In the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy, the primary care-giver for the seven superpowered children adopted by Sir Reginald Hargreeves (Colm Feore) is Grace (Jordan Claire Robbins), who appears to be the perfect housewife and mother, but as A.I., it’s actually because she was programmed that way. As the only mother Luther (Tom Hopper), Diego (David Castañeda), Allison (Emmy Raver-Lampman), Klaus (Robert Sheehan), Vanya (Ellen Page) and Number Five (Aidan Gallagher) have ever known, she has encouraged them through their own personal struggles, but she’s also made them wonder whether she’s evolved enough that her emotions toward them are real.

During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, actress Jordan Claire Robbins talked about how she came to be a part of The Umbrella Academy, what she was told about who Grace would be, what she was excited about exploring, developing her performance with showrunner Steve Blackman, how much Grace’s impeccable appearance helped inform the character, the unusual family dynamic, seeing herself with prosthetics and CGI, and how much she’s enjoying the reaction from everyone who’s watched and is still watching the series. She also talked about her experience doing an episode of The CW series Supernatural in Season 13, and the path she’d like to continue on, in her career.

Be aware that there are some spoilers discussed.

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Image via Netflix

Collider:  Grace is such an interesting character. Especially on a show where there are so many wacky, weird and wild things happening, it’s cool when you can still stand out among all of that.

JORDAN CLAIRE ROBBINS:  Yeah, so true. There are a lot of amazing characters, and everybody is very different, so it results in a really crazy world that’s tons of fun.

How did you come to be a part of The Umbrella Academy? Did you go through a whole audition process for the show?

ROBBINS:  It’s actually really funny how it came to me. I had a friend who was going out for it and she said, “This is amazing! I think you’d be a really good fit for this.” So, I asked my agent, back in Toronto, and they called casting, who said they would need a tape because I was in Vancouver, so I sent in a self-tape. And then, pretty much right away, I found out that I was being considered for it and, about a week later, it all came together. It was pretty fast, once they called and said that they knew I was the right one for it.

When you started on the journey with this character, what were you told about who she was? Did you have any idea exactly what she was or what this journey would be, or did you learn about that later on?

ROBBINS:  The first thing I did, when I got the role, was read the comic because, obviously, that’s really an amazing resource to have, but my character wasn’t really in the comic very much. It was obviously a really cool character, but there was a lot of questions. So, one of the first things that I did, once I got to Toronto, was to sit down with the showrunner (Steve Blackman) and Peter Hoar, who directed our pilot and also our last episode this season, to talk to them about the character and ask about the arc. They really laid it out to me, so that was nice. We didn’t have all of the scripts, at the beginning. We got them one at a time, as we were shooting. But, I had this general idea of the arc. I didn’t know how it was gonna end because they were really tight-lipped, which was cool for all of us. We didn’t know how it was gonna end until right at the end of shooting. They kept the last few pages from all of us. So, I had a sense of my character’s arc, just from that first meeting, and then things changed, as we went along. That’s the thing about TV. You don’t have a beginning, middle and end. You’re getting it, as you go. There were definitely surprises, which was weird for this character.

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Image via Netflix

From what you did know, going into the series, what were you most excited about getting to explore, as this character, and were there things that you were nervous about?

ROBBINS:  Definitely! I think the best roles are the ones where you’re really not sure how you’re gonna do it and you’re afraid of it. That was definitely how I felt, going into this, just because of the nature of the A.I. It’s a really unique type of character to play, and it’s the type of character that I think would be really cool to watch, if it was done well. So, the challenge was keeping within the limits of the fact that she is A.I. and not human, but then always leaving the audience wondering how much is going on, beneath the surface. There’s a lot of time travel and a sense of time, for all of the characters. Grace was with the kids, as they were growing up and when they were young people. And then, when the kids all come back to the house, once they’re grown up, she’s been alone, wandering the house for 13 years. That was a completely new sense of time. And then, after the fifth episode, once she’s turned back on, she’s completely different, in many ways. For me, it was just about coming up with a timeline and having a sense of her evolving, and these kids and their love triggering something in her.

Grace is very interesting because she isn’t human, so her emotions are not quite what you would necessarily expect from an actual human being. What was it like to gauge that? Were there a lot of conversations about how to play her emotions, or how real to make it all feel?

ROBBINS:  Our showrunner, Steve Blackman, was pretty great about letting me find her, myself, but that was definitely a conversation we had, as we went along, with the different directors. For example, the really heartbreaking scene with Diego, at the end of Episode 3, where he makes that horrible decision, there had to be a conversation about how much emotion to show. It’s a very pivotal, very meaningful moment, but you can’t see her responding to it, in a way that a human would. It was about conceding that, so you get a sense of emotion. She is programmed to display emotion the way that a mother would, but I also thought it was really important to see the audience wondering whether she had evolved the way that Diego thought, and whether she had her own consciousness and emotions that looked beyond the programming. I think it was about walking that fine line, where you’re seeing a sense of emotion, but you’re not sure whether it’s programming, or if it’s actually coming from Grace, herself.

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Image via Netflix

When it comes to her wardrobe and makeup, Grace is always impeccable and head-to-toe perfection. What was it like to get into that, every day? How much did all of that inform your performance and the way that you carried yourself?

ROBBINS:  Oh, it was huge. Christopher Hargadon, the costume designer, was amazing. Costumes are huge for me, getting into character. You see images of a 1950s housewife, and I did a lot of research on the way that women carried themselves then, but the second that I got into a beautiful outfit and my hair and make-up was done like that, I felt like I really transformed and moved differently. It was hard not to because some of those costumes had so much width that you just found yourself swaying, in a way that you don’t normally. So, it made a big difference. It was pretty funny ‘cause sometimes I would show up on set with my normal hair and make-up and normal everyday clothes, and no one would recognize me. I almost didn’t recognize myself. It definitely gave me the opportunity to step outside of myself and get more into the character.

I loved the wardrobe so much that I would have tried to have run off with probably every one of those outfits.

ROBBINS:  Yeah, I wanted to. There were definitely a couple that I was hoping for. It was definitely a treat to even get to wear them for a couple of days.

One of the most interesting relationships in this show is the one between Reginald Hargreeves, Grace and the kids. He’s not very nice to anybody in his life, which created a very difficult family dynamic. How did you view that dynamic? What was that like for you to play?

ROBBINS:  It was a really fun thing for me to play with, especially early on, in the process, with that sense of Grace trying to reconcile the difference between what she’s programmed to do and what she can see, before her eyes. There were definitely scenes where, as Jordan, it was very difficult. Grace was programmed to protect the kids from hurt, but then she would see them hurting because all they had, for a father figure, was not available to them, emotionally. Specifically, that scene in the study where I tell him to say goodnight because he’s their father and he won’t even look up from his writing, it was very interesting to play with because it was about, do I go against my nature and question this authority figure? Do I obey? Do I stand up for these children who I am responsible for being happy, and protect them from emotional harm?

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Image via Netflix

As a mother, Grace is so caring, loving and supportive of all of these children, and no matter how odd or strange they are, she doesn’t judge them, in that way. How did you find the experience of exploring a character that comes from such a place of goodness?

ROBBINS:  A mother’s love is the purest kind of love. I don’t have any kids, but I’ve always loved kids, and I’ve always been nurturing and understood that sense of unconditional love, which I think is really important to be able to play this character. There’s that saying about how you should find someone to love you the way that your dog loves you because, no matter what you did, all day, your dog is always gonna be really excited to see you and will be happy that you’re home. It’s that kind of thing. It doesn’t really matter if you turn up with blood all over you because you murdered a bunch of bank robbers, or you’re fighting and throwing knives at each other, because you love your children, no matter what. It’s that type of unconditional love, and she has been programmed to display that. For Grace, that love was overriding. She’s not human, but she was the only loving person they had, growing up, so they can’t help but love me, even though they know that she’s not human.

Did you make your own decision about whether or not Grace had evolved enough to truly have emotions?

ROBBINS:  Well, the writing definitely informed that. I always wanted to explore how, even though she was programmed a certain way, what does love from your children do, in helping that evolve and grow. Does that spark something within her? She’s programmed to be a certain way, but then she starts to keep secrets from Pogo. She finds her own voice, apart from the programming. She starts to assert herself and make some decisions, and have a sense of self.

Most of the time, Grace looks very human to us, but there are some enhancements, like when we get to see a little bit of what she might look like internally, or when her eyes are glowing. What was it like for you to see yourself like that?

 ROBBINS:  It’s so cool! I knew that prosthetics and CGI were gonna playing a huge part in this character, and the whole show, really. I was told all of the things that they’d be doing, but until I saw it, I wasn’t sure what it would look like. It was amazing! When Grace is cut open or her eyes are glowing, every time we did that, there was some CGI, but there was also prosthetics. It was really, really cool to see how it all came out.

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Image via The CW

You’ve done 12 Monkeys, Supernatural and The Umbrella Academy. Are you personally a sci-fi/fantasy fan, or has the genre of all of these projects just been a coincidence?

ROBBINS:  I think it’s because the world is really craving an escape, right now. Shows like that are just so fun, and it’s a real adventure to watch them. I’m finding, more and more, that a lot of the scripts I’m reading are leaning in that direction, so we’re seeing more and more of that, and as actors, we’re getting to play characters that are so fun, in so many ways.

You did an episode of Supernatural in Season 13 (“Various & Sundry Villains”), and one of the things that most impresses me about that show is the fact that, throughout 14 seasons now, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki have essentially been handling all of the heavy lifting on that show, while making it seem easy. What was that experience like, for you?

ROBBINS: Jensen and Jared were awesome. You can just tell that they love working together. The whole team on that show are just like a big family. They’ve been working together for many years, so they just have it down to a science and they have fun with it. It’s a really nice energy, on set, and everybody just enjoys each other and enjoys the work. Jared and Jensen were always goofing around, and there was lots of laughing. The stunt work was a blast, for me. I love doing anything physical, so the stunt coordination for the fight scenes was amazing. It was just a total blast and such a fun character. I love anytime I can play a character that’s sarcastic and doesn’t necessarily follow the rules of society and doesn’t feel that she needs to be polite. It was just such a great time for me.

Do you have any idea what you’re going to do next, or have you thought about the type of projects you’d like to pursue?

ROBBINS:  I’ve just been reading so many great scripts lately. I’m really enjoying working in TV. TV, these days, has really evolved into something completely new. They’re doing so many cool things with television. Even with The Umbrella Academy, I got the chance to work with five different directors, on those 10 episodes. And who knows what going to happen with Grace. We don’t know, at this point. I’m just basking in the enjoyment of the world watching The Umbrella Academy, and soaking all of that in.

And when you play a character like Grace, who isn’t human, she can be rebuilt, at any point in time.

ROBBINS:  Yeah, that’s what’s so cool about the show. There really are no limits, with the time travel and all of the superpowers. They all have their storylines going on, and there are lots of genres there. There’s really nothing they can't do with the show. The writers have fun with coming up with storylines that really have no boundaries.

The Umbrella Academy is available to stream at Netflix.

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Image via Netflix