With the news that Friday’s episode of NBC’s “Grimm” would heavily feature Reggie Lee’s character, Sgt. Wu, fans of the actor wondered if the character was going to meet his end.
Lee said that there’s no truth to the speculation.
“No, I’m not leaving ‘Grimm,’” Lee told TheWrap. “I know some people wondered that. There’s this one person whose Twitter account is @TeamSgtWu and she was like, ‘Should I be nervous about this upcoming episode?’ I said, ‘No, don’t worry.’”
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In fact, fans can take comfort in the fact that Wu is currently shooting Episode 20 of the series in Portland.
What is true is that Friday’s episode, titled “Mommy Dearest,” places Wu in direct danger as it explores folklore from the character’s (and Lee’s own) Filipino heritage: a monster called the “Aswang.” The storyline will stay with Wu for quite some time.
“This is going to be a lingering affect on him,” Lee said. “There’s no way after my character goes through this experience that it won’t be at the forefront of his consciousness.”
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Written by Brenna Kouf and directed by Norberto Barba, “Mommy Dearest” features an Aswang, which creeps into Portland with its sight set on a young expectant couple who are close friends of Wu. The officer will become a big help to Nick (David Giuntoli) and Hank (Russell Hornsby) as they try to figure out what this dangerous new threat really is.
Aside from placing his heritage front and center in his role on the NBC thriller, Lee was integral to developing the storyline. “Grimm” producers approached him to see if he knew of any Filipino folklore that lent itself to being adapted on the series.
“I gave them a list of three and they chose the Aswang,” he recalled. “And by the time I had heard which one they picked, unbeknownst to me, they had already started a story outline. According to the creators, this is the creepiest monster they’ve had yet and they’ve called it one of their best episodes yet, which is a credit to the crew and cast.”
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He continued, “I didn’t want to see the rendering of the monster until I actually got to that part of my preparation — that sort of came at the end. But when they showed it to me, I was like ‘Holy s–t. This sucker is badass.’ It’s definitely one of their creepiest monsters yet. And not to mention, one of their most invasive monsters yet.”
Lee will be throwing a viewing party for the episode on Friday, complete with Filipino food. For an actor who has played all kinds of ethnicities from Korean on “Prison Break” to Chinese on the “Pirates of the Caribbean” film franchise, he’s very proud to finally showcase his actual cultural background on “Grimm.”
“I love finally representing in that way,” he said. “There are not a lot of Filipino stories told in Hollywood — probably just one, this one. So, it’s kind of cool to facilitate that even in some small way.”
“Grimm” airs Fridays at 9/8c on NBC.