Grimm Tidings: Bitsie Tulloch Previews Juliette’s Biest-ly Attitude Adjustment

Embrace the possibilities! Juliette Silverton, the heroine turned Hexenbiest played by Bitsie Tulloch on NBC’s Grimm, finds herself in one hot mess these days: Her new, oh-so-wicked persona has made her the mortal enemy of her longtime boyfriend, the crime-fighting Grimm Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli). But things take a twisty turn on the April 3 episode “Heartbreaker” (Friday, 9/8c), when Juliette stops fighting her biest-liness and starts to give into it. Tulloch gave us an exclusive preview.

Juliette is not just turning badass. In this week’s episode, she’s also a smartass. How much free will is involved here? Because she really seems to be loving this!
Something in her psyche is moving her deeper and deeper to the dark side. It’s harder to resist when Nick is around because she does love him, but with Renard [Sasha Roiz] she is going to get very heated and threatening and intimidating. She’s, like, “I want my old life back! I don’t like this. I don’t understand this. And if you don’t help me, I’m going to hurt you!” Her humanity is crumbling. She’s becoming a monster. But she’s also enjoying this a little bit, so there does seem to be some free will involved. Some of this was written into the script as a choice. They’ve made Juliette pretty bratty and snarky, and at first I was thrown by that. But then I was, like, “Okay! Let’s have some fun with this!”

Could you have ever in a million years predicted this?
Never. Juliette has been so stable and reliable for so long—three and a half seasons—that this is just crazy! And it gets even crazier. We’re heading to a season finale that’s pretty nuts and changes everything. It tops every other finale we’ve done by leaps and bounds.

Any chance of a Juliette-Renard romance, now that they’re both living under the same roof?
That’s TBD! There is always romantic potential…otherwise this wouldn’t be a good show! For now, Juliette is living with Renard because she doesn’t know how to control her powers and she needs to feel protected. She can’t go to Adalind [Claire Coffee]. Renard’s mom could help but she’s out of town. She needs to be around someone who knows the ins and outs of the Hexenbiest world. Plus, Renard and Juliette had that love triangle in Season 2, so they already have a relationship. Besides, she needs a place to stay. She’s not sleeping in her car anymore!

What’s the reaction when the Scooby Gang finds out about Juliette?
No one can believe it. They didn’t even know this was possible. Hexenbiests are supposed to be born, not made. Nick tells Hank [Russell Hornsby] all about it in [“Heartbreaker”]. Monroe and Rosalee [Silas Weir Mitchell and Bree Turner] find out in a later episode, and they’re, like, “Crap! How does this get fixed?” And they feel so guilty. This all happened because Juliette was trying to help them.

And where’s Nick with all this?
He’s so afraid of Juliette but his main focus is getting his life and his woman back. He does not want to give up hope, but it’s the showrunners’ intention to make this an irreparable situation and have Juliette’s behavior be irredeemable. She’s pissed! She doesn’t care that nobody meant for this to happen. In fact, she’s pointing fingers. There is nothing rational about Juliette right now.

What are you hearing from the fans?
Oh, they love it! But I’m also getting a lot of, “This is fun for now, but Nick and Juliette are still going to get back together and get married, right?”

How does it feel to play Nick and Juliette’s romantic bust-up now that you and Mr. Giuntoli are an item in real life?
Well, the timing is pretty wild! I’m not sure who knows we’re dating but I think a lot of the fans on social media have put two and two together and some are saying, “Wait a minute! As soon as they start dating in real life, you break up their characters?” And I kind of feel that way, too. The first time I read in a script that I had to be really rude to David, I was, like, “But I don’t want to be that way. I love you!” It’s hard, you know?

But you’re an actress. You must fake it!
[Laughs] Exactly!