week and watch the Christmas episode and hung out all night. And then we’re having – we like to throw an annual – the cast likes to get together and throw an annual party before our winter break for the crews. We had that coming up which was – it’s always a very good time and a much needed release for the crew and for all of us.

Q) Did you always want to work in this industry while you were growing up or did you have other professions in mind?

A) I grew up as a dancer. Started dancing at age 5 and that was my whole entire life and I actually came to Los Angeles to go to UCLA but I was also fortunate to get a dance agent and I actually worked as a dancer before I was an actress in film and television. So that really opened up the idea of having acting be a career choice. But you know, the arts were always – it was always about performing and fantasy and entertainment for me ever since I was little, quite honestly.

Q) I also wanted to find out what would you say makes a career in this industry rewarding for you so far?

A) Having a life outside of it is the only way to survive it. I mean you have to singularly focused, especially in the beginning of your career. But to be a good actor you have to have lived the life and you can’t bring – that’s how bring depth to your roles, is the life that you yourself have live in and you can you know infuse into stories and experiences and use your imagination from a lot of your own life. And it’s not a coincidence that once I started having children that my career actually – I started working even more because I think I am so wholly satisfied as a person and as a mom and as a wife first and acting is just gravy.

 

 

*CONFERENCE CALL*