At its core, the ABC ball series Once Upon A Time is a adventure of hope, but now in its seventh season, it’s additionally in a new boondocks (Hyperion Heights) run by a new villain (Gabrielle Anwar as Victoria Belfrey), and there’s a new anathema that’s taken the memories of the above association of the Enchanted Forest. And to affected it all, a adolescent babe called Lucy (Alison Fernandez) has to argue a developed Henry Mills (Andrew J. West) that his accurate love, aka her mother, is absolutely Cinderella (Dania Ramirez).
During this account with Collider, co-creators/showrunners Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis talked about why Division 7 is a “requel,” how the abstraction for this division evolved, developed Henry, what activity is like in Hyperion Heights, Cinderella’s journey, Lucy’s struggle, their circuit on Tiana (Mekia Cox) and Alice (Rose Reynolds), and addition out how this new anathema would affect the characters.
Image via ABC/Image Group LA
Collider: Would you guys adopt that the chat reboot not be acclimated to alarm the new season? Do you see this as added of a new affiliate in the story?
EDDY KITSIS: You can alarm it annihilation you want.
ADAM HOROWITZ: It’s awe-inspiring because we do accept abiding characters.
KITSIS: Someone acclimated the word requel, which is a sequel/reboot combined.
HOROWITZ: If you attending at the aboriginal six seasons as the aboriginal movie, this is the requel. Some of the characters are abiding and there’s some new association abutting the party, and it opens the aperture to new adventures and new worlds to analyze and new acceptance to tell.
When and how did the abstraction for Division 7 appear about?
KITSIS: We had a accepted abstraction of new curse, new town, which was the apriorism for the beginning, and we knew that we were activity to accept developed Henry. Aftermost year, aback we absolutely started to apprehend that this was the reality, we sat bottomward with the actors. We knew some were activity to leave, at the end of the season, so creatively, we had to acclimatize for that, and we knew that some capital to stay, so we had to creatively acclimatize for that. That’s how we ample it out.
Did you anytime accede catastrophe the appearance with Division 6, or did advancing up with this abstraction accord you the afflatus to move advanced with Division 7?
HOROWITZ: It’s up to ABC, ultimately, if we accept to stop accomplishing the show. We were so blessed that the arrangement gave us so abundant support.
KITSIS: Last season, we concluded it the way we would, if that were the end. We capital to end our adaptation of what we started six seasons ago, in our way. That’s what you say aftermost season.
HOROWITZ: Coming from Lost, we consistently looked at it as, in success, this is a six-season plan. We accept a new affiliate in a new world. Around Division 4, we started to anticipate that maybe this could be a absoluteness and that we could do this. And then, aback we got to Division 6, we anticipation about the altered pieces of storytelling that we would need, to put calm Division 7 and beyond.
Image via ABC/Craig Sjodin
KITSIS: We thought, if you can reboot superheroes, why not bogie tales? Every year feels like a new show, but this apriorism incorporates a requel.
HOROWITZ: It’s a risk. We apperceive it’s a accident aback you do article actual altered than you’ve done before, that has worked. In the aforementioned respect, aback we did the appearance in the aboriginal year, there hadn’t been annihilation like it, at that point. Nobody had done a appearance this crazy, with this abounding worlds and characters. In our mind, the riskiness of it is what makes it account accomplishing and trying.
KITSIS: The riskiness is what fabricated us appetite to continue. Aloof to lose characters and pretend like the appearance is affective advanced acquainted like a arrest to us. So, we capital to end our eyes and alpha a new one.
HOROWITZ: There’s a absolute faculty of bodies actuality re-energized. No amount how abundant you adulation your appearance and how abundant your admirers loves them, afterwards six seasons, it’s abundant to accept an befalling to comedy article that’s the same, but a little bit different. Now, they get to do altered stuff, and there’s new association advancing in. It was actual adamantine to say goodbye to bodies that we’ve been with for six seasons and that we love. It’s not a qualitative acumen on any of them. We adulation them and we adulation the adventure we told with them, but now we’re cogent a new story.
What are you adequate about flipping things this season, area Henry, who as a adolescent boy was the one who kicked this accomplished adventure off by absent his mother to accept in abracadabra and bogie tales, is now the one who needs acceptable by his own child?
HOROWITZ: That’s a abundant question. One of the things that we achievement to arresting to the audience, from the onset, is that we’re not redoing Division 1. Yeah, there are echoes of it in how we concluded Division 6 and how we alpha Division 7, but we’re accomplishing a new thing. It’s not the same curse, it’s not for the aforementioned reasons, and it’s not the aforementioned things happening, but we’re hopefully riffing on what we did afore and activity in a altered direction.
How is developed Henry altered from adolescent Henry? Will we feel echoes of adolescent Henry in him?
KITSIS: Absolutely! Especially in the Enchanted Forest and in flashbacks, you’ll see the Henry that was aflame about Operation Cobra in developed Henry. We consistently said that Henry had the affection of the truest believer, but aback we accommodated him in Seattle, he no best believes. Getting his acceptance aback is what the arc of the division is.
HOROWITZ: Jared [Gilmore], who played Henry for six seasons, was amazing. For a kid to be able to appear into an hour-long ball and be a axial allotment of it, at the age of 10, it’s astonishing what he did. What Andy [West] is accomplishing is he’s capturing the spirit of what Jared did and assuming us what that approaching appearance could be. It’s a catchy acclimation act because we accept to break accurate to what Jared created with that character, but go to this new place. We’ll alpha to see what the apple is like for Henry aback he has a kid, he’s developed up, and he’s adverse a crisis of acceptance that he never anticipation he would have.
What is activity like, in Hyperion Heights?
Image via ABC
KITSIS: I would say that they’re activity through some changes. Victoria Belfrey, who is played by Gabrielle Anwar, is a developer who’s aggravating to change the neighborhood. She is attractive to move the association out. Area Regina casting a curse and brought anybody calm and kept them there, this appearance understands that it’s bigger to advance them out, so that they never see anniversary added again. She’s aggravating to gentrify the neighborhood, and you’ve got bodies like [Roni], who doesn’t appetite to sell. So, it depends which ancillary you’re on.
What can you say about villains and adversaries, for at atomic the aboriginal allocation of this season? Who will be causing the best mischief, or active things up the most?
KITSIS: Where the aboriginal division of Once was the Snow White mythology, we are accomplishing the Cinderella mythology. There will be a abandoned stepsister and a actual abandoned stepmom.
HOROWITZ: There are hopefully hasty places that they appear from. What we’ve done throughout the appearance is accept a mash-up quality. Snow White’s best acquaintance was Little Red Riding Hood. I anticipate you’ll see that the Cinderella mythology crisscrosses with some added things that hopefully accommodate some befalling for hasty places for abomination and heroism.
KITSIS: We’ve consistently said that angry isn’t born, it’s made, so we never capital to be a appearance that batten in atramentous and white agreement because there is no atramentous and white. There’s consistently a acumen why addition is the way they are. For us, it’s a appearance about achievement for everyone, and not aloof heroes, but villains. There’s the achievement that they can redeem themselves. Anybody wants to feel hopeful.
What are you best aflame about with Cinderella’s story, this season?
HOROWITZ: Dania [Ramirez] is an amazing actress. She came in and blew us away. Aloof on a authentic aptitude and acting level, we’re aflame to see what she does. What we capital to do was to acquaint a adventure that will hopefully be an ballsy adulation story, area we can abduction the spirit of romance.
KITSIS: One of the things that we’re additionally aflame about is that the Cinderella adventure in the absolute apple is actual relevant. Feeling like bodies accumulate alteration the ambition posts and you can’t get out advanced is a adventure that we’re aflame to tell. It’s fun to see Cinderella in both worlds. In true Once fashion, we don’t do damsels in distress, so this is a Cinderella that doesn’t charge a prince to save her. She’ll save herself.
We apperceive that Once Upon A Time puts its own circuit on bogie tales, so what can we apprehend from this Cinderella and her family?
Image via ABC/Craig Sjodin
HOROWITZ: The accord is acutely strained. Aback your stepmother and stepsister accept angry as a prefix, you can apprehend some strain. That said, there is hopefully some abyss and some twists to the Cinderella adventure that will appearance you why the accord is strained, why they amusement her the way they do, and why she treats them the way she does.
How abundant added arduous will it be for Lucy to accomplish her plan assignment than it was for Henry?
KITSIS: She’s got a tougher affair because she’s aggravating to get her mom to be with this guy that she’s assertive is her dad, so she’s aggravating to ancestor allurement these two and they’re like, “Kid, this is awkward!” The extra who plays Lucy, Alison [Fernandez], is so good. You’re like, “Are you abiding you’re 11?!” She has that Macaulay Culkin adeptness to aloof backpack a scene.
How difficult was it to acquisition your Lucy?
HOROWITZ: Casting is consistently a challenge, and casting a kid is actual hard. Award Jared was an amazing achievement of luck, to acquisition a kid who could do that. And award Alison, we are actual optimistic. We anticipate she’s abundantly accomplished and special.
We apperceive that we’ll be seeing Tiana and a new Alice. What can you say about those characters and area they’ll fit in, this season?
KITSIS: Alice is fun. I anticipate that she’s gonna have a consciousness-expanding bend to her. There’s article afraid about her. Like Rumplestiltskin, she’s gonna keep bodies on edge.
HOROWITZ: Rose Reynolds, the extra arena Alice, has begin a absolutely absorbing booty on Alice. There’s an off-kilterness and a faculty of fun to it, as well, that we anticipate is absolutely cool.
KITSIS: And Mekia [Cox], who’s arena Tiana, is additionally fun. We never got to do Tiana and we’ve consistently capital to. You’re activity to acquisition her and Jacinda actual abutting friends, in the way that Snow and Ruby were. We’re activity to do our own adaptation of The Princess and the Frog story, but it’s activity to be fun to do Tiana in that world.
What led you to analyze Hook as a cop and Regina as a bartender?
HOROWITZ: The starting abode was the accommodation that we capital to be in a burghal and we capital to do article that acquainted actual altered than Storybrooke. Once we fabricated that decision, it became about award the places to put these characters that would accessible up storytelling avenues and be cogitating of who they are, both in their absolute selves and their new accursed identities.
KITSIS: For us, Regina was consistently the ambassador or the queen. We said, who’s the being that sticks up for the neighborhood, and it was the bounded bar. That’s how we got to her. And Killian as a cop gets explained in story.
Did you additionally anticipate about the fun of putting them into types of accouterment that we’ve never apparent them in before?
KITSIS: That was a advantageous one. With Lana [Parrilla], we capital her to accept a Debbie Harry/Siouxsie Sioux vibe, which is like Lana, in absolute life.
HOROWITZ: In the requel analogy, you appetite to see your favorites return, but you appetite to see them accomplishing article new, and you accept to acquisition that antithesis area they still feel like the characters you love. Seeing Regina in a bar and in this new role has been a lot of fun to write, and seeing what Lana is accomplishing with it has been great. It’s the aforementioned with Colin [O’Donoghue], seeing him as a cop.
Once Upon A Time airs on Friday nights on ABC.
