Scott Grimes

Scott Grimes
Biographical information
Birth name	Scott Richard Grimes
Plays	Gordon Malloy
Born	July 9, 1971
Nationality	American
Gender	Male
Eye color	Brown
Hair color	Red
Height	5'8"
Career
Years active	1984-Present

Scott Grimes is an American actor who plays the Human Helmsman Gordon Malloy on The Orville. Grimes had been friends with creator Seth MacFarlane for twenty years prior to joining The Orville, and MacFarlane wrote the role of Gordon with him in mind.

Background

Scott Grimes was raised on science fiction as a child, which engendered his enthusiasm for the genre. He later recalled that one of his favorite memories as a child was seeing the movie Forbidden Planet with his grandfather. Even today, Grimes counts himself as a fan of The Twilight Zone and Star Wars (although not Star Trek).

Grimes acted in a number of movies from the 1980s through 1990s, including the film Critters in 1986. Seth MacFarlane, later the creator of The Orville, watched Critters as a teenager, and for that reason connected with Grimes later. MacFarlane cast Grimes as the voice of Steve Smith on Seth MacFarlane's animated comedy "American Dad"." Grimes has also played roles in television projects such as Band of Brothers, Family Guy, ER and Dexter.

The Orville

In August 2015, MacFarlane and Grimes found each other at a Christmas party for the show Family Guy where MacFarlane mentioned an idea for a new show but said little else. (Unbeknownst to Grimes, MacFarlane was teasing information to J. Lee (John LaMarr) as well.) As the two continued to bump into each other at mutual friends' parties, each time MacFarlane asked Grimes if he would be interested in a role on a live-action television show, and Grimes would affirm that he was.

Around April 2016, MacFarlane surprised Grimes to announce that his "idea" was greenlit by 20th Century Fox. Grimes agreed to the show over the phone without having reading the script by MacFarlane merely described the show to him. "I’m doing this show, would you want to play my best friend?" Grimes recalls MacFarlane asking.

A phone conversation was insufficient for Fox, however, which wanted evidence that Grimes was right for the role. MacFarlane and Grimes met with two network executives and improvised before a camera for a while until the executives were convinced he could play Gordon Malloy. Afterward, MacFarlane asked Grimes to come back in to improvise a scene with J. Lee, who was auditioning around the same time. Grimes was only actor who auditioned for Gordon.

Playing Gordon Malloy

MacFarlane wrote the character of Gordon with Scott in mind. Grimes later said of his character: "I’m the kind of best friend frat boy who’ll get you into trouble and also get you OUT of trouble. I might have a cocktail at the wrong time or make the wrong decision, but it’s always from the heart. And I can drive the ship like nobody’s business so that’s why I’m there."

Unusual though it may seem, Scott has actually advocated against giving his character a dedicated episode:

Seth actually asked me early on in the show, ‘Do you wanna delve into Gordon and who he is and where he’s from?’ And I said, ‘Don’t worry about me.’ Eventually, if the audience likes this character we can figure something out. But it’s not necessary for me to have a whole episode where you find out who my father is or why I don’t have one. I find that to be self-important. Everyone else can have that, I’m not bagging on them, but that’s not needed for Gordon at all. That’s my job on this show and I’m really happy people respond to it.

Marriage to Adrianne Palicki

Grimes and co-star Adrianne Palicki (Kelly Grayson) are married but currently separated as of late 2020. 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. However, she filed for divorce a second time in July 2020, which lead to Grimes and Palicki separating.

Trivia

• Grimes was introduced to MacFarlane through a childhood friend named "Kim" (probably Kim Fertman). Kim became MacFarlane's assistant on Family Guy and learned he was a huge fan of the movie Critters. Grimes had starred in the film, and the two became friends.
• One of his favorite scenes in season one is when Ed confusedly admits his romantic interest in Darulio to Gordon in Ed's quarters.
• He said in 2019 that his favorite episode is Majority Rule. In 2021, he said that it is Krill.
• Scott has said that, for better or worse, he drinks roughly as much as his character, Gordon.
• He hated wearing a Krill costume in the episode Krill.
• He has also said of his character that Gordon may be a jerk but is also a fun guy "that can open a bottle of beer with his asshole."
• When Grimes and Lee's characters worked together at the helm of the Orville in Season 1, the actors frequently goofed off between takes pretending to be hosts of a breakfast talk show. They recall that MacFarlane was annoyed by the antic.
• In a more unusual interview, Grimes said he would rather make out with a Krill alien like Teleya than a Gelatin.

Interviews

• November 2017: Vulture Hound and Hidden Remote
• December 2017: MYMBuzz, AssignmentX, The Orville Podcast, and Planetary Union Network
• February 2018: Jim Conlan
• December 2018: Comic Book Central
• January 2019: Collider, MYMBuzz

See also

• The World of the Orville, page 72