Reggie Lee is playing Sgt. Wu on NBC’s “Grimm”, which premieres on October 28th. Reggie is also co-starred in Sam Raimi’s “Drag Me to Hell”. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Reggie about his new show and what we can expect from season one.
Mike Gencarelli: Can you tell us about working on the series “Grimm”?
Reggie Lee: It’s going great. We are now filming our third episode and the show is what we call a procedural cop drama that takes fairy tales and drops them on their head. The series is from the creators of “Angel” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”. People are expecting this sort of dual world thing. This series is a little darker than the creator’s previous works and leans more to an “X-Files” type theme. The story follows Nick Burckhardt played by David Giuntoli who starts to see people transform into characters from the Grimm fairytales. He is the only one who can see these people transform so it creates an interesting dynamic between him and the other detectives. Everything is an adventure on this show.
MG: What can you tell us about your character?
RL: I play Sgt. Wu and he is basically a smart ass sergeant. The character is a lot of fun and he technically really smart but he also has some great one liners. We find out as the series progresses that he has an addiction problem that is tied to one of the other characters on the show.
MG: What has it been like filming in Portland?
RL: Portland is unbelievable! It’s just really great! Portland is almost like the 7th lead character in the show. The landscape really lends to the story. Everything about the city is just great.
MG: What has it been like working with the rest of the cast?
RL: It’s been great. I have known Silas Weir Mitchell for quite awhile and it’s been great being back on a show with him again. David Giuntoli is a fresh new face and he has done really well. We are all on the same level in with our careers so there really isn’t one person who gets more attention than another. We have been really close since the start and I think both of these things have helped the show.
MG: How does this series differ from the others you have been involved in?
RL: This one is different because I have been with it from the ground up. The other shows I have worked on I have joined in the second season or there was a story arc that I was involved in as a reoccurring character. The other great thing about “Grimm” is that they 
created this character specifically for me after I had auditioned for a different role that I did not get. This character is really fun. I generally always play assholes and this character is nothing of the sort. I have a role in a film coming out Oct. 28 called “Safe” and I love it because I am finally being given characters that are diverse. My previous roles were just killing the guy and have no remorse. These recent roles are more like real life and I get to branch out.
MG: Since the character was created for you were you allowed any creative control?
RL: When you go with a series you almost always do. After an episode or two the writers start to write for your voice. Before I jumped into the project I wanted to know what exactly the character was going to be like. Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt who have been in the business for some time now have not one ounce of ego. They are the most collaborative people along with Sam Raimi that I have ever worked with.