Actress Claire Coffee, new Mom in real life to son Cal, with husband Chris Thile from the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek chats about love, life and her character on GRIMM the once evil, new mother and former CGI enhanced Hexenbiest, Adalind.
It seems like Adalind is changing for the better. Does she want to change back into her evil witch character again?
Claire Coffee: She finally feels like her life is far better without being a Hexenbiest than it is being a Hexenbiest. But her fear in the beginning is that this is a suppressant that they gave her to suppress her powers. They could trickle back in at any moment. And she is really scared of that happening because the relationship that is building with Nick. She really wants to do it right this time.
How is her relationship with Nick going to be as time moves on?
Claire Coffee: At the beginning of the season they find themselves at a bit of a crossroads; Nick having lost his mother, and Juliette – the love of his life. And Adalind has no one. They really do bond over this child where, the only feeling that matters to them is keeping this child happy and healthy, so they form a bond over that.
How has motherhood been for you?
Claire Coffee: Really great. Cal is wonderful, and I get to bring him to the set. He’s like the set mascot. I feel so much better informed this season, playing the role of a mother, after having one myself.
Have you had a chance to reflect on the relationship between Nick and Adalind?
Claire Coffee: In the beginning she was evil. She was actually one of the first Grimm I think we saw, or the last time we saw Volga.
Your character has a huge arc.
Claire Coffee: Oh yes. I think rollercoaster defines it most accurately. I really do try to take it day-by-day. We only get the scripts a week in advance. I never know where she is going, which helps, because you can take each insane thing at face value, and not worry about how it’s going to affect things in the future. But you know as an actress – as an actress that’s really all you want, is to be able to play extraordinary circumstances. And I feel like I got to play three different characters in the same show so far, so it’s been great fun for me.
When this series started you were a guest star. And now you are a main component of the main storyline. That says a lot about your talent, about the creative team’s confidence in your ability and the fans desire to see more of you.
Claire Coffee: That’s a very flattering way to look at it for sure. I’m so grateful I had more than one episode. Before Grimm I’d done a fair amount of being a guest star with promises if the series gets picked up to be a regular. And then the series doesn’t go and that doesn’t happen. I really at this point consider myself insanely lucky. And I feel great that the fans have this love to hate me thing going this long.
Adalind is a great character. When you signed up for the role did you have any idea that she would be this complex, or did you think it was a quick evil character?
Claire Coffee: When I signed up it was one episode with a potential to recur. I was a henchman for Renard and that’s as far as I knew.
Now that Adiland has a new baby, does she have fears that this one is going to get taken away ?
Claire Coffee: Yes, there’s a fear that this one will get taken away. And with the new stress that arrived on the scene in Portland, her fears are not assuaged in any way. She’s relying on Nick for protection.
If she’s no longer a Hexenbiest, she doesn’t have a way to protect herself or her baby anymore.
Claire Coffee: Right.
In the past, GRIMM’s executive producer, David Greenwalt has been a champion of complicated, multi-layered, female characters. Have you found that to be a factor with your character? How have you found the experience of working with him as a collaborative partner?
Claire Coffee: He’s fantastic. Both Jim KOUF and David Greenwalt, they balance each other so perfectly. David is a champion of the show and everyone involved. I get calls from him every so often telling me, “you’re doing such a great job. We’re so happy that you are with us”. The feeling on set is that the both of them have created one big family. Everyone is just really wanting everybody else to succeed. It’s rare and really wonderful. That’s a very long winded way of saying yes, David Greenwalt is a fantastic champion of complicated female characters.
What do you like and dislike about the new Adalind?
Claire Coffee: What I like about the new Adalind is I get to shoot with the rest of the cast more frequently now that Adalind is in Portland and hanging out with the gang. What do I not like? It’s not that I don’t like something, but I mess Adalind’s fashion.
What’s up with Northwestern University? They must have a great drama program, because you graduated from Northwestern and so did Marina Squerciati from Chicago P.D.
Claire Coffee: Yes, (Marina) and I were friends. (Marina) is only a year behind me at school. And we were friends at school. It’s a really, really good program, Northwestern is. There’s a lot of drama schools that do well in Hollywood, but Northwestern, it’s not a conservatory so you have other classes. It’s not just theater based training. They don’t have auditions. It’s based on your GPA and credentials. So they end up getting a lot of students who are very hard workers and highly motivated. And you know all the skills to really help you in the business where tenacity is kind of the name of the game. Student Theater was the main focus at Northwestern and all these great theater groups. When you were in all these theater groups you really had to do everything, produce and work behind the scenes and all that. They also teach Computer Graphic Imaging (CGI) at Northwestern, which is the process that makes the Hexenbiest visually so amazing.
It seems that the definition of what a Hexenbiest is has evolved. Can you speak how that has changed over the years?
Claire Coffee: I think it’s gotten more specific . At the start I was the only Hexenbiest and we had the B episode where you learned a little bit more about Hexenbiest, the sort of lethal, witch creatures that no one in the Wesen community liked. It’s gotten more specific with the rules of the Hexenbiest’s age, and how you can become a Hexenbiest. And you know Juliette became a Hexenbiest. She was not born a Hexenbiest so therefore her powers are more deadly. And then we have the Zauberbiest which is the captain. The male version of the Hexenbiest.
In addition to acting, Coffee writes a fun and relatable fashion blog called Full Disclothesure (www.clairecoffee.com/full-disclothesure/). The blog chronicles the nitty gritty reality of her red carpet “moments” and offers time-saving beauty, fashion and lifestyle hacks for the modern girl.GRIMMFridays at 9/8c on NBC
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