Ginnifer Goodwin opens up about her character in Once Upon a Time and shares that the theme for the new season is going to be belief
The main theme of the new season will beBelief. How does it play for your characterIJ
I can tell you from a very practical standpoint that it makes sense. We have to associate Belief as characters, with our journey because it is Neverland. We know that in the story of Peter Pan Belief is parallel to magic making. So even on a very surface level we’re addressing that in the first couple of episodes. But I can tell you that Snow’s personal journey this season. I feel it is going to be more about belief in herself and understanding who she is since she now understands that she’s not as definable as she once thought she was. That she’s capable of just as much evil as the Evil Queen which going to make her seek the Evil Queen in real life. It certainly means that Snow White has to reconcile the two sort of disparate parts of herself in order to be useful to everyone else in this world. And she’s going to have to address some issues with her daughter.
How is it for you to play the Snow White who is not so perfect and so different from the stereotypeIJ
This is why I took this job. I mean I’m a Disneyphile and I love shooting a bow and arrow. You know, who doesn’t get swept up in the magic of that all. But I’m an actress who prefers to analyse relationships and expose flaws and grow and change with the character. And so to have the layers this midi, as written by our writers, is incredibly inspiring. All I wanted to do is to concentrate on the grey side of Snow and all I want to do is to address her tensions with Emma. Also I don’t really know if it’s going to play out — I’d like to work more with the actor who plays Henry. We haven’t, at all, addressed the fact that not only Snow and Charming are parents but also grandparents. There’s all kinds of new responsibilities there.
I’ve just liked that there have been no real rules on how to play those characters. We’ve been given a blueprint and told to run. It could have been very different especially working for Disney who have the copyright on a lot of these characters. It could have been a very different experience. This is the first time the princesses held weapons. I don’t meant that they use them — this is the first time ever they put their hands on some weapons. We’ve been able to depict a princess holding a sword. And it’s been incredibly empowering that they’ve really let us modernise these characters and make them very relatable. That’s really been rewarding.
As a big Disney fan, have there been any new interpretations of established characters that you’ve been especially excited about or shocked byIJ
Sometimes the overlaps are glorious. I love all the various parts. I guess you can say that that Robert Carlyle has gotten to play in terms of finding that Rumpelstiltskin is also a beast. Why notIJ There’s nothing in those stories that justify that. It seems like it could have been a story loophole, a fairy-tale loophole. It totally works! And I’m jealous of it as well. like I hope that the rest of us get to find out something surprising.
Speaking of surprises — how much Snow knows about NeverlandIJ
It’s a very good question. I’ve been asking myself that as well because the creators have let us make our own decisions about that. last year they gave me a line when I see Hook for the first time they let me act as I had heard of him before. And we, as the Charming family, have decided that we have absolutely heard tales of the creatures in this world and of some of these characters but we’ve never been there before. So it’s going to be a new terrain for us.
I really liked how we discovered that we were tied to Wonderland. I don’t know how much my character knows about that bridging but to find out that Regina’s mother became the Queen of Hearts was pretty badass.