Adrianne Palicki

Adrianne Lee Palicki
Biographical information
Birth name	Adrianne Lee Palicki
Plays	Kelly Grayson
Born	May 6, 1983
Nationality	American
Gender	Female
Hair color	Blonde
Height	5' 11"
Career
Years active	2003–present

I had some of the best moments of my life on The Orville, such as beating the crap out of Charlize Theron.— Adrianne Palicki

Adrianne Palicki is an American actress who plays Commander Kelly Grayson on The Orville.

Background

Adrianne Palicki has had a long career acting in sci-fi and action related media. She played Agent Bobbi Morse on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Ms. Perkins in the John Wick film franchise, Jaye in G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Jessica Moore on the TV series Supernatural, and even Diana Prince in a failed 2011 TV pilot for a Wonder Woman series.

She first met Seth MacFarlane at an Entertainment Weekly party, and, in 2008, campaigned together in Ohio for Barack Obama, speaking to college students. The two became fast friends.

The Orville

MacFarlane approached Adrianne Palicki directly to fill the role of Kelly Grayson, giving her a copy of the pilot script to read first. At the time, the two had been friends for over ten years. Palicki has repeatedly said that she was convinced to join The Orville after reading only the first five pages. "You kind of meet Kelly when Ed [Mercer] walks in on her with a blue alien, and ... some blue stuff comes out of [the alien's] ear, head, whatever, and covers her. It was one of those things where I lost my mind laughing." After, MacFarlane asked if she wanted the role, to which Palicki enthusiastically agreed.

Palicki fell in love with her character, finding Kelly to mirror her own personality in some ways, but she worried that the extremely funny opening of the pilot made it difficult to portray Grayson in a way that would be sympathetic with audiences. "This was going to be the biggest challenge of my life," Palicki recalled in a November 30, 2017 interview. "To come back from that as a character and hopefully win people over." However, Palicki's greatest acting challenge was to come in Season 2.

Season 2

Palicki played both a young and old version of Kelly Grayson in the episode Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, a formidable challenge as she had to memorize and perform a vast majority of the episode's dialogue. She later came to love the experience and, when asked about what motivates her as an actress, Palicki referred back to this episode:

It's about the challenge. I hate being stagnant.... There's a Kelly-Kelly episode where I had to change back-and-forth per shot into two different characters, so I had to know the entire script by heart. ... There was so much to that that was challenging, and that's what makes me better, that's what makes me strive.

Awards

Adrianne Palicki was nominated for Saturn Awards for Best Actress on Television in both 2018 for Season 1 and 2019 for Season 2.

Marriage to Scott Grimes

Palicki is married to co-star Scott Grimes (Gordon Malloy). The two began dating while working on The Orville, probably around Season 1 in 2017, but possibly as late as filming Season 2 in mid-2018.

Grimes proposed to her on New Years Eve 2018 on a dock at a lake with a bottle of champagne. She later recalled: "He'd thrown off this scent; we had talked about marriage and he said he eventually would some day." Grimes took her to a dock on a lake at a hotel, opened champagne, and played their song, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" by Starship. He gave her a pair of earrings and a teddy bear, with the engagement ring hidden inside, and then proposed. The wedding ceremony occurred in May 2019.

Palicki filed for divorce from Grimes in July 2019 but withdrew her petition in November.

Trivia

• Even before The Orville, Palicki was friends with J. Lee, Seth MacFarlane, and "dearest friends" with Scott Grimes.
• Before shooting, Palicki thought the show would resemble the movie Galaxy Quest, which MacFarlane vehemently denied.
• She has often stated that her favorite episode is Krill, although she has also said that it is impossible to pick a favorite.
• While shooting the episode Pria, Palicki and Charlize Theron declined the use of stuntwomen for their fight on the Bridge, preferring to duke it out themselves.
  • Later, Palicki requested more fight scenes in Season 2.
• In the episode Cupid's Dagger, the song "Any Way You Want It" by Journey was handpicked by Palicki for her karaoke performance. Palicki was initially petrified of singing and refused; MacFarlane assuaged her by suggesting she pick something from Journey's discography. Palicki says she was drunk while singing.
• According to Grimes, Palicki breaks character the most and the hardest, often laughing for long periods of time and even crying. When she does cry from laughter, the crew must stop filming because artists must reapply her make-up.

See also

• The World of the Orville, page 38

External links

• 2017 San Diego Comic-Con interview with JoBlo TV Show
• October 2017 interview with BUILD Series
• October 2017 profile by, and interview with, Vanity Fair
• October 2017 interview with Collider
• 2017 New York Comic-Con interview with WithAnAccentTV
• March 2018 interview with Afterbuzz TV
• August 2018 interview with CineMovie