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The Evil Queen teases 'something so dramatic' about to happen, says Season 2 will be bigger than first
By Lie Shia Ong
MSN TV
Lana Parrilla is oh so good at playing the Evil Queen/Regina on ABC’s “Once Upon a Time.” When Season 2 of the show premieres Sunday, Sept. 30, we can assume she’ll be as bad as ever with magic back in Storybrooke. But fans learned last season that the queen wasn’t always bad. Could the possibility of losing her son bring her back to good?
Bing: More about 'Once Upon a Time' | More about Lana Parrilla
MSN TV spoke with the actress about the many dimensions of her character and also uncovered some hints as to what’s about to be revealed in Season 2 .
MSN TV: The new season of “Once Upon a Time” starts up Sunday. What can fans expect this season?
Lana Parrilla: Well, there are a lot of new characters that are going to be introduced. Some really, really cool things that you are not expecting are going to happen. I can’t give anything away. [Laughs] … There’s little I can say about the second season because something so dramatic happens in the first episode that then carries on — it’s pretty much the story line throughout this season. Basically it’s a bigger season on every level from cast to storytelling to visual effects to our sets that are much more elaborate and costumes that are more ornate. Everything is just stepped up a bit. They were like, ‘You know what? You did great the first season. We’re going to give you a little bit more to play with!’ [Laughs]
More: Q&A With Jennifer Morrison of 'Once Upon a Time'
Can you tease anything about how Regina’s relationship with Henry has changed and how Mary Margaret and Emma factor in?
Losing Henry in that last episode, the [Season 1] finale, is a reality Regina wished she never had to face. But it has come to that. She’s pretty much lost. She has nothing left. She has a town full of people that have woken up and remembered who she is and what’s she’s done. They’re after her and they’re hunting her down.
She has a son, whom she loves with all of her heart, and is lost. I see her packing up her bags and leaving, but even that is difficult, and if she does it, then what? She loses her son. So she really doesn’t have many options left but to get real honest and truthful … and taking responsibility for some things.
The relationship of you and Mr. Gold/Rumpelstiltskin, I’m sure, is going to get more interesting this season as well. Do you expect an epic showdown between you two?
Yeah. [Laughs] Yes, it does. Something happens with these two, and it’s a pretty big deal. I can’t give it away, but there’s a major showdown between them. There’s something between them that is yet to be told — the story is yet to be told. There’s just this connection. These two are very similar and they’re very much alike, and there’s no other character that we’ve seen yet like them on the show. I think their connection is undeniable, not only to the audience but to the characters. They know that [without the other] what do you have? [It’s the] same with Henry. If she loses Henry, what does she have? As much as [Mr. Gold and the Evil Queen] are rivals and enemies, they are friends on a deep level, I think.
That’s the interesting thing about your character and Mr. Gold’s character. Both of you have so many layers. What’s your favorite part about playing a role with so many dimensions?
I am never bored. [Laughs] There’s always something for me to discover. She is extremely complex, and I love that I get to show why she is the way she is and that we get to delve into her past and show the innocence and the purity of the woman that she was once versus the woman she has become. So much of her past has informed me of how to play her in the present. Even when she’s casting spells or threatening people, I never lose sight of where she’s coming from or what she’s dealing with.
Photos: TV's damsels in distress
Her objective really is revenge — to give it back at the people that have made her happy ending nonexistent. She doesn’t only do it for herself. She does it for the innocent, who was Daniel, who was taken away and killed. I think a lot of it is for him. A lot of it is getting back at others for him. Now I’m sure if he was alive, he would say that’s crazy to do that, ‘It’s not what I wanted.’ But this is the conclusion she’s made for herself. This is her way of getting back, and she wants justice, and this is the only way she knows how to do it. I think because of losing Henry she’s realizing this maybe isn’t the best way.
Some of your fans sent in questions on Twitter and Facebook for you. You mentioned there will be new characters introduced on the show this season. Paige wants to know: Do you have a dream fairy-tale character you’d love to see on the show, and do you have someone in mind who would play them?
It actually was fulfilled already. Jorge Garcia, I’ve known him for about 16 to 17 years now … never thinking like, ‘God, it’d be great if he’d be on our show.’ Weeks later I found out he was playing the Giant. I did want to see “Jack and the Beanstalk” — that was a fairy tale I definitely wanted to see on our show for multiple reasons. I love when I read the story as a kid, when Jack found the bean, and I remember when he planted it, and I remember when it grew and he climbed up there into the clouds and once he broke through the clouds there was this huge castle … I just remember thinking, ‘Oh my God! This is so cool,’ and how I wished I was miniature so I could climb in all these crevices and holes. I just had a wild imagination, and I’m really happy that we’re telling this story and even happier a good friend of mine gets to play the Giant.
Related: Jorge Garcia Joins 'Once Upon a Time'
You’re filming Season 2 in Vancouver right now. Has there been any funny or memorable moments from shooting so far?
One of the most jarring things, which I thought was so funny — we ended up shooting the second episode first instead of the first episode first because of some shooting locations availability. It was really funny … because we were like, ‘Wait, I’m so confused. We have not shot the first episode, so where are we coming from again? Oh, wait! I’m angry at you because of what happened last season?!’ … It took us all like a month to figure it out. … We shoot in Steveston, which is a small little town in Vancouver, and it’s a really cute little town and it’s Storybrooke. When we work there, we literally have like anywhere from 200 to 400 people watching us. It’s incredible because it’s like outdoor theater for everyone. … I love theater and I love the live audience and it’s kind of fun. It’s fun shooting there with everyone watching.
I always get paranoid, though, because we have a character who’s coming back, and I was worried that it was going to give the story away. Daniel, I can say this because it’s already been printed and people took pictures: Daniel is coming back, and I can’t tell you how or why, but he definitely makes an appearance, and I was paranoid because he walked out of the van and I said like, ‘Oh my God! What are you doing? You’re going to give the story away!’ But we were like there’s no way around it. And I kept saying, ‘Cover his head! Put a hat on him or something!’ I was so worried that we were going to give the story away, [laughs] but after much thought he’s just sitting on the corner. It doesn’t give anything away. So that was one humorous moment for everyone because I really panicked over it.
Alyssa wants to know: What do you think about doing a “Once Upon a Time” musical episode?
I’m game! I love that. I think it would be awesome to do that. I don’t think the producers are into it, but I am. I’d love to do that.
Any message you want to send to your “Once” fans out there?
Thank you so much for all of your love and support. I hope we continue to keep you enthralled in the show. Enjoy our second season!
The Season 2 premiere of “Once Upon a Time” airs Sunday, Sept. 30, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
Last year it was 'Hunger Games' nail polish, so this is a step up
Lionsgate surprised us today with the announcement of a new partnership between "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" and Covergirl, the cosmetics giant:Bing: More about 'Catching Fire' | More about Covergirl
No word yet on when this makeup line will be in stores. I would imagine the display case would be very "Catching Fire."Today, Covergirl announced its first-ever major movie sponsorship of Lionsgate’s highly anticipated "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire", scheduled for release in North American theaters on November 22, 2013. Covergirl will launch a first-of-its-kind creative advertising campaign inspired by the film, featuring new products from the brand’s upcoming Capitol Collection from "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," to be announced at a later date.
"With 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' partnership, we wanted to redefine cosmetics’ relationship to film with a fantasy-meets-reality beauty experience," said Esi Eggleston Bracey, VP and General Manager, Global P&G Cosmetics. "The film inspired Covergirl campaign coming out this fall truly will bring beauty transformation to life in an aspirational, dramatic fashion. All of us at Covergirl were captivated by Suzanne Collins' novels and the first film, so we’re thrilled to collaborate with Lionsgate on such a bold beauty partnership with the release of 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.'"
"We are excited to announce Covergirl as the exclusive makeup partner for 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire'," said Paula Kupfer, Lionsgate's Vice President of Promotions and Consumer Products. "The exquisite beauty and style in the world of the Capitol is a focal point of this film. Partnering with an innovative brand like Covergirl to create an additional layer of beauty storytelling and inspiration for the fans is new territory that we're delighted to explore."
Covergirl's partnership with "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" is the latest expression of the brand's passion and commitment to continue to break barriers in beauty.
Lionsgate and Covergirl will be celebrating the movie partnership at a Cannes Film Festival Gala on Saturday, May 18th.
Thoughts on this? Comment below.
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A spendy way to get people talking about the film seven months before its release
You cannot attend the 2013 Cannes Film Festival without seeing all the propaganda for "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire." Studios use many of the grand hotels' façades as backdrops or billboards to highlight their upcoming big ticket films, and Lionsgate is no different.Bing: More about 'Catching Fire' | More about Cannes Film Festival
The Majestic Barrière hotel's gorgeous building has been transformed, as you can see:
According to Deadline, Lionsgate is even throwing a beach blowout to promote "Catching Fire." Why is the studio spending so many Euros in Cannes?"Lionsgate co-chair Patrick Wachsberger whose wheelhouse is international also utilized Cannes to promote all the 'Twilight' movies when he ran Summit. Now that the two studios are merged, he says with candor that he's never done an event at this level." But because 'Hunger Games' is a "huge, huge, huge" franchise, this festival is "the perfect place" to start talking to distributors about positioning, he notes. Cannes events "are not cheap," he says. "And there is so much happening – like 10 parties the same night – so to do something that’s really out of the ordinary, you need the movie first and the talent and the event and the money," Wachsberger admits.""Catching Fire" is out in theaters Friday, November 22.
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Reception to pilot sealed series fate
Follow Don Kaye on Twitter @donkaye.
CW president says new prequel series is still in the works
Two-and-a-half glorious minutes of giant monsters and robots
Plus, DC superstar talks 'Justice League' comics, 'Arrow' and more
We spoke with Johns via phone and asked about ending his "GL" run, where his other books are headed, his thoughts on DC's "The New 52" relaunch, the "Arrow" TV series and DC's future on film, including the upcoming "Man of Steel."
Geoff Johns: Well, I've been working on the book for nine years, and since that time I've been really fortunate to work with as many great collaborators, both on the artist's side and the writer's side, as I have. I just got the final issue, and there are a lot of artists that we worked with over the course of the run that are in the issue, and I'm really proud of it. It's been a long run and it's been rewarding and, for me, the story -- the way the story was developing between Hal and Sinestro and what ultimately was going to happen in this issue -- it felt like the exact right time to close my run out and move on to new things.
How do you know when it is the right time to stop? Does the story feel like it's coming to a natural conclusion? What are the signs that it's time after a long run like that?
It's a bit of everything. For me, really, the story in this case really dictated it. I had been plotting the story out for quite a while and I knew that Hal was going to once again kind of sacrifice himself at this moment to attempt to use a black ring, and the whole idea was to get to rebirth once again, and Hal Jordan's "carpe diem" attitude is probably the best thing that describes that character: He lives for the moment. And he's so full of life that even death can't hold him down.
Once I got to the story line where it was really going to be kind of another return from the dead -- organically it felt like the perfect time to end the run. It felt very balanced. And the characters were in a similar spot at the end of this but very, very different characters. For me, with everything that happened between those it really ultimately just made perfect sense. It's always been about Hal Jordan and Sinestro, and this story line encapsulates that and pushes it one step further. This is the right story for me to bow out on.
Sure. With "Aquaman," we're in the middle of a story line right now where Aquaman is attempting to, you know, he's been forced to take the throne of Atlantis again after there was a war between Atlantis and the land. And he's a reluctant king. He grew up on land, he doesn't want to be king of Atlantis, but in this case he has no choice. They need a king and they need someone who's going to kind of heal the rift between land and sea, and that's his job. He's literally that and he's going to have to physically do that as well.
In Justice League right now we're building to a story line called "Trinity War" -- there's a couple of different teams that support the Justice League, and basically the death of a hero sparks some tension between these teams. Ultimately, as they go across the world trying to solve this murder the Leagues will face something else at the end of it that will head us into fall. We haven't really talked about that just yet ...
Well, I think like everything there's, you know, some characters, some titles that work and some that don't. But Dan (DiDio) and Jim (Lee) head up publishing, they've really spearheaded "The New 52" and I give them credit for it because it's been really strong. I think there are characters like Wonder Woman and Aquaman and Animal Man who've really benefited from kind of a fresh start. I look at "Aquaman" and Issue 1 did really, really well, partly because it was part of this big initiative. Everybody was looking at all these characters and all these "Number 1" issues. I think if you delivered on the book, you had a chance to find a bigger audience than you would have normally. There are a lot of great books out there.
What are some new writing projects that you can announce or talk about?
Well, I can say that Gary Frank and I are wrapping up "Shazam" right now. We've been telling the Shazam story and Justice League for just about over a year and Issue 21 of "Justice League" out at the end of June will be the final chapter of that story line. And then Gary and I will be moving on to Volume 2 of "Batman: Earth One." which is a graphic novel that will be due out late next year.
The first volume of "Batman: Earth One" was incredible.
The new one is going to be the next chapter in our "Batman: Earth One" saga. This volume is going to deal with Batman and how he learns to become a detective. He goes up against the Riddler and Killer Croc, and there's another villain in there. Plus, we continue the story with James Gordon and his daughter Barbara and Harvey Bullock and Alfred Pennyworth -- there's a very different Alfred Pennyworth in "Batman: Earth One" than people might know.
What are your thoughts on "Arrow"? It's a big success, but people were a little skeptical at first.
It started strong, but it got stronger and stronger over the course of the season. I'm really excited. Greg Berlanti and Andrew Crisford and Marc Guggenheim have taken the show in a great direction. It's fun to be part of the show and seeing success for a character like Green Arrow. I remember talking to some people and thinking, let people be skeptical. They should be skeptical because superhero shows are really, really hard to do. The fact that this one has found an audience is terrific. I'm excited because they've already started working on next season and I've heard a little bit about it and it sounds really great.
Are you going to do some writing for Season 2?
I should not say that yet.
Before we go, there's a lot of speculation about the DC Universe getting onto the big screen and "Man of Steel" possibly paving the way for "Justice League." Anything you can say about that?
I can't talk about that. Sorry, man.
Any general statements you want to make about "Man of Steel"?
I just can't wait until "Man of Steel" is out. I can't wait until people see it.
Vin Diesel back for third round as galactic anti-hero
Here's the lowdown on all your new 2013-2014 shows
"Believe": J.J. Abrams ("Lost," "Star Trek Into Darkness") and Alfonso Cuaron ("Children of Men," "Gravity") are executive producers on this program about a little girl (Johnny Sequoyah) with special powers like telekinesis and precognition who is pursued by interests who have their own agenda for her powers. So it's up to wrongly convicted prison escapee Tate (Jake McLaughlin) to protect her ... at all costs. Will this be another of Abrams' increasingly infuriating "mystery box" shows, or will Cuaron bring his magic to it as well? (Midseason on NBC)
"The Tomorrow People," "Star-Crossed" and "The 100": All three of these have been picked up by The CW, and their place on the network's schedule will be unveiled during its Thursday (May 16) presentation to the media. "The Tomorrow People" is based on a British series from the '70s about a group of young people who gain superpowers as part of the next stage of human evolution. "Star-Crossed" is about a teen romance between an alien boy and a human girl after he and several other of his people are assimilated into a high school -- boy, does this sound right up the CW's alley. Finally, "The 100" follows a group of young misfits who are sent back to a devastated Earth to recolonize the planet after nuclear war caused humanity to flee. And let's not forget "The Originals," a "Vampire Diaries" spin-off that will follow the Mikaelson clan as they head to New Orleans for more supernatural soap opera antics.
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