Sasha Roiz on Grimm season 3, Pompeii and more…

Warning: contains some plot details for Grimm season three.

Grimm’s enigmatic Captain Renard Sasha Roiz hints at what we can expect in season three of the show, and talks about his new role in the latest action blockbuster, Pompeii.

Renard is easily the most complex character in the show and he clearly has his own agenda. Do you think he ever does anything altruistically or is there always some reward for him in the long run?

Generally it’s rather selfish ambitions but there are times when he does do things altruistically. He does have somewhat of a soft spot for Nick at this point – but ultimately his own ambitions will always win out as far as his course of action.

As a viewer it’s been quite difficult to gauge Renard’s true feelings about Adalind’s baby. What are your thoughts?

The storyline with Adalind and the baby is certainly going to be one of the more interesting storylines this season. I was just talking to (Grimm creator) David Greenwalt about certain aspects of it as well, because it’s very complex. I think Adalind, as much as she’s been a thorn in his side, there is some sort of relationship, something unspoken. He has a respect for her because she’s become a worthy advisory of sorts. There definitely is an attraction between those two.

But all the stuff going on across the pond is going definitely to challenge them. It’s a really interesting storyline that has a unique arc this season.

You’re currently filming season three – can you provide any clues as to what we can expect in the climactic episodes?

There is the baby, which as far as the mythology for the show… along with the baby comes a really interesting storyline, there is something quite special about this particular child. It will also challenge Renard on a personal level as there’s a child involved at this point.

There is the upcoming marriage [between Monroe and Rosalee] and that’s a very interesting development as it has all sorts of ramifications as far as the cross-Wesen aspect of the relationship, and how that affects their own families and their personal journeys and their relationship to Nick of course.

And of course we have things that will come back from season two. It hard not to give too much away but there’s definitely a nice slow build throughout this season that culminates in some intense drama.

You’ve worked on TV shows before. How does Grimm compare?

My experience prior to Grimm was Caprica, which was a very different show; it was a much more serious tone.

What’s so lovely about Grimm in so far as the material is that there’s a certain levity. You can’t get too long into a story without some level of levity or comedy or humour. It’s the beautiful balance of the show.

It is [also] becoming more of an ensemble, especially at the outset of season three, you see the entire cast of characters responding together to help protect Nick, so that was a lot of fun for us as we haven’t had the chance to work together. A lot of the characters’ storylines don’t intertwine so closely so this was an opportunity for us all to work together. You’ll see it become more and more of an ensemble as the season progresses.

We are such close friends here, we are all sequestered in Portland. It reflects that in the show.

Had you previously followed the work of Grimm creators David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf?

I was aware of them, but I didn’t have any interaction with them – although I discovered years and years ago before I became an actor and I was playing in a band [Tricky Woo], one of our songs was actually licensed for Buffy The Vampire Slayer! It just sort of dawned on me, ‘oh we do have a little bit of a connection’ from the late nineties.

You are set to appear in Paul W.S. Anderson’s new movie, Pompeii – can you tell me a little bit about that, and your character in it?

I play a character called Proculus, who represents the corrupt aspect of Rome; Kiefer Sutherland and I are cohorts in that.

It’s a wonderful cast. It was a really interesting production. We spent three months shooting up in Toronto, Canada. It was really physically challenging. There’s a volcano, there’s a love story, all this amazing components but it was physically demanding to an extent I’ve never experienced before, but it was really rewarding.

We were beat up quite well by the end of it.

Doesn’t that go hand-in-hand with being beaten up quite often on Grimm as well?

I do tend to get beaten up quite a bit. I don’t know what it is about me, but I somehow end up on the losing end of a battle scene.

Sasha Roiz, thank you very much!

Grimm season 3 starts on Wednesday the 5th of February at 9pm on WATCH in the UK (Sky TV 109 & Virgin TV 124).

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