Silas Weir Mitchell and Bree Turner recently sat down with the press in a conference call to talk about the highly anticipated proposal coming up on tonight’s Grimm. In “The Wild Hunt” (9/8c), Monroe finally proposes to Rosalee, and how could she not accept? Here they talk about filming the scene and what comes next for the happy couple on the show.
Question: So can you talk a bit about filming the scene where you propose? Also have they discussed with you guys at all about how they will eventually do a wedding or anything like that?
Bree Turner: Well the proposal – I mean the whole episode was super fun for us to shoot.
There was – we really packed in the whole episode from the roller-coaster promotions, from the night of the proposal and then getting engaged and then the parents coming in the end – it’s really filled. But the proposal scene was adorable and fun and silly and I don’t know Silas I mean I think it was really – we had a good time that whole section of the show, right? We had fun.
Silas Weir Mitchell: Yes it was – you’re right the roller-coaster is a good metaphor because it was, you know, the writers really make it as complicated as they possibly can.
And so as soon as you think everything is fine, you know, the parents show up and it gets extremely difficult. But yes the shooting of that scene was really, it was fun. You know, I mean it’s fun to watch this imaginary life kind of, you know, it’s – and the way that it happens is so sort of unique, you know. I mean it was fun, you know, I mean it was…
BT: I think it was very much because of the…
SWM: …yes, the writers write unique stuff.
BT: And it’s very – I feel like what’s been enjoyable about exploring the relationship is that there’s been just this very truthful consistencies from beginning until now about who these characters are and how they treat each other and handle these different moments in their relationship.
And I think the proposal moment is just such a pure and touching and honest moment and very much in the vein of who these characters are.
SWM: And still it’s very, you know, they allow for the complexity you know what I mean?
It’s not – it’s like it’s very (pale), I mean it is Grimm after all but it’s also, you know, the writers allow for, you know, the complexity and the darkness of, you know, are people going to accept, you know, Blutbad and the Fuchsbau, you know, there’s – that’s a rich kind of basically interracial kind of vein that they’re going to mine. So as sweet as it is which it total is, what I like about what the writers do is they allow for complexity and darkness, so there.
Q: I wanted to touch upon last week’s episode where you go and meet Rosalee’s parents. Could you maybe talk a little bit about the filming of that and what that was like for both of you guys?
BT: Well the whole dinner scene, everything with my mom and sister took place in one day so it was a very long, you know, 18 hour day out in Medford and – I’m sorry up in Hillsborough and it was exhausting. I was exhausted and I think we got beers after that day because it was a biggie and, you know, there was a lot of emotional stuff going on for Rosalee and so, you know, I felt exhausted would be the word I would use by the end of that day.
SWM: Just the most awkward dinner in the history of man. You know, I mean it just was like I felt bad, you know, I felt bad for Rosalee in this situation. To have, you know, to have this sister, you know, it was hard, it was hard because I think there’s a lot of truth to that familial dynamic. And I felt the awkwardness, it’s like I felt the love, I felt the awkwardness.
Q: And then as a quick follow-up, another episode I want to ask you about the Christmas one, where again they sort of revealed Rosalee’s past and her problems with Christmas. Could you talk a little bit more about that part of that episode and again filming that what you though when you first read the script, anything that comes to mind?
SWM: Be honest do you really – be honest now do you really want to know how one person could put all that up and/or take all that down in one night? Be honest. I mean really.
BT: I justified that we – I was in – I was morphed out when I did that because only, you know, a fox could gather and put together that quickly.
SWM: A bottle of wine, a couple of morphs, no problem.
BT: That episode was I mean every time I come onto set – this is not an exaggeration, I’m blown away by our, you know, construction and set design team and, you know, what they can pull together so quickly with no time between turnover.
SWM: Yes, the art direction on the show really is – it’s incredible what they do. They really do – so much of the show has to do with the look of the show and those guys, the art department is incredible.
BT: Right, yes so I mean it was – there was not a lot of acting needed when I walked on the set with the house being decorated as it was because it was I mean truly like Christmas just threw-up (in the living room) and so I didn’t really have to pretend about it.
But, you know, as I had mentioned this earlier I think what’s been enjoyable about the ark of the relationship this season is that it has been complicated and real and a very adult relationship. You know, I think it’s been really fun that I, you know, adult late-30’s couple is being portrayed on screen and it’s not this high drama of your 20’s or, you know, silliness of your teens. It’s like two people who’ve lived a very full life, a complicated life coming together and finding harmony together.
And it’s not a straight path and it’s twisted but there’s always respect and love and I think that’s what’s always shown with our story of the show is two people that respect and love each other and how they deal with the complexities of their relationship.
Q: I do like the almost sitcom kind of thing that Grimm is, and then you’ll have your parents coming in or Monroe’s parents coming in this week. So what has that been like to film the comedy as well as the drama?
SWM: Well it’s hard for me to think of it in terms of sitcom because that’s just not a language that I use in my – when I, you know, when I think about it I don’t think about it as being funny or being a sitcom.
I just think about it as – from the inside it’s just these two interesting people trying to figure something out. So whatever the story demands, whether it’s the sort of awkwardness of a proposal or the seriousness of a fight with your parents, that’s where I go. And what’s nice about the show is the writers use a lot of bandwidth as far the emotional, you know, the emotional vicissitudes are pretty great and that’s what makes it fun, you know.
BT: I think there’s always this sort of term that are – whenever (our show enters you to), you know, let’s keep it in the world of Grimm, you know, whatever we’re trying to build on screen.
And I think what that means is what’s so special about our show is it’s really – you can’t quite define it. I mean it’s – there are funny moments, there is serious moments, there is fantasy elements, there is, you know, procedural (cobb) drama and it – we flow in and out of all these spaces when we’re creating the world with each episode. And I think, you know, what Silas is saying I think as actors we just, you know, we’re not trying to be serious or funny or comedy or drama.
It’s just about living truthfully in this world we’ve created and I think as long as we’re honoring that, you know, those sort of maybe more comedic moments come out and you respond to them because they’re just truthful.
Q: Yes absolutely, looking forward to seeing Dee Wallace.
SWM: We had a great time. She and (Chris Mulkey) both were really, really great, we had fun.
Q: The two of you have really nice onscreen chemistry together, I’m wondering what do you like about working with each other?
SWM: I can’t stand her.
BT: He’s such a pig. Uh well I love Silas, like everything about Silas is his big heart. He’s a sweetheart of a man and also a true professional to work with.
And, you know, I think from day one I knew that it was going to be a very cool journey with Silas because he’s all in 100% and he brings so much to the character and to the script that’s not even necessarily down on paper and it’s just very exciting and fun to work with him – that’s how I feel.
SWM: That’s so lovely Bree. That’s a lovely thing to say of you of me. And, you know, for me working with Bree is just – it’s delightful because she is, same thing she’s all in.
There’s no bullshit, there’s no fussiness, there’s no actor trying to do something. She’s interested in the honesty of the story. And when you work with actors who are interested in the honesty of it and the truth of it then you look at the person and they’re playing the same game you’re playing and so you’re on the same field. It’s not like a lot of times you’re trying to play bad mitten and the other person’s bowling.
And then you’re not talking at all, you’re just like this person is doing their thing and you’re doing your thing but it’s apples and oranges. With Bree I really feel like we’re on the same team – it’s true of the whole cast which is what makes Grimm sort of special in my heart above anything I’ve done is that we’re all on the same team, we’re all playing on the same field. And so, you know, Bree and I we know that we’re like we can trust each other and we’re both playing the same fun game.
And that’s really a delight because it, you know, it makes it a joy to go to set when you’re all playing the same game.
Q: What do you guys think of the fact that your characters are really sort of the normal ones, are really sort of the grounding for the other characters on the show? Do you find that sort of odd or ironic or what do you think about that?
BT: You know, I think that came up for me – which episode was that? Oh the last episode we did Silas with the Anubis. It was, you know, kind of spoken aloud how Wesen have been around longer than humans and – or Kehrseites shall we say.
And, you know, I think we know history in a very different way than non-Wesen and, you know I think maybe what you’re saying is the grounding is coming from just being around for a long time. Experiencing, you know, basically holocaust with our kind in history and being our numbers dwindling and now we’re – our numbers are smaller. And I just think there’s a lot of weight and historical weight that comes with being a Wesen that non-Wesen maybe just don’t quite understand I guess.
SWM: Yes I would totally agree with that and just back it up with the idea of I think there’s a worldliness, you know, there’s a kind of, you know, we actually know how the world works.
And all the Karasites or the normees out there who are looking at the world a certain way, the history that they are witnessing or reading about is actually a whitewashed version of what we all – or most of us anyway know to be the truth. So I think the anchoring element is exactly what Bree was saying, there’s like a historical – there’s a historical element to it and there’s also a kind of we know the truth. There’s a wisdom to it whereas like Hitler wasn’t just Hitler.
By the way, you know, Van Gogh didn’t lose his ear because he was crazy, he was in love with one of us. You know, so that worldliness, that kind of like this is the real truth, that element I think leads to for the writers the sense that he Karasites or the normees are kind of scrambling around trying to figure it out and there are some people out there who actually know the truth.
Q: Can you tell us without giving anything away any additional plans coming up for you guys in the future?
BT: Well I mean I think we can speak freely that this Friday’s episode we get engaged and…
SWM: What?
BT: What – and…
SWM: What?
BT: We do? And it’s really great, it a really, really, really fun episode, it’s one of my favorites. And so that happens and then pretty much, you know, what we’ve done so far. We’re at Episode 316 right now, it’s just the journey to the altar I guess and…
SWM: Yes the not-uncomplicated journey to the altar.
Q: Tell me a little bit more about your character. What is it that you love about your character?
BT: Well I love Rosalee’s compassion. She’s compassionate and she’s, you know, she’s dealt with a very complicated. Shit my cell phone’s ringing, hold on. She’s dealt with a lot of complications in her life and she comes from a very fractured family and a lot of sadness.
And, you know, I think what’s been a very cool journey from the introduction of Rosalee to now is that, you know, when she came on the scene she was a person who did not understand her strength and her light and I think she – I always like in Rosalee to, you know, coming from a family of healers and apothecaries to be the one who was the most gifted in this world but was the most fearful of her talents.
And I think choosing to hideout was a way to escape responsibility of who – of her true strengths inside of herself. And I think, you know, from coming back to Portland and befriending Nick and meeting Monroe that it’s been a journey of confidence as a healer, as a apothecary. It’s like that was last season was just her understanding her strengths and talents and owning them. And then – and opening up her heart and finding love again and trusting another person.
And I think what’s been really fun about Season 3 is her – is going back to the struggle that she was really dealing with in terms of her relationship with Monroe and really allowing another person to really understand who she really is and not being able to hide from those issues anymore. So I think I’ve gotten off of what your question was but I think when I think about Rosalee…
She is just such a beautiful spirit and embraces her complications and is very quiet and still about them now in this new phase of her life and I think that takes a lot of bravery and a lot of trust and I think that’s very cool. So that’s a very long-winded answer to a very short question. Geez Louise.
SWM: I have nothing to add to that. I see Rosalee in a whole new light now and it’s a beautiful light. It’s a beautiful warm, glowing kind of safe light.
Q: Do you guys know yet if there are going to be any Wesen customs that are coming in terms of the wedding customs or anything to do with the engagement or anything like that?
SWM: The only thing we – the only thing I think that we really know is that the Wesen’s, you know, tend to like to like to marry in the wild.
Q: Are you guys going to be getting more into Rosalee’s history leading up to her coming to Portland and her family?
BT: Well that hasn’t come up in any scripts yet but I don’t know, I think what’s nice – what I think is nice about a lot of the episodes is that there isn’t a lot of just dialogs just for the sake of dialog.
Like you don’t need to talk about everything and it’s just an understanding. And I think that just that one line that I say – that Rosalee says to Monroe outside is that I assume they would be, you know, more understanding that basically handled all of Freddy’s, you know, his death and the shock and dealing with all that. I mean it’s pretty clear that they decided not to be involved in that event and that I totally took that on.
And I don’t know we’ll see, I don’t know if that’s going to be more addressed in more detail later, it hasn’t yet.
NGTV: I’m really enjoying the developing relationship now that Juliette is part of the Scooby Gang. Are we going to see more of that the rest of the season as it plays out?
BT: Yes definitely, we just did a standalone Web series that’s going to air around Valentine’s Day that focuses on Juliette and Rosalee and their friendship.
And it’s really fun, really playful and, you know, it’s a bit of a departure of tone from the show but we had a great time. And we, you know, kind of got to express all our girliness that we can’t really quite do in the world of Grimm.
NGTV: Can you describe the rest of this season in oh 15 seconds or less?
BT: Okay with Monroe and Rosalee it’s just the journey to the altar and coming to terms with coming from two different worlds. Not only as different Wesen species but also I think just sort of two different worlds.
Like kind of like Rosalee that comes a little bit on the other side of the tracks compared to Monroe’s childhood and, you know, kind of the meshing of that. And then in the world of Nick and the case of the week it kind of – we get back to a bit more procedural format but we have a lot of really exciting sessions and storylines coming up. We’re about to – we’re actually in the middle of starting this big carnival episode that’s going to be really fun and we’re getting into it starting Friday and I think it’s going to be a really good one for the season.
Q: This question’s from Twitter, do you think that there’s a chance that Monroe and Rosalee maybe will have some children in the future?
BT: Little baby Wesens.
SWM: Oh anything that allows me to say for hell sure again, I’m all for it.
BT: For hell sure.
SWM: For hell sure.
BT: For hell sure, yes why not I mean all is possible.
SWM: It all depends on how many seasons we get.
BT: All I know is if I had to actually – if I have to now be fake pregnant when I was really pregnant on the show I’m going to be real pissed.
SWM: We’ll talk to Claire Danes about that, I think she’s going to be pregnant for the entire next season of Homeland .
BT: I know, I feel for that girl, so we’ll see – why not, right?
SWM: We’ll have a litter.
