Although he’s played cops before on TV, most notably officer Eddie Sutton in the ABC Family series Lincoln Heights, Russell Hornsby’s latest law enforcement character upholds the law in a whole new — and much weirder — universe. In the new NBC crime procedural-meets-sci-fi drama Grimm, Hornsby plays detective Hank Griffin, who’s tasked with solving grisly crimes in a town overrun with evildoers straight from the pages of fairytales. “Stepping into this fantasy world is really exciting,” says Hornsby, relishing the opportunity to “step out of my comfort zone. Lincoln Heights was very much about this familiar atmosphere, a normal reality. We’re looking for demons.”

Hornsby was also intrigued by Griffin’s back story. “He’s been married four times. You’ll learn what happened to all the wives and why he is where he is now. Lincoln Heights set the bar very high, but I’m very optimistic about this,” he says of the series.  He’d been looking for a new one since Lincoln Heights ended in 2009, and made guest appearances on The Good Wife, Suits and Shameless in the interim. “I love the continuity of working on television,” he says. “You have the time to develop a character and really let it breathe. I’ve been fortunate to have had great characters written for me on television.”

Grimm is filmed on location in Oregon, but Hornsby didn’t mind having to relocate to Portland. “It’s just my wife and I, so it’s a little easier” than it is for people with families, he notes. “Besides, I like the adventure, the change of a new place.”

Grimm premieres October 28 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.

(Photo: Russell Hornsby/GettyImages)