Abubakar Salim discusses returning as Prince Charming, finding vulnerability in larger-than-life characters and balancing acting with video game development.
With The Sisters Grimm returning to continue the mystery, that means Sabrina and her sister Daphne have much more to deal with. This time around, their search for their parents follows them to their middle school, which has its own problems for them to confront. Fortunately, Sabrina and Daphne still have friends to rely on, whether that be the mischievous Puck or the charismatic Charming.
Abubakar Salim returns in The Sisters Grimm Season 2 as Prince Charming, who was a bit of an annoyance for the crime-solving siblings. Although he attempted to serenade the fairytale townsfolk, Sabrina and Daphne believed he was the root of their problems and snuck into his party. This time around, Charming is much more helpful, though in a much smaller way. Still, Salim was ready to jump back into the Apple TV series!
“It felt good, it felt really fun,” Salim described. “I’ve already invested quite a lot of time into the character, so I feel like I got a good idea of them. To jump back into it feels great because you are yourself going on a journey with them that is different and new. You’re taking the audience also on a journey that they know this character, but they’re going on a new journey with them.”
Abubakar Salim Explores Prince Charming’s Evolution
Charming appears in a handful of moments throughout The Sisters Grimm Season 2, but he still shows that regalness. During our conversation, Salim talked about how he maintained that trait of Charming in his performance.
“I feel like it’s challenged this time,” Salim said. “I think there is a real level of evolution to him because you know of who he is and what he is and his status. There is a sense of like, ‘Okay, what are my limitations? What are my barriers that I can play with this?'”
“I think everyone knows that his regalness and sense is a performance. It’s not real to a degree. It is, but it isn’t, you know? How do you keep that facade? Especially because as an audience, you are now seeing what everyone else has seen in the world as well. So I think it is quite fun to continue playing into that track.”
Prince Charming Shares Some Traits With Salim’s Critical Role Character
For fantasy genre fans and Dungeons and Dragons lover, Salim shouldn’t be an unfamiliar face. Specifically, he has been featured on Critical Role’s third campaign in the Critical Role: Downfall special as a guest player. That special saw Salim as a sorcerer-warlock named S.I.L.A.H.A., who’s much like Charming in more ways than one.
During our conversation, Salim also reflected on that character archetype and how Charming and S.I.L.A.H.A. share similarities.
“I think it’s the fact that these are characters who think that they know it all and have it all,” Salim explained. “They present themselves in a way that they’re like the Instagram-able characters where you look at them and you’re like, ‘Oh man, if only I had their lifestyle.'”
“When you dive deeper into it, they really haven’t got any idea. They haven’t got the focus. They’re just chancing it. They’re winging it. They’re in as much of the know as you or I. I think like that’s the beauty I find with these characters and real interesting thing with them.”
Salim Finds the Humanity Behind Larger-Than-Life Characters
Another character that Salim voices that shares Charming’s more passionate side is Eros from Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical. That video game, which sees the gods of Greek mythology singing their hearts out, also involves an investigation, but on a much more mature level. Salim also described how that trait between Charming and Eros keeps him intrigued into diving deeper.
“The one thing that I always look for, especially when it comes to roles and playing them, is that human truth is that sense of what is it that can connect me to this person that goes beyond sort of race, gender, sexuality, all that kind of stuff,” Salim began.
“The thing is, especially when it comes to Charming, is just is that sense of pretending your stuff and you just have no idea. That vulnerability there, that’s what really hooks me and grips me is that vulnerability. I feel like I’ve been through that before.”
“With Eros, like the idea of of the idea of wanting your mother to stay and be safe. These are very human feelings; no matter who you are, whether you’re Prince Charming or whether you’re a god, these are very human feelings that I enjoy portraying and finding the truth in.”
Tales of Kenzera: Zau Connects Salim’s Acting and Game Development
Aside from voice acting, Salim is also known for running his own video game studio, Surgent Studios. Salim served as both as game director and performer on Tales of Kenzera: Zau, a Metroidvania-esque game inspired by his own experiences as well as African culture as a whole. Salim compared his processes between creating and performing such characters and how he connects with both sides of production.
“I’d say there really isn’t much of a difference,” Salim noted. “It is about leaning into the truth of it, I think, and just zeroing in on that and driving that home. With anything that I write or direct or act in, I think it always comes down to how can I have the most fun in this and what is the most truthful way of doing it?”
“That’s the approach I always kind of take with stuff like that. It’s funny, like the more I sort of diversify the stuff that I do, the more I realize there’s not really much difference between them all. It’s all about telling a story and telling a fun one at that.”
Abubakar Salim Teases His Next Video Game Idea
Salim also plans to continue working on creating video games that stick with those ideas. On X, Salim shared a post where he was looking for artists for an idea that he conceptualized that has a much darker tone than The Sisters Grimm. Salim also talked about that process as a creator and how he finds a flow with acting.
“It’s one of those ideas where it has haunted me for quite a while,” Salim recalled. “It’s one of those ones where I think, for me, it’s just about finding other collaborators and having fun with them and kind of being like, ‘Hey, I’ve got this wacky cool idea. Let’s try and see what you know, see what happens from this.'”
“When I was being in the booth for this, for example, it is the creators of the exact same way. They’re all there to have fun and tell a story and kind of bring these wacky and cool ideas to fruition stories that we already know, and that we don’t know.”
“That is the one thing that is coming from the same place,” Salim affirmed. “Me putting out a tweet out there asking for artists is the exact same place of someone pulling me in a booth and being like, ‘Hey, could you pretend to be Prince Charming for a while and just see what happens?’ Because it is, it’s just about finding the fun in it.”
The Sisters Grimm Season 2 is now streaming on Apple TV.
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Chris Gallardo
Christopher Gallardo is a New York City-based freelance entertainment writer and critic. He is currently writing for Tell-Tale TV, Nerdtropolis, Popternative and Eulalie Magazine with previous contributions to The Hollywood Handle and CoveredGeekly. He has been featured other sites including Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, The Direct, Collider, IGN, and much more. He is also a massive fan of animated shows and movies, ranging from Princess Mononoke to Invincible and Arcane, as well as a big Greek mythology fan who loves Percy Jackson, God of War, and the Hades games. You can find him on X and Instagram (@chrisagwrites)!
