Home TV

Interview With Lana Parrilla On Once Upon A Time

Lana Parrilla plays the Evil Queen in ABC's Once Upon A Time, which debuted last year and is about fairy tale characters who have been cursed to live in the real world in the fictional town of Storybrooke, Maine. It features many popular characters from different stories such as Red Riding Hood, Pinocchio, The Mad Hatter, Rumplestiltskin, Prince Charming and Snow White.

 

Recommended Videos

WGTC: You mentioned Sebastian Stan so I take it we get to see more of him this season then? He was one of my favorites last year.

Lana Parrilla: You will, you’ll see the Mad Hatter. There’s so many storylines that have yet to…there are a lot of open ends. You know, one is Pinocchio’s story, the way you saw him in the season finale he’s now a wooden doll, so that story needs to be [addressed]. And we’re gonna see more of the Mad Hatter. But I think we don’t want to give everything away too soon, it’ll happen over a period of time.

WGTC: That’s true. What can you tell us about the other new characters? I know there’s Sleeping Beauty and Lancelot? And the giant I believe played by Jorge Garcia?

Lana Parrilla: Yeah. Well, Jorge’s story is connected to Emma Swan and that’ll be interesting. The Aurora/Mulan story is mostly connected to Snow White. I can’t really tell you much because something happens and it’s making every one of these interviews difficult because I can’t really say how we meet them and…

WGTC: But you know, I love the tease [Laughs] I’d rather be surprised about it.

Lana Parrilla: Okay good, you will be surprised I swear.

WGTC: I can’t wait. How was Comic-Con this year, did you get to see any Evil Queen cosplayers?

Lana Parrilla: I did! I saw a couple of evil queen costumes as well as some Snow White costumes. It was awesome!

WGTC: Any crazy fan encounters?

Lana Parrilla: No but it was my birthday this year at Comic-Con. They sang me Happy Birthday which I thought was really cool. I never had so many people sing Happy Birthday to me in my life [laughs] That was special.

WGTC: I can only imagine. What do you geek about at Comic-Con? What is your favorite TV to watch or you know, things that you’re interested in?

Lana Parrilla: Lost was one of my huge favorites. I know Lost was always big at Comic-Con. But this year, the shows that I watch are mostly well Once Upon A Time, Revenge, American Horror Story, Game of Thrones…everyone keeps talking about Downton Abbey and I need to check that out. There’s a lot of shows that I have not seen. And part of that is just, you know, when you’re working so much, it’s hard to [watch them].

WGTC: Yeah, I understand. I know you have a Twitter but, are you aware of your Tumblr fan following?

Lana Parrilla: No. I mean I know that there’s a Tumblr but–

WGTC: There’s a lot of blogs dedicated to you and your character, lots of stuff there. [Laughs]

Lana Parrilla: Oh wow! I have to check that out. I’ve seen some stuff here and there but I didn’t realize that–I don’t really know how Tumblr works. I know that’s kind of naïve of me to say but—

WGTC: I mean, I’m fairly new to it, but before the interview, I asked Tumblr what they would like me to ask you, and it wasn’t even ten minutes [before] I got a whole bunch of questions. So that’s how many fans you have on there.

Lana Parrilla: Oh wow, what were some of the questions?

WGTC: Lots of people wanted to know if you knew about Swan Queen? Are you aware of that?

Lana Parrilla: Yeah. I’ve been asked that question quite a bit.

WGTC: Really? I hadn’t known about it until [recently] but I thought it was really interesting.

Lana Parrilla: Yeah! I think it’s a fantasy that some of my fans have of Emma and Regina having a deeper connection on a romantic level.

WGTC: Maybe it’s cause I’m a guy but I just thought that was weird [as to how it originated] but interesting at the same time. I never saw the [romantic] chemistry there.

Lana Parrilla: Yeah, I’m not quite sure what direction the producers are heading in when it comes to the Emma and Regina relationship—

WGTC: Yeah I highly doubt it’s going to go that way but I think it’s a fun fantasy.

Lana Parrilla: Yeah I think it’s a fantasy of some of the fans of the show and you know, Regina and Emma um, but I’m not quite sure where the producers are headed. I think that THAT relationship on a romantic level is probably NOT going to happen?

WGTC: Well they still have their fan fiction I think. I think they’ll be happy as long as you share more scenes together.

Lana Parrilla: Yeah. [Laughs] It’s so true. [I’ve] got so many interesting things from some comments and pictures of me and [Emma].

Continue reading on the next page…