# Bree Turner
**Bree Turner** (Bree Nicole Turner) is an American actress and former professional dancer, born in 1977 in [Palo Alto, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/palo-alto-california), best known for playing the foxlike Wesen apothecary Rosalee Calvert on the NBC fantasy crime series *Grimm* (2011–2017).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877430) • [2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bree-turner/) Before becoming an actress she worked for about six years as a background dancer in commercials, music videos, and major Hollywood films, and she has described that career as the training ground that gave her the discipline to pursue acting.[3](https://beautyinterviews.com/bree-turner/) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877430)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1977, Palo Alto, California; height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877430) |
| Signature role | Rosalee Calvert on *Grimm* (NBC, 2011–2017), 100 episodes, joined mid-season 1 and promoted to series regular for season 2[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877430) • [2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bree-turner/) |
| First career | Professional dancer for about six years: background roles in *My Best Friend's Wedding*, *The Big Lebowski*, *She's All That*, and *Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me*[3](https://beautyinterviews.com/bree-turner/) • [2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bree-turner/) |
| Speaking debut | "Allison the Fish Girl" in *Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo* (1999)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877430) |
| Family | Daughter of former NFL linebacker Kevin Turner (Giants, Redskins, Seahawks, Browns); married orthopedic surgeon Justin Saliman in 2008, divorced 2018, with two children[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877430) • [4](https://www.filmweb.pl/person/Bree%2BTurner-6682) |
| Education | Monte Vista High School (graduated 1995); King's College London; dance at UCLA[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bree-turner/) |
| Recent work | Granya Marcil on *Law & Order: Special Victims Unit* (2019–2020); *Glass Houses* and *Me Too Nice* (2020)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877430) |
## Early life and dance career
Turner is one of four children and the only daughter of Kevin Turner, a professional football player whose NFL career took the family around the country; during her teens her parents settled in [Northern California](https://www.edgepedia.org/northern-california), where she first took up dance, training in everything from ballet to jazz.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877430) She graduated from Monte Vista High School in Danville in 1995, enrolled at [King's College London](https://www.edgepedia.org/kings-college-london), and then returned to California to study dance at the [University of California, Los Angeles](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-california-los-angeles).[2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bree-turner/)
At UCLA a dance agent discovered her, and she began working in commercials, music videos (with artists including [Brian Setzer](https://www.edgepedia.org/brian-setzer) and [Sugar Ray](https://www.edgepedia.org/sugar-ray)), and nationally televised award shows.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877430) In a 2009 interview she described the arrangement in practical terms: after about six years of dancing work she decided to switch to acting, having fallen in love with being on film sets.[3](https://beautyinterviews.com/bree-turner/) Her dance background put her in the background of major features, including *My Best Friend's Wedding* (1997), *She's All That* (1999), and [Mike Myers](https://www.edgepedia.org/mike-myers)' *Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me* (1999).[3](https://beautyinterviews.com/bree-turner/) She appeared in commercials for Hyundai, Gap, and Dr Pepper, and in the 2003 Budweiser spot "Top 10 of All-Time," which aired during the Super Bowl.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877430)
## Screen work in the 2000s
Turner's first speaking role in a feature film came as [Rob Schneider](https://www.edgepedia.org/rob-schneider)'s love interest, "Allison the Fish Girl," in *Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo* (1999).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877430) She then built a résumé weighted toward comedy: she opened the hit *The Wedding Planner* (2001) as a nervous bride, appeared in *Joe Dirt* (2001) and *American Pie 2* (2001), and played the snobby sorority sister Tiffany in *[Sorority Boys](https://www.edgepedia.org/sorority-boys)* (2002).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877430) • [2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bree-turner/) She played head cheerleader Tina Hammersmith in *Bring It On Again* (2004), Liz Knowles, a Hollywood producer, in the family comedy *Firehouse Dog* (2007), and [Lindsay Lohan](https://www.edgepedia.org/lindsay-lohan)'s best friend Dana in *Just My Luck* (2006).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877430)
Television gave her steadier parts. She had recurring appearances on *Spin City* (ABC, 1996–2002) and *Cold Case* (CBS, 2003–2010), a starring role as Marjorie on the short-lived Oxygen sitcom *Good Girls Don't* (2004), and an episode of Showtime's *Masters of Horror* (2005) directed and co-written by [Don Coscarelli](https://www.edgepedia.org/don-coscarelli).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877430) • [2](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bree-turner/) In 2009 she played Joy, Katherine Heigl's best friend and co-worker, in the romantic comedy *The Ugly Truth*, opposite Heigl and [Gerard Butler](https://www.edgepedia.org/gerard-butler).[3](https://beautyinterviews.com/bree-turner/) In the 2012 Sundance drama *Smashed*, starring [Mary Elizabeth Winstead](https://www.edgepedia.org/mary-elizabeth-winstead), she played Freda, a crack addict.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877430) • [5](https://www.assignmentx.com/2013/exclusive-interview-bree-turner-gets-grimm/) She also appeared in the independent mockumentary *The Quest for Length* (2002), described by IMDb as a Sundance award-winning piece.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877430)
## Grimm and Rosalee Calvert
Turner's longest and most prominent role is Rosalee Calvert on *Grimm* (NBC, 2011–2017), the fantasy crime drama set in [Portland, Oregon](https://www.edgepedia.org/portland-oregon), in which a homicide detective who is a Grimm, a hunter able to see the hidden faces of supernatural creatures called Wesen, works alongside a Wesen watchmaker, Monroe ([Silas Weir Mitchell](https://www.edgepedia.org/silas-weir-mitchell-actor)).[5](https://www.assignmentx.com/2013/exclusive-interview-bree-turner-gets-grimm/) Rosalee, a foxlike Fuchsbau, inherits her brother's spice shop, which doubles as an apothecary stocked with ingredients for potions and remedies.[5](https://www.assignmentx.com/2013/exclusive-interview-bree-turner-gets-grimm/)
The part was not planned as a series-regular role. Turner joined the show as a guest in the middle of the first season, appearing in five season 1 episodes (episodes 15, 16, 17, 18, and 22), and the on-screen chemistry with Mitchell led the producers to make her a regular from the start of season 2.[5](https://www.assignmentx.com/2013/exclusive-interview-bree-turner-gets-grimm/) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877430) The producers called her about a month after season 1 wrapped; she was five months pregnant at the time, and her pregnancy was written into the season 2 story with a plot that sent Rosalee out of Portland to nurse a "sick aunt" for the first stretch of episodes while Turner gave birth.[5](https://www.assignmentx.com/2013/exclusive-interview-bree-turner-gets-grimm/) The character then appeared in 100 episodes across the show's run.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877430)
The writers built a slow-paced romance between Rosalee and Monroe that Turner has described as deliberately un-hollywood: the couple married on screen in the show's Wesen wedding storyline, and their relationship became a fan favorite.[6](https://www.scifivision.com/interviews/1930-silas-weir-mitchell-a-bree-turner-talk-wesen-nuptuals-on-grimm) • [7](https://www.showbizjunkies.com/tv/bree-turner-grimm-season5-interview/) Across the later seasons her character moved from a guarded outsider with a troubled past to one of the team's central members; in a season 5 interview Turner noted that Rosalee had grown stronger each season and that her old addictions and past would resurface that year.[7](https://www.showbizjunkies.com/tv/bree-turner-grimm-season5-interview/) The show celebrated its hundredth episode in its fifth season and ran for a sixth, ending in 2017.[8](https://www.assignmentx.com/2016/grimm-bree-turner-exclusive-interview/) She also appeared in the show's companion webisodes, *Grimm: Bad Hair Day* (2013) and *Grimm: Love Is in the Air* (2014).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877430)
## Later career
After *Grimm* ended, Turner worked steadily in television and independent film. She appeared in a single episode of *9-1-1* (2018) as Sarah, played Maddie in the short *I'm F%$#ing Fine* (2019), and had a two-episode arc as Granya Marcil on *Law & Order: Special Victims Unit* in 2019–2020.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877430) In 2020 she played Madeline Cooper in the television movie *Glass Houses* and Jenny in the short *Me Too Nice*; more recent credits include the 2022 podcast series *The Big Lie* (as Fran Buckley) and the 2024 short *A Guest in My Country* (as Brooke Boshell).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877430)
## Personal life
Turner married Justin Saliman on June 22, 2008; the marriage ended in divorce in 2018, and the couple have two children, a daughter, Stella Jean (born 2010), and a son, Dean (born 2012).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877430) • [4](https://www.filmweb.pl/person/Bree%2BTurner-6682) She has said that growing up she played video games on a Nintendo console, favoring *Mario Bros.* and *Track and Field*, and remains a fan of games.[9](https://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Bree_Turner)
## References
1. [Bree Turner (I), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0877430)
2. [Bree Turner – Actress, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bree-turner/)
3. [Bree Turner interview, Beauty Interviews (March 2009)](https://beautyinterviews.com/bree-turner/)
4. [Bree Turner (I), FilmWeb profile with personal data and children's birth dates](https://www.filmweb.pl/person/Bree%2BTurner-6682)
5. [Exclusive Interview: Bree Turner gets GRIMM, Assignment X (May 2013)](https://www.assignmentx.com/2013/exclusive-interview-bree-turner-gets-grimm/)
6. [SciFi Vision – Silas Weir Mitchell & Bree Turner Talk Wesen Nuptuals on Grimm](https://www.scifivision.com/interviews/1930-silas-weir-mitchell-a-bree-turner-talk-wesen-nuptuals-on-grimm)
7. [Bree Turner Interview – 'Grimm' Season Five and Rosalee's Journey, Showbiz Junkies (August 2015)](https://www.showbizjunkies.com/tv/bree-turner-grimm-season5-interview/)
8. [GRIMM: Bree Turner chats her role in Season 5 – exclusive interview, Assignment X (May 2016)](https://www.assignmentx.com/2016/grimm-bree-turner-exclusive-interview/)
9. [Bree Turner birth data and biography excerpt, Astrotheme](https://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Bree_Turner)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 2000s onward › Surnames T*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license