Claire Coffee & Sasha Roiz – Grimm

By starrymag | May 16, 2014

Q) Obviously, Renard sort of betrayed your character, Claire, with taking the baby and everything. And now with what she’s done to him — with the whole taking the potion and everything — (depending what happens after the finale comes out), do you think that they can kind of forgive each other again? They keep coming back and forth, but keep kind of screwing each other over.

Claire: Yes, they really do have kind of a sickeningly codependent relationship. I don’t know that there’s ever really forgiveness or ultimate trust. But it does seem like the playing field is a little bit leveled with what they’ve done to each other.

Sasha: Yes, she certainly has a way with Renard. And I think there’s always a possibility of them finding their way back to each other to some extent. But there’s also that baby that bonds them so there’s always going to be that bond between them always because of that baby.

Claire: Yes, they’re doing it for the child.

Q) How far in advance do you guys know kind of what’s coming for your character?

Claire: Not very far. Shockingly close to when it actually happens. I think Jim and David are really good at keeping all of this from us. Because things change and I think if we knew too far in advance it just subconsciously starts changing the way you’re playing the character I think so.

Sasha: We probably get scripts at most two weeks before we shoot it.

Q) Claire, more than any other character this season, your character seems to have gone through an incredible range of emotions. How was that to play? Because you got to touch on pretty much everything.

Claire: Yes, I was telling Jim and David just how grateful – it’s kind of like going back to theater school where you get – it’s like just a massive exercise in exploring the range of human emotions. Yes, I think over those three episodes I got to play every single one of them. I just consider myself lucky and hope that I didn’t drop the ball.

Q) Well, is it easier for you to play the ones where she is scared or upset, or the ones where she’s in a rage and is ready to act out?

Claire: I don’t know that any one is easier or harder. I mean, I think that anything that requires a lot of emotion, be it rage or pain, is exhausting after a while just – it’s because energy level, it’s just taking a lot out of you. Yes, it was definitely an exhausting two weeks.

Q) Claire, I was reading through your character’s description online and to remind myself about her and it struck me that with all her getting pregnant and by two different people (not knowing who the father is) it reminded me a bit of a soap opera. Would you agree that there are some parallels?

Claire: It’s definitely a wild ride. A lot of drama going on. It was a lot I guess, I’ll put it at that.

Q) Why do you think that the show is still so popular?

Sasha: I hope because to some extent the characters are intriguing and relatable. And that you know we – I give the writers a lot of credit, I think they come up with some incredibly compelling storylines.

Claire: Yes, I think there’s a lot of action each episode and the ticking clock of the episode itself and the monster of the week and figuring out the case of the week. But at the same time, you have this royal storyline that’s serialized and you follow that through the season and so I think all those cliffhangers that keep people coming back.

Q) For those of us who haven’t seen the finale, Claire, what can you tell us without giving too much away about her big plan? And also, Sasha, what is Renard going to do about it? Because he obviously knows she’s up to something.

Claire: She’s incredibly motivated to get her baby back. She’s got tunnel vision where that is concerned because I think she just feels a little bit aimless and lost without this child now to – that she’s learned how to love another human being. I don’t think she fully understands the ramifications of what she’s about to do, but she feels within her right to do it. And yes, it causes a massive rift in Nick and Juliette’s relationship and it changes them — maybe forever, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Sasha: I think that she, Adalind, has gone too far this time and I think by the end of the episode Renard sees pure rage. And it could get pretty nasty between the two of them. But that’s what I think. But then again, there’s always some twists and turns along the way. But certainly you find him at his wits end with her.

Q) About Renard’s brother Eric, we’ve yet to see a body and I’m never convinced a character is dead unless we see a body. And as we know, anything can happen on Grimm. So I’m curious, do either of you think he’s alive?

Claire: James had some scheduling conflicts. James Frain had some scheduling conflicts, but I know that the writers did have ideas about what to do with the character, and that he certainly wasn’t dead. But I don’t know. I haven’t actually given that too much thought. There’s been so many other things on the table.

Sasha: I mean I can’t tell you with any certainty that he’s alive or dead, but because I think your approach is probably quite a good one; unless you see the body you probably shouldn’t completely believe it. But then again, that’s all we know up to this point so we’ll have to wait and see. But yes it’s Grimm, anything’s possible.

Q) Claire, you mentioned a little earlier that your character’s relationship was, “sickeningly codependent,” which has kind of made it extra fun to watch this season. What was your favorite part about working together and sort of creating kind of odd but exciting chemistry between you both?

Claire: Well, I don’t think we set out to create odd and exciting chemistry, but that’s a fabulous result, and a fabulously unexpected result. I think we do have a lot of fun working together. And Sasha’s just such a generous actor to work with. And I’m not saying that just because he’s on the other end of the line. But he makes a point to kind of like, we’ll meet up before and kind of suss out what the situation is because we do find ourselves in some kind of outlandishly emotional places. But I think the most fun, I mean obviously when he is without clothing, that was a pretty fun day on set.

Sasha: That was pretty funny. That was pretty funny.

Claire: Yes I would say, “More funny than fun for both of us because we’re both wearing various weird flesh colored underthings. But yes, it’s good that we are such good friends, (I think).

Sasha: Not the most flattering outfits.

Claire: Yes, it’s about the least flattering. If they could show behind the scenes, I would say that it’s the most unflattering that we’ve looked. But the movie magic makes it look so good.

Sasha: It’s funny how the sexiest scenes, behind the scenes are the least sexy things you’ve ever witnessed. Yes, Claire and I have a lovely friendship on set and I love working with her. And I think she’s done a tremendous job this season. You mentioned earlier, like her character arc has been enormous and she’s really stepped up. And so it’s been fun to watch. And also, their relationship is just so absolutely crazy that it’s really fun to always be challenged with that. Because just when you think it can’t get any crazier, they manage to write something new in. So, it always remains a little challenging, every single time we face off.

Q) Sasha, the wedding ring; is there a tragic love affair maybe in Renard’s past?

Sasha: I know that’s been a question posed by fans for like at least 2-3 years now, and a wonderful question. I wish I had the exact answer for you, but like all things Grimm, we kind of get around to answering all those questions with time. And I suspect that we’ll probably answer that one as well, soon. Like for instance, even this season we answered the question of, “How does Nick see them and how do they know that he’s a Grimm?” So we get around to answering these little things. But the real story I think is it’s probably a relic from a storyline that never got used and had to be scrapped at some point. And when initially Renard came on the scene I think he was considered maybe had been married or widowed or something and we never really got around to using that storyline so I think we’ll probably owe you an answer at some point soon.

Q) Both of you are on social media, are you looking forward to the instant fan feedback you’ll be receiving after the finale airs?

Claire: I just hope nobody knows where I live.

Sasha: Mm-hmm. It’s always fun to get the fan reaction. It’s really exciting to see how they respond.

Claire: Yes, it’s one of my favorite things on Friday nights, is live Tweeting and just getting that instant reply. And our fans are so funny and clever, and they really don’t let you get away with anything, which is nice. I’m a little terrified for this Friday, a little worried. I think people always say like, “Oh, we love to hate your character,” and it may just turn to like, “Oh we hate you so much.”

Q) Sasha, there’s been so much back and forth with whether or not you and Nick really trust each other. It seems you guys are finding a better place shall we say, not full trust. I mean, do you see that changing in any respect now that a baby involvement happened?

Sasha: Sure. I don’t think we’re moving in any time soon. But I sense that wouldn’t this be just the perfect time to let him down. Trusts me still. Well, I mean, you know that dynamic is always going to be a tenuous one, and I think it should be and we’ll see what happens. But I suspect that, you know, just as you feel comfortable something probably will pull the rug from under your feet, as it should be in my opinion.

Q) Claire, Adalind can be so sensitive and then also crazy rage, which is just awesome. Is that more fun for you to play?

Claire: Yes, yes, I mean I’m so lucky. I hope this job never ends.

Q) It seems like now she actually has someone that she loves finally. She’s figured that out. But how true do you think that really is, how much of it is still her? Is she driven by their ambition, or just a sense of revenge?

Claire: She doesn’t even think it’s – I don’t think it’s revenge, I think she really is – she wants her baby back. Her baby gives her a place in the world really. I mean she don’t – her relationship with Renard notwithstanding, she don’t have any allies, any friends, no job, like really nothing.

Sasha: And whose fault is that Claire?

Claire: Yes, he does have a point there. Everyone has such good memories around here. But I think she thinks that Viktor has her child. Everything that she does she’s – like someone to – with blind ambition, she’s not realizing the way that what she’s doing is going to affect everybody else. And Nick, Juliette, Renard, all of that, to her the most important thing is this baby. So I don’t. She doesn’t know that Nick and the gang took the baby. If she knew that then sure, revenge would come into play. I’m assuming. But at this point, it really is, she needs this child.

Q) Claire, you said Adalind knows that the gang took the baby. So why is she turning into Juliette and why the revenge on them, like how will that all take place?

Claire: Because Viktor has told her that. Viktor has the baby and he will give the baby back if she repays the favor to Nick for taking her powers basically. I can’t remember what the actual line was. So, she’s carrying out this spell, and turning into Juliette in order to try to take Nick’s power so that – because she thinks that’s the way to get her baby back. It’s all logical for Adalind really.

Q) I’ve always seen Adalind as a villain, but I have to say that episode where the baby got taken away from her was just heartbreaking. I just totally felt bad for her. She’s a villain, but has that been a surprising shift for you? Do you see the two sides of your character?

Claire: Yes. The writers have really – they did such a good job with that arc and really built it slowly enough so that you could – so that the change kind of made sense and felt organic. At least for me when I was playing it. And then to kind of round out the season getting her back to a little bit of her old self and picking up. I had a conversation with them when I read all these scripts to kind of – to figure out to play the character with parts of old Adalind and how much to incorporate with this new sense of empathy and feeling and being in love with this child with, you know, her old self. But I think they did such a great job kind of balancing all of the bits of her personality.

Sasha: If this is what she’s up to, and she doesn’t even know that little tidbit – could you imagine what she’s capable of?

Q) Claire, I also wanted to know, how did you think Bitsie did taking on the role of Adalind in the finale?

Claire: She did a great job, yes. I got to screen the finale and she did a fantastic job. I probably owe half of my episode fee to Bitsie for that one. Yes, she was great. She wanted to know. She’d like record me saying certain lines and wanted to get my walk down and like little head movements. So, yes, I thought she did a great job.

Q) Claire, with regard to this new version with Adalind, we know obviously that she very much wants to get her baby back. It looked, obviously, for a minute when she first came in and was with Nick and Juliette that maybe she was turning a corner. I mean it basically just seems that she is ultimately a villain. And I’m wondering what is you take on that, is she just a villain or is there more to her than that? Are there redeeming qualities that maybe we’ll see from her down the line?

Claire: She’s a more dangerous villain, I think, because she’s operating of her own accord, and she has this powerful motivation now. And, you know, they say like, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” I think she knows one way of getting what she wants and that’s death and destruction via magic spells. So, she’s using what she knows and I don’t think she’s ever – she’s not going to be good, but I think she feels just and justified in what she’s doing and the steps she’s taking.

Q) And you talked a little bit about the reaction that you think you might get from social media. Having seen you in other projects and having seen your football picks picture are very humorous online, you’re a very likable actress. You’re playing a very unlikable character. I’m wondering what is the challenge in that, how do you sort of, as a likable actress, make this character so that we put her, sort of in the right perspective. Where we’re not rooting for her because we are rooting for you as an actress?

Claire: Well thank you for that, first of all. I try not to judge what she’s doing, I just try to figure out why she’s doing it. And I think it’s really important not to – when you’re playing the villain don’t – and actually just in real life, if you try to be liked and if you try to make people like you, like that’s the surest way to get people to hate you. So I think I just try to do my think and kind of be true to the character as best as I can. And, yes, hope that nobody starts throwing rocks.

Q) Sasha, can you talk a bit about the filming the final scene in the episode?

Sasha: Well yes. Renard gets shot, and I think you get to see some of that. But we’ll have to figure out what happens to him in Season 4. I don’t know what else to say about the filming that scene. Yes, it’s pretty on the nose.

Q) Regardless of what happens next season, if it were up to you, is there something that you’d still really like to see happen for your characters that hasn’t yet?

Sasha: Well I’d like to survive Season 4.

Claire: I got to wear jeans.

Sasha: Such different objectives. I’d like to survive, “I’d got to wear jeans.” All right. That’s awesome.

Claire: I was so happy to be in jeans for Season 4. I would love to have as comfortable a wardrobe as that. Fewer skin tight pencil skirts, more sweaters.

Sasha: You rock those pencil skirts though, that’s your thing.

Q) Claire, I wanted to find out if you could perhaps tell us a little bit of how you first became involved in Grimm and perhaps about the audition process for your role?

Claire: Yes. I actually just went on tape, it was a recurring character during pilot season. And I went on tape with Donna Rosenstein, who’s the Casting Director. And then I got a call a few days – I got a call that I was – what they say, “You’re in the mix,” which is always really frustrating, because it means it’s down to like three or four people and you usually never get it, but you get your hopes up and then dashed. But then I got a call at like 8 o’clock on a Friday night — or maybe it was 9 o’clock, that would have been cool — and I was out at a bar with friends and I got the call just saying, “You got it, you’re going to Portland.” But I had no idea the scope of what the role was. I mean they say, “Guest star, possibly recurring.” So you have no idea; a, if the show’s going to get picked up; or b, if they’re not – if they’re going to keep on with you. So yes just lucky.

Q) Sasha, what maybe has surprised you most about your character of Renard this season? And what aspect of him maybe also have you enjoyed most playing this year?

Sasha: I certainly enjoyed the baby storyline. It was definitely fun to explore a different side, a paternal side, somebody more compassionate, concerned, and vulnerable consequently. So that was definitely a departure from how we see him in the past. And it was really fun to play in those emotions and to be challenged with them.

 

*CONFERENCE CALL*