Recently returning from a month long hiatus, NBC’s fantasy-crime drama Grimm is back for all new episodes on Fridays at 8/7c. It was announced recently by the network that the series would be returning next year for its fifth season.
Things have certainly changed for Nick and the rest of the “Scooby” gang. We now know that Nick’s girlfriend Juliette is a Hexenbiest and a very powerful one. Navigating the waters of the Hexenbiest world is actor Bitsie Tulloch.
The talented actor sat down with us to discuss this latest revelation, how it will affect her relationship with Nick and what fans of the series can look forward to the rest of the season.
Pop Culture Principle – It has to make the cast feel great that not only the fans, but the network has embraced the series with a season five renewal. Would you agree?
Bitsie Tulloch – The fans have been amazing since season one. At one point in either season one or season two, the network was experimenting with switching us around in different timeslots. That can be a little confusing, but the fans were pretty much following us wherever we went which was great.
Pop Culture Principle – When we last left Grimm, Juliette finally revealed to Nick that she was a Hexenbiest. Why do you think she waited so long to tell him her secret?
Bitsie Tulloch – I think because she was so confused and she wasn’t in charge of her powers and was worried that she would either hurt him or he would try to kill her. The Hexenbiest are basically a Grimm’s mortal enemy and add to that the contentious relationship Nick has had with Adalind. I think a lot of it had to with her hoping that this would be temporary and it would go away. She doesn’t know how to control her powers and she doesn’t want to hurt him.
Pop Culture Principle – Do you think it was right of Juliette to confide in Renard first as opposed to telling Nick first?
Bitsie Tulloch – This question has come up a lot because of the whole Renard and Juliette thing in the past. She needed to go to somebody who was like her before she went to Nick. I know that the loyalty should have gone to Nick, but Renard is a half Hexenbiest and she went to him because they have had this relationship in the past and she didn’t really know who else to go to. Obviously she wasn’t going to go to Adalind and if Renard’s mother had still been in town she would have gone to her, but she’s gone. So, she really didn’t have anyone else to go to and it turned out she was correct because Renard sent her to Henrietta.
Pop Culture Principle – Do you think Henrietta is someone who Juliette can trust?
Bitsie Tulloch – I don’t really know that Juliette trusts anybody right now. She has her guard up because she didn’t expect this to happen. I think she’s safe going to Henrietta to ask for help, but she doesn’t really trust her at the same time. She’s gone to Henrietta and she really hasn’t been that helpful basically telling Juliette that she was too powerful and there really wasn’t anything she could do to help. So, at this point, Juliette has kind of had it with her and given up a little bit because there really isn’t anything she can do.
Pop Culture Principle – Fans finally got to see the big show down between Juliette and Adalind. How much fun was it filming that fight scene with Claire Coffee?
Bitsie Tulloch – That was really fun although to be perfectly honest with you, we need to give credit where credit is due because that scene was primarily our stunt doubles. We just don’t have the time to go through that make-up, so when Claire and I are morphed, it’s VFX and they put little dots on our face with latex glue. The actual fighting was done by our stunt doubles and it’s also very risky because that was a really intense, very well-choreographed fight and it was way too risky.
Actually, we were originally filming that fight scene on a Thursday and Claire’s stunt double in the very first major stunt in that scene where Juliette throws her against the wall and she hits a bookshelf, Claire’s stunt double fractured a rib the very first time. We had to cancel that day and they had to get a different stunt double up there for Claire the next day and reshoot it with someone else. People do get hurt and it was definitely way too risky for Claire and me to do it ourselves. That was a showdown that people have been waiting for a very long time.
Pop Culture Principle – Will Juliette now have to live by the rules of the Wesen council now that she is a Hexenbiest?
Bitsie Tulloch – You know, that is a great question. This is still new and I don’t know if they know about Juliette yet. It’s not like she is telling everyone that she is a Hexenbiest. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens. I will say that the rest of the season gets really crazy and the season finale is the biggest game changer that we have ever had. Towards the end of the season and going into season five, they are sort of rebooting the series so to speak and you are going to see a slightly different story going forward and everyone is really excited about it.
Pop Culture Principle – Now that Juliette is this powerful Hexenbiest, she will need to fight and struggle with that fact the rest of the season. Is that correct?
Bitsie Tulloch – Yes, for sure. It’s kind of this little devil on her shoulder and angel on her shoulder and she’s going back and forth. The reality is that once she starts to learn how to control it, she embraces it. She’s been surrounded by friends who have all these powers and can do great things and protect themselves really well. There is a part of her that is being overtaken by this evil which, so to a certain extent, is the good part of her going to cave in? Is she willing to walk away from Nick because she has embraced this? All of a sudden she is incredibly powerful and far more powerful than Renard or Adalind could ever dream to be.
Pop Culture Principle – Are you happy now that all the main players on the series are now aware of the Wesen world and are involved with the cases?
Bitsie Tulloch – I think some people are split on that because you kind of don’t want everyone to know and now everyone does know. It’s really been fun for Reggie Lee because he’s such an incredible actor and he’s really added a lot to the show. He’s so comedic, so sarcastic and has such a wry sense of humor and I think it’s been really fun to have him as a new addition to the Scooby squad especially since the Scooby squad has broken up a little bit because Juliette has gone on her own little wicked path.
Pop Culture Principle – Juliette has been through a lot since season one. As an actor, how have you enjoyed playing this character?
Bitsie Tulloch – It’s been a lot of arcs for me. Season one my character came under a lot of heat because she was sort of passive character. I can understand that because fans want to see someone a little more active, but I think it was really necessary to serve the story because season one was all about Nick learning how to be a Grimm and hiding it from her. In season two she was in a coma and she had the whole memory loss thing going on and the love triangle with Renard.
Finally, in season three she was told what was going on and it was a fun season for me to get in on the action and join the Scooby squad. This season has been really wild and I was so thrilled when I read the very first script and found out that the side effect was that I turn into a Hexenbiest. What a great villain to have-this woman who up to this point has been so stable, safe and such a rock and to then turn that on its head.
It’s an actor’s dream to play a character with so many emotions. The rest of the season there are a lot of emotional scenes where she wants some help and then on the other hand, maybe she doesn’t want help and wants to stay the way she is. So, there is a lot of really fun emotional stuff coming up as far as that push-pull with her psychologically.
Pop Culture Principle – Do you think or hope Juliette and Nick will ever have a normal, happy life again?
Bitsie Tulloch – You know, I don’t know. I don’t think anytime soon. That’s not a fun television show to watch because you don’t want to see your lead characters leading a normal life because conflict makes for great television.
Pop Culture Principle – What can fans look forward to with the second half of the season?
Bitsie Tulloch – Well, the season finale is a total game changer and that will leave a lot of questions up in the air going into season five. They are really trying to reboot the show and make it even bigger, better and badder. Also, you haven’t seen the end of the Hexenbiest stuff because that has been so embraced by the fans and the showrunners are aware of that.
We would like to thank Bitsie for sitting down with us and discussing her work on Grimm. Don’t forget, you can catch all new episodes of Grimm on Fridays at 8/7c. If you would like to keep up to date with all of Bitsie’s latest news and projects, you can follow her on Twitter here.