Now the number one show on Sunday nights, Once Upon a Time is easily one of the current TV season’s biggest new success stories. I spoke to the show’s star, Jennifer Morrison about the current storylines with her character, Emma, on the heels of some pretty incriminating evidence in the last episode,which found Emma’s friend (And, though she wouldn’t believe it, her mother) Mary Margaret’s fingerprints on a box… containing a human heart!
IGN: With Mary Margaret’s fingerprints, what does Emma do? This is her roommate and her friend at this point, but Emma’s also the sheriff.
Morrison: Yeah. Ultimately Emma is very confident that Mary Margaret is not doing anything wrong and that something weird is going on. But if Emma doesn’t follow the evidence and she doesn’t follow through with doing what’s right based on what’s being handed to her evidence-wise — even if it has been tampered with or even if Mary Margaret is being set up or something — at this point, I have to follow through with it because otherwise I won’t be doing my job properly. It will look like I’m having some sort of favoritism for Mary Margaret, and then Regina would have cause to fire me. Then if she’s able to fire me and put someone else in that position, then she would definitely have control over ruining Mary Margaret. So I think Emma sees it as a very upsetting and frustrating position to be in to have to see the evidence as floating towards this person she truly believes to be innocent and who she truly cares about. But at the same time, I think she’s relieved that she’s the one in an authority position because it’s the best way she could possibly hopefully protect Mary Margaret.
- ABC
Jennifer Morrison inOnce Upon a Time
IGN: Does Emma have any reason to think Regina’s involved in this specifically yet?
Morrison: I don’t think she specifically is thinking Regina at this point. I just think that she is very confident that Mary Margaret is not capable of murder. So it seems to her that something is off and wrong and that someone is trying to set her up for some reason.
IGN: You have a very interesting, very different dynamic on the show where these two characters are your parents, but you simply don’t believe it. Emma and David have had a few more scenes recently, but it’s mostly been about this case. Are we going to see a little bit more bonding there?
Morrison: There’s not a lot of reason at this point in the show, unfortunately. There’s just these little bits and pieces that we hit with them, because of the case obviously. So I feel like people are definitely going to get to see little bits of their time together, but Emma really does not believe on any, even small, scale that this person could possibly be her father. So it’s not like she’s going into this time with David thinking, “Oh gee, maybe this guy’s my father.” He’s just this guy that Mary Margaret fell in love with who’s causing all sorts of trouble by not being honest with people, and now his wife — it’s like in Emma’s eyes he’s just sort of the center of a lot of complications.
IGN: Emma’s been there a few months now. Making the leap to “these are my parents” is obviously something massive, but do you think she’s started to at all maybe be a little more receptive to something being off in this town?
Morrison: I think she’s absolutely at zero with thinking there’s any chance of a curse. I think that she feels like that there’s something going on in terms of there being some sort of manipulation or some sort of framing of something going on and someone being set up. And I think she thinks politically maybe there’s some dark things going on and she doesn’t understand why or who or what exactly their motives are, but it’s all very reality-based for her. There’s just zero part of her that believes it has anything to do with a curse.
IGN: And is her relationship going to progress with August? Obviously, we have more reason that she does to be suspicious or very curious about what exactly he’s doing.
Morrison: She’s obviously very skeptical of August. August is someone who doesn’t offer a lot of information about himself, which is very similar to Emma. She’s always been very guarded and she’s kept a lot of her life private. And she did that because she felt like she had a lot to hide. So I think she’s assuming that August must have a lot to hide if she’s operating the same way. So she is definitely very skeptical of him. And we’re going to see this bit of a dance that goes on in terms of the push and pull of her trying to figure out if he’s trustworthy or not or if he has good motives or bad motives or no motives. To her, he’s really the wild card in the town right now. She’s got everybody else sort of figured out and kind of knows what alliances exist and where they stand or who to trust or who not to trust. But she still feels the jury is out on him.
IGN: The show’s interesting in that with the different stories and the different characters the tone can be very different depending on what you’re focusing on. There can be a more fanciful tale involving, say, the fairies. But in this past episode with Red Riding Hood, it’s pretty dark stuff with all the corpses in the snow. Is it fun for you to be on a show that can go back and forth like that?
Morrison: Yeah, I like that about the show in particular, because I feel like it’s a nice representation of how life is. Things can be very light and cheery, and then everything can change in a moment. I was just talking to a friend of mine who, very tragically, had a friend who was in a very terrible car accident, and their whole family’s life changed based on dealing with these obstacles: hoping that she’ll pull through and hoping she’ll be okay. And that was life changing in an instant. And I feel like there’s a lot of what you see on our show; there’s these vast extremes that can happen on any given day and how faith and help are involved in both extremes of good and bad and light and dark.
IGN: What is it that you think helped Once Upon a Time so quickly find a fanbase?
Morrison: You know, there’s always a bit of mystery to all of that. I used to get asked that about House all the time too. It’s one of those things where just every once in awhile all the puzzle pieces fit. And it is a bit of magic. It always starts with the writing and the writing on Once Upon a Time is so extraordinary and so inventive and so original. Then after that, it’s casting everybody appropriately and with actors that suit the characters in a way that people are going to feel they connect with them and that they all have chemistry with each other. Then it’s who’s directing and who’s production designing and it’s who’s costume designing. You know, it’s all those things. And ultimately, I also feel like it’s about the showunners having a really strong vision. Often times, there are very good ideas for pilots, and then the showrunners don’t have the guts to fight to keep the show or fight to make the show what it really needs to be. And I think on both House and Once Upon a Time I was shown examples of showrunners who had extraordinary ideas and followed it up with extraordinary writing and execution. And also, we’re willing to fight for their idea and willing to fight for the tone of the show and fight to maintain a certain quality and certain vision that is consistently put out every week. And both shows were really able to do that. I think that that often times is what you end up missing.
You might have a great pilot, and then the second episode is just sort of like, “Oh, it’s okay.” Then the third episode, “I don’t understand. It doesn’t seem like the same show anymore,” you know? So I feel like having that strong vision is a big part of the success of the first year of a show. And beyond that, I think it really is a bit of luck and magic.
We happen to be doing a show about fairytales in a time where we’re struggling financially and all sorts of political things are going on in the world. It’s a time where people are looking for glimpses of hope and are questioning their own faith and are looking for a bit of escape from these struggles. And I feel like Once Upon a Time is offering a little piece of that right now. I’ve said before, I don’t think it’s an accident that Snow White was released during the Great Depression and we’re now having this resurgence of Snow White tales and fairytales in a time that is being compared to the Great Depression.
IGN: Not being in the fairytale scenes, is it fun for you to see the episodes and that whole environment that isn’t part of your production day?
Morrison: Yeah! I really get to see that part of the show as an audience member, which is really nice. It’s really nice to be able to be removed and — even though I’ve read the scripts obviously — be removed enough from it to really visually be able to enjoy it as a true audience member. It’s kind of a nice luxury.
IGN: Besides the burgeoning mystery of what happened to Kathryn, is there anything else you can tease you’re excited for the fans to see coming up on the show?
Morrison: Honestly, I would just say as we get to episode 20, 21 and 22, so much happens so quickly. I’ve been saying it’s like we’re on a roller coaster and we’ve been climbing and climbing and climbing one notch at a time, and by episode 20 we’re kind of hanging at the top. Then at 21 and 22, it lets go, and you’re flying down. It’s just so many of the questions that have been posed and so many of the little intriguing things that have been planted throughout the seasons start getting answered, and the piece start coming together so quickly. A lot gets revealed very quickly, and you’re going to see a whole lot of the characters interacting and see how all these worlds are crossing over in a very specific way, very quickly.
IGN: Lastly, I just had to tell you that my wife and I both agreed you looked awesome at PaleyFest last week. You were rocking that suit.
Morrison: Aw, thank you, thank you. Honestly, I just really wanted to be comfortable. And I thought, “Well, let’s just wear a suit!” [laughs]
