Rueben's Ramblings

One of the new fall shows that premiered at Comic Con last week in San Diego was the ABC series Once Upon a Time, which is the fairy tale based story from Executive Producers-Writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz (of Lost fame).

Members of the cast who took part in the panel were Josh Dallas (Prince Charming), Ginnifer Goodwin (Snow White), Robert Carlyle (Rumpelstiltskin), Lana Parrilla (The Evil Queen) and Jennifer Morrison (Emma Swan).

Before the cast and creative team took the stage for a short Q&A with a packed audience, Damon Lindelof (Executive Producer of Lost) made a short introduction, leading into the screening of the pilot of Once Upon a Time.

I’m pleased to say that the audience genuinely seemed to like the pilot as it received a rousing round of applause after the screening completed; and as Damon returned to the stage to introduce the panelists, the applause continued with cast and creative team being welcomed with open arms by the audience.

Edward and Adam were then asked if they could talk about the origin of Once Upon a Time. They shared that, “it probably started about eight years ago (when we) finished working on (the TV show) Felicity. Coming off that, our agents asked us what kind of show (we would) like to do now and we kinda started thinking about fairy tales and why we like them…we kept talking about (it, but) there was one big problem: we had no idea how to tell the story. Cut to Lost where we were very lucky to work with Damon who helped us out of an eight-year writers’ block on how to tell the story by virtue of us going to him and crying on his couch that we had no ideas left; and now you see what happened (referencing our watching the pilot).”

Josh Dallas and Ginnifer Goodwin (Photo Credit: Rueben)

Then Ginnifer was asked what made her take the role of Snow White after her involvement in a very successful show (for those who don’t know Ginnifer was a regular on Big Love). She shared that, “I was reading TV scripts because I understood that is where all the great writers have gone (then) I got a phone call that Eddy and Adam were offering me the role of Snow White. I said to my agent ‘I’ll take it’ and he said you need to read it and I said ‘No! Seriously, I’ll take it!’ I did read it that night, again and again and again. I was up all night until I knew my manager was up so I could tell him that I was taking the job. It really didn’t take much – I read it and I was inspired to tell this story and we pray for many years that (we can continue to tell the story). There is (really) nothing else like it on television.”

Jennifer Morrison (Photo Credit: Jennifer Schadel)

Then Jennifer was asked how she felt about playing just the role of Emma when all the other actors on the show have dual roles. She joked, “I’m a little jealous, as it seems fun to be in the pretty costumes, but it’s exciting that (Eddy and Adam) created a character that is brand new, a new fairy tale character. It’s this incredible adventure of letting Eddy and Adam write this incredible stuff and hope that we do it justice.”

Lana was asked what lured her to this project, sharing that “everyone wants to play Snow White, but I always wanted to play someone (a little) bad. When I read the script, I fell in love with it instantly. I couldn’t believe I was up for something like this. I was honored to be part of this project. I read once for Eddy and Adam and they said “thank you very much” and I thought ‘sh*t, I missed that one’. But I didn’t and I am very honored to be here and (to be) working with this cast.”

Then for Josh, he was asked what it is like when people ask him what he is working on; and he answered, “it’s amazing to play (this) part and play that kind of icon. As an actor, you don’t think about playing Prince Charming, you’re playing a man with issues and problems and situations like everyone else.”

Robert Carlyle and Lana Parrilla (Photo Credit: Rueben)

As for Robert, he was asked what it was like to play two different characters. He shared that “it’s fantastic. It’s very theatrical and (it) takes me back to my days in theatre, strangely enough.”

Because of the influence working on Lost had for the executive producers, viewers can be prepared for references to Lost; but unlike the myriad of mysteries that went left unanswered on that drama, Eddy and Adam “hope there will be a balance, but we do want this show to be one that you can sit and watch and relax. But if you are looking (closely), we are putting things there that you will find (that will be reminiscent of Lost). You can examine (the show closely like with Lost) if you want or just watch it (and enjoy it)”.

Make sure to tune in to ABC on October 23 at 8 PM for the debut of Once Upon a Time and judge for yourself.