David Giuntoli Talks ‘Grimm’ Season Four, Nick Without His Powers, and Wesen

David Giuntoli Grimm Season 4 Interview
David Giuntoli as Nick Burkhardt in ‘Grimm’ (Photo by: Scott Green / NBC)

Season four of NBC’s dramatic series Grimm is set to premiere on Friday, October 24, 2014 at 9pm ET/PT, and if you recall in the season three finale, Nick (David Giuntoli) lost his Grimm powers and can no longer see Wesen. How that will affect both his personal life and his professional life as a police detective will play out over the fourth season of the hit series.

In support of the show’s upcoming season four premiere, Giuntoli took part in a conference call to discuss all things Grimm and changes we can expect to see in the new season.

David Giuntoli Grimm Interview

Can you talk about how Nick is going to be handling the fact that he doesn’t have his Grimm powers anymore?

David Giuntoli: “Yes, Grimm powers are gone from Nick and he may or may not – I mean, he’s kind of enjoying his new normalcy, I think, in a lot of ways. But he also knows that the Wesen are out there. So first and foremost he’s going to be using Trubel [played by Jacqueline Toboni] as his seeing eye Grimm. He is going to be tapping Monroe, which he used to do, tapping on his shoulder quite a bit. He’s going to be using his team of Wesen and Grimms to try to do what he used to be able to do. But he doesn’t have his powers anymore, and that means that not only can he not see the Wesen, he’s just not as powerful as he was.”

Can you talk about working with Jacqueline?

David Giuntoli: “Jacqueline Toboni was just such a breath of fresh air on our set. She’s so fresh and talented and eager. It seems as though Grimms can only be Italian Americans. We had Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, David Giuntoli, Jacqueline Toboni… I don’t know if that’s what they’re going for, but it happened. So we love it. And, yes, she’s incredible. She’s like a little sis.”

Now that Nick is de-Grimmed, which of his other qualities do you think he’ll be focusing on more?

David Giuntoli: “He has to focus on being a cop again. He used to solve crimes without having blatant tells as to who did this. So now he has to remember that he was a good detective and start solving cases the old-fashioned way: through evidence.”

How will his relationships change this season?

David Giuntoli: “Well, up to where we are, you know, Nick and Juliette are enjoying… You know, here’s the thing. Even though he’s not a Grimm, there’s not like a peace that comes with it. We know about the world. We know what’s going on out there, and they know about us. I depend more on Monroe. I depend more on Trubel. She and I grow very close. Again, she’s much like a young sister to me or a daughter to me. And that’s what you’ll be seeing.”

Why do you think Grimm is such a popular show?

David Giuntoli: “The writing. I mean, it’s fun. It’s fun TV. It’s popcorn. It knows what it is and it’s not trying to be anything else. And I think we deliver kind of action-packed fun every episode. If decapitating people is what you consider to be fun, then that’s what we do.”

What do you think about this storyline and what is it like playing him in a different way?

David Giuntoli: “Yes, it’s fun to just be a normal dude again who is still somehow tormented by knowing that there is this other world out there though. He’s no longer really a part of it. He’s just kind of adjacent to it. [I’m] playing it like it was a great loss of almost like a loved one. This thing I had become I hated so much in the beginning – these Grimm powers – and then suddenly, slowly, came to really love and depend on, now it’s gone. So it was a painful process to go through and the bright side could be it could make things better for Juliette and me. But, yes, I am no longer the Grimm. There is still a Grimm on screen, so it was true to the title of our show. But it was fun to play a normal guy.”

Last season there were times when Nick took a backseat to other characters’ storylines. Is he going to really step up this season to be more in the forefront?

David Giuntoli: “Seems to be the case. That seems to be the case as these episodes go on. We’ve had some great additions to the cast – Jacqueline Toboni as Trubel and that storyline, it rightfully took the forefront for a little while. And it starts to get more into Nick, Hank, and Monroe trying to solve these crimes.

Part of the joys of it is it’s become more of an ensemble. That’s lovely to me. I think it’s more fun for everyone else too. Get to act in all these different dynamics and with all these different people, so I think it’s a nice thing.”

Would you say that his losing his powers is similar to someone who might have lost their eyesight or limb or something like that as far as at least his detective work?

David Giuntoli: “Absolutely. I mean, how will he deal with losing his powers? Will he be the same cop? The same boyfriend? The same friend? The same threat to Wesen? It is a disability and it changes things for as long as he’s no longer a Grimm.”

He knows there are threats out there now, but he can’t see them and that would be really terrifying.

David Giuntoli: “It’s very terrifying on that level, and it’s also just difficult on a human level. Because, you know, he had this identity and it’s no longer attached to him. It’s like he lost an important job. It’s just he’s no longer the thing he thought [he was], his whole reason for living was to battle these Wesen and fight. He had the rare blood to be able to see evil and it’s gone. So, yes.”

What can you tease us about Wesens that we’re going to see in this new season? Will there be any characters that come from Latin American folklore?

David Giuntoli: “Yes. Absolutely. One of the fun Wesen…one of my favorite episodes of the season is we deal with the Chupacabra. We just vaguely finished filming that episode. We have many new wonderful Wesen. We have the Gedachtnis Esser, which is the Octopus Man. We have the Schinderdiv demon beast with like chin fangs. We have a golem, which is a piece of Jewish folklore. So we go all over the place through all cultures. But Chupacabra would be the Latin American.”

What’s going to happen with the Chupacabra?

David Giuntoli: “Gosh, I don’t know what I can say. I can say that we have to use Juliette quite a bit. She has a mastery of the Spanish language, so she needs to help Nick and Hank and Monroe out quite a bit. We learn the actual origin of what the Chupacabra is and its relation to the Wesen community. So it’s an interesting take.”

What was your initial reaction to getting that season three finale script and seeing that he’d be losing his powers?

David Giuntoli: “I thought – I don’t know. I mean, I was excited. It’s always fun to play these new situations. I knew it would shake things up as to I would now be needing the use of young inexperienced kind of off-the-cuff Grimm, Trubel. And I knew that that would create a lot of problems. But I was excited to see what would happen with Juliette and Nick’s relationship and how his new identity as just a detective — a normal guy — how that would shape his relationships.”

How do you think we’re going to see the team’s relationship with Trubel evolve this season now that they really need her?

David Giuntoli: “She becomes more ingrained in the fabric of our lives. I desperately need to teach her what it is to be a Grimm. It’s not just a free pass to go kick Wesen ass all day long. I try to show her the finer points. I try to tell her that I would actually try to use the law before I would just, you know, go all rogue and Grimm.

Can you talk a little bit about some of your favorite fairy tales, Grimm or otherwise? Were they things that scared you?

David Giuntoli: “Well, I don’t remember honestly the Grimm’s Fairy Tales being a big part of my life. Yes, there were things that scared me. I mean, I think I’ve said in the past I was raised in a very Catholic setting. So, you know, I had that like almost like James Joycean fear of God and the devil and stuff. And then I also happened to see The Exorcist when I was like eight years old. And I would be like 6’4″ right now if I hadn’t seen that. It destroyed me. I was so afraid of like the devil and demons and all that kind of stuff. So yes, terrifying. I loved scary movies and they were the bane of my life.”

Is there anything on this show that has given you a nightmare?

David Giuntoli: “No. I mean, I see all the work that goes into this. But some things creep me out when I walk onto set and see a body there lying completely with a severed head next to it, and it previously looked like the guest star. I mean like it can be eerie, but no. No nightmares.”

Do you think Wu will ever find out about Nick and that Wesen are real? Do you think he should find out or do you think he should remain kept in the dark?

David Giuntoli: “That’s a very good question. I think that there’s going to come a point where he’s going to have to find out. I don’t think he should take it too easily. I don’t think he will if he does. But, yes, I think that he will at one point have to find out. I think it’s fun that he does not know at this point. But, you know, the poor guy’s being driven insane.”