Grimm Star David Giuntoli Talks Zombies, Season Finale Deaths & Nick’s Cowardly Moves

With filming wrapped on season two, David Giuntoli is taking a break from Portland. In what he describes as a welcome change of scene, the Grimm Star addresses ScreenSpy and assembled press from beneath a lemon tree in sunny California. On the table for discussion is the show’s tumultuous season to date and its creators’ plans for the upcoming finale.

“I think it’s all very exciting,” says David, addressing NBC’s decision to promote the show from its Friday night slot to Tuesdays. “I think that NBC is showing a lot of faith in Grimm by moving us to Tuesday nights. Actually what they wanted was that hopefully The Voice would start getting some of our followers,” he jokes. “I know that show’s been struggling! No,” he adds more seriously.  “We’re very excited to expose Grimm to an entirely new audience and scare and befuddle a whole new segment of the population.”

So far the move to Tuesdays has been a successful one, with last week’s “Endangered” raking in almost one million more viewers than the previous week. With a third season already secured, to what does David attribute the show’s success?

“I’d say the roguish good looks of its lead, David Giuntoli,” he laughs. “Listen, how to make a successful television show is a mystery. But there has to be certain components. We have writers and creators who are seasoned and excited, and that’s a really great combination. They know what they’re doing. They have found the sweet spot. David Greenwalt, you know, has this gallows humor about him as does Jim Kouf – our two main writers and, executive producers. And they balance story well with a lot of darkness and a little bit of levity. And, you know, there’s some very lovable characters. And that’s what it takes. They just know their stuff.”

David Giuntoli as Nick Burkhardt — (Photo by: Scott Green/NBC)

Those who have been following ScreenSpy’s ongoing coverage of the show may be aware that the finale episodes, “Kiss of the Muse,” “The Waking Dead,” and “Goodnight Sweet Grimm” will move the Royals storyline into a more prominent position. With Adalind and Renard’s dangerous brother waiting in the wings, can Nick expect to receive help from Renard (Sasha Roiz) himself, or has the Captain’s infatuation (however unintentional) with Juliette earlier this season caused an irreparable rift in their friendship?

“The Royals get closer and closer to me. They come to Portland, and they want the key. And I learn much more about why it is they want the key. The captain and I start working together. Even though we are working together I’m not too easy with him,” explains David. “I wouldn’t call it a friendship. I wouldn’t call us pals. We wouldn’t go out and eat together. I think we more or less have a common enemy. When I’m working with the captain I always think about that picture from World War II where Stalin and FDR were sitting next to each other with Churchill. How did Stalin get there? They just had a common enemy. And so we’re working, you know, tentatively together. He did after all try to kill my aunt. So as far as Juliette goes, you know, I think we’re going to be seeing us kind of patching things up – turning things around a bit. And I’m sure that in Grimm fashion they’ll find some way to make that as difficult as humanly possible.”

Bitsie Tulloch as Juliette Silverton, David Giuntoli as Nick Burkhardt — (Photo by: Scott Green/NBC)

Tonight’s episode “Kiss of the Muse” will see more trouble for Portland’s beleaguered lovers as a Muse-like Wesen comes between Nick and Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) at a delicate turning point in Juliette’s ‘rehabilitation.’ Will the events of this episode spell disaster for Nick and Juliette? And just how long will Nick wait for his fiancee to return to him?

“I certainly hope he wouldn’t wait forever,” reflects David. “I am personally more shocked at this point that she would be interested in me after all I have done. I mean, there have been some truly cowardly moves on my part as far as Juliette’s relationship is concerned. I wouldn’t tell her about any of this after she’d lost her mind, went into a coma, just really struggled with memory loss and felt like she was going, you know, crazy. And I’m still sitting back like, “I don’t want to tell her. What if she leaves me?” So I hope we have to talk about things in a real way before we get back together, you know? I think Nick’s a guy who knows what he’s done to her and would probably do anything to get her back. So I think he’d wait for a long time.”

With three episodes remaining, David teases what fans can expect to see, not only in the finale, but headed into the show’s third season later this year as well.

“You could definitely see a Nick and Juliette reunion,” he teases. “And again, in Grimm fashion they love tearing people apart and bringing them back together so who knows how hard they’re going to make that for Nick and Juliette.”

“What you will be seeing that I haven’t spoken about yet is a lot of the undead. We deal with the undead in a way that’s really never been approached before – in very typical Grimm fashion. A level ten, as I like to call it, Wesen comes to Portland. We’ll be visited by an actor named Reg E. Cathey. He’s a wonderful actor who’s just been in House of Cards. He’s great. He plays this kind of powerful Wesen that we will be introduced to in the next couple of episodes. He’s pulling the strings controlling a lot of other types of Wesen. He has an army of people under his control that wreak havoc. We can call them the undead. So zombies quote unquote will be coming to Portland. And this is a longer story arc. And also as far as Adalind goes – the Adalind storyline is insane. And that’s all I’ll say about that.”

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