Grimm finishes off what’s been a riveting third season with “Blond Ambition” airing at 9pm on May 16, 2014 on NBC. The final episode of this season features the much-anticipated wedding of Rosalee and Monroe while their close friends Juliette and Nick discover something that could tear their relationship to pieces. Meanwhile, Adalind’s up to her old tricks, which will affect all of the Grimm gang.

In support of Grimm‘s season three finale, Claire Coffee (‘Adalind’) and Sasha Roiz (‘Renard’) took part in a conference call to discuss – without giving away any spoilers – what’s happened to their characters over the course of the season.

Sasha Roiz and Claire Coffee Interview

How far in advance do you know what’s coming for your character?

Claire Coffee: “Not very far.”

Sasha Roiz: “No.”

Claire Coffee: “Shockingly close to when it actually happens. I think Jim [Kouf] and David [Greenwalt] are really good at keeping all of this from us. Because, you know, things change and I think if we knew too far in advance, it just subconsciously starts changing the way you’re playing the character. I think so.”

Sasha Roiz: “We probably get scripts at most two weeks before we shoot it.”

More than any other character this season, your character seems to have been put through an incredible range of emotions. How was that to play?

Claire Coffee: “Yes, I was telling Jim and David just how grateful [I am]. It’s kind of like going back to theater school. It’s like just a massive exercise in exploring the range of human emotions. Yes, I think over those three episodes, I got to play every single one of them. I just consider myself lucky, and you know, hope that I didn’t drop the ball.”

Was it easier for you to play Adalind as scared or upset or the scenes where her anger and maternal instinct takes over?

Claire Coffee: “I don’t know that any one is easier or harder. I mean I think that anything that requires a lot of emotion, be it rage or pain, is exhausting after a while. It’s because the energy level, it’s just taking a lot out of you. So it was definitely an exhausting two weeks.”

Why do you think Grimm is so popular? What makes people tune in?

Sasha Roiz: “I hope because to some extent the characters are intriguing and relatable. I give the writers a lot of credit. I think they come up with some incredibly compelling storylines.”

Claire Coffee: “I think it has both..there’s a lot of action each episode and the ticking clock of the episode itself and the monster of the week and figuring out the case of the week. But at the same time, you have this royal storyline that’s serialized and you follow that through the season. I think all those cliffhangers that keep people coming back.”

What can you tell us about Adalind’s big plan, without giving too much away?

Claire Coffee: “She’s incredibly motivated to get her baby back. She’s got tunnel vision where that is concerned because I think she just feels a little bit aimless and lost without this child now that she’s learned how to love another human being. I don’t think she fully understands the ramifications of what she’s about to do, but she feels within her right to do it. And yes, it causes a massive rift in Nick and Juliette’s relationship and it changes them – maybe forever. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Sasha, what is Renard going to do about it because he obviously knows she’s up to something?

Sasha Roiz: “I think that she, Adalind, has gone too far this time and I think by the end of the episode Renard sees pure rage. And it could get pretty nasty between the two of them. But you know, that’s what I think, but then again there’s always some twists and turns along the way. But certainly you find him at his wits end with her.”

We’ve never seen the body of Renard’s brother, Eric, so maybe he’s not dead after all. Do either of you think he’s alive?

Claire Coffee: “I know James had some scheduling conflicts…James Frain had some scheduling conflicts. But I know that the writers did have ideas about what to do with the character, and that he certainly wasn’t dead. But I don’t know. I haven’t actually given that too much thought. There’s been so many other things on the table.”

Sasha Roiz: “I mean, I can’t tell you with any certainty that he’s alive or dead because I think your approach is probably quite a good one: unless you see the body, you probably shouldn’t completely believe it. But then again, you know, that’s all we know up to this point so we’ll have to wait and see. But, yes, it’s Grimm, anything’s possible.”

What was your favorite part about working together and creating that kind of odd but exciting chemistry between you both?

Claire Coffee: “Well, I don’t think we set out to create odd and exciting chemistry, but that’s a fabulous result – and a fabulously unexpected result. I think we do have a lot of fun working together. And Sasha’s just such a generous actor to work with and I’m not saying that just because he’s on the other end of the line. We’ll meet up before and kind of suss out what the situation is because we do find ourselves in some kind of outlandishly emotional places. But I think the most fun…I mean, obviously, when he is without clothing, that was a pretty fun day on set.”

Sasha Roiz: “That was pretty funny. That was pretty funny.”

Claire Coffee: “Yes I would say more funny than fun for both of us because we’re both wearing various weird flesh-colored underthings. But, yes, it’s good that we are such good friends, I think.”

Sasha Roiz: “Not the most flattering outfits.”

Claire Coffee: “Yes, it’s about the least flattering. If they could show behind the scenes, I would say it’s the most unflattering that we’ve looked. But the movie magic makes it look so good.”

Sasha Roiz: “It’s funny how the sexiest scenes behind the scenes are the least sexy things you’ve ever witnessed.

Yes, Claire and I have a lovely friendship on set and I love working with her. I think she’s done a tremendous job this season. Like you mentioned earlier, her character arc has been enormous and she’s really stepped up so it’s been fun to watch. And, also, their relationship is just so absolutely crazy that it’s really fun to always be challenged with that. Because just when you think it can’t get any crazier, they manage to write something new in. So it always remains a little challenging every single time we face off.”

Sasha, they’ve never explained Renard’s wedding ring. Is there a tragic love affair maybe in his past?

Sasha Roiz: “You know, I know that’s been a question posed by fans for like at least 2-3 years now, and a wonderful question. I wish I had the exact answer for you, but like all things Grimm, we kind of get around to answering all those questions with time. And I suspect that we’ll probably answer that one as well, soon. Like, for instance, even this season we answered the question of, ‘How does Nick see them and how do they know that he’s a Grimm?’ So we get around to answering these little things.

But the real story, I think, is it’s probably a relic from a storyline that never got used and had to be scrapped at some point. I think when initially Renard came on the scene, I think it was considered maybe he had been married or widowed or something. We never really got around to using that storyline, so I think we’ll probably owe you an answer at some point soon.”

Are you looking forward to the instant fan feedback you’ll be receiving after the finale airs?

Claire Coffee: “I just hope nobody knows where I live.”

Sasha Roiz: “It’s always fun to get the fan reaction. It’s really exciting to see how they respond.”

Claire Coffee: “It’s one of my favorite things on Friday nights is live Tweeting and just getting that instant reply. And our fans are so funny and clever and they really don’t let you get away with anything, which is nice. But I am a little terrified for this Friday, a little worried. I think people always say like, ‘Oh, we love to hate your character,’ and it may just turn to like, ‘Oh we hate you so much!'”

Sasha, there’s been so much back and forth on whether or not you and Nick really trust each other but it seems you two are at least sort of trusting each other at this point. Do you see that changing in any respect now that the baby involvement happened?

Sasha Roiz: “Sure. I don’t think we’re moving in any time soon, but I sense that wouldn’t this be just the perfect time to let him down. You know, that dynamic is always going to be a tenuous one and I think it should be. We’ll see what happens. But I suspect that just as you feel comfortable something probably will pull the rug from under your feet, as it should be in my opinion.”

Adalind actually has someone that she loves, finally, so now is she being driven by ambition or a sense of revenge?

Claire Coffee: “I don’t think it’s revenge. I think she really wants her baby back. Her baby gives her a place in the world, really. Her relationship with Renard notwithstanding, she don’t have any allies, any friends, no job, like really nothing…”

Sasha Roiz: “And whose fault is that, Claire?”

Claire Coffee: “Yes, he does have a point there. Everyone has such good memories around here. But I think she thinks that Viktor has her child. She’s not realizing the way that what she’s doing is going to affect everybody else. And you know, Nick, Juliette, Renard, all of that, to her the most important thing is this baby. She doesn’t know that Nick and the gang took the baby. If she knew that, then sure, revenge would come into play. I’m assuming. But at this point it really is that she needs this child.”

Adalind has been seen so often as the villain, but the episode where the baby got taken away from her was just heartbreaking. Has it been a surprising shift for you that they’re showing two sides of your character?

Claire Coffee: “Yes. The writers, they did such a good job with that arc and really built it slowly enough so that the change kind of made sense and felt organic – at least for me when I was playing it. And then to kind of round out the season getting her back to a little bit of her old self and that picking up… I had a conversation with them when I read all these scripts to figure out to play the character with parts of old Adalind and how much to incorporate with this new sense of empathy and feeling and being in love with this child. I think they did such a great job kind of balancing all of the bits of her personality.”

With regard to this new version with Adalind, we know she very much wants to get her baby back. It looked for a minute that maybe she was turning a corner and changing completely, but now it seems that she is ultimately a villain. What is your take on that? Is she just a villain or is there more to her than that? Are there redeeming qualities that maybe we’ll see from her down the line?

Claire Coffee: “I think she’s a more dangerous villain, I think, because she’s operating of her own accord and she has this powerful motivation now. And they say, ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.’ I think she knows one way of getting what she wants and that’s death and destruction via magic spells. She’s using what she knows and I don’t think she’s ever going to be good, but I think she feels just and justified in what she’s doing and the steps she’s taking.”

If it were up to you, is there something that you’d still really like to see happen to your characters that hasn’t yet?

Sasha Roiz: [Laughing] “Well I’d like to survive season four.”

Claire Coffee: “I got to wear jeans.”

Sasha Roiz: “Such different objectives. I’d like to survive, ‘I got to wear jeans.’ All right. That’s awesome. Yes, that would be my big objective. Thank you. Claire, you were talking about denim?”

Claire Coffee: “Yes, well, I was so happy to be in jeans for season three. I would love to have as comfortable a wardrobe as that. You know, fewer skin tight pencil skirts, more sweaters.”

Sasha Roiz: “You rock those pencil skirts though. That’s your thing.”

Claire Coffee: “Thank you.”

What has surprised you most about your character of Renard this season? What aspect of him have you enjoyed most playing this year?

Sasha Roiz: “I certainly enjoyed the baby storyline. It was definitely fun to explore a different side, a paternal side, somebody you know more compassionate, concerned, and vulnerable consequently. So that was definitely a departure from how we see him in the past. And it was really fun to play in those emotions and to be challenged with them.”