"Once Upon a Time" is back on Sunday night and it's about to get "Frozen." But beyond Storybrooke's battle with Elsa's frosty freeze is the internal one threatening Regina's heart.
Lana Parrilla's Regina will be caught up in an internal struggle to keep her heart from growing cold now that her true love's (Robin Hood) formerly deceased wife Marian is in town.
Season 3 proved to be one of redemption for Regina, who fought tooth and nail to find Henry in Neverland and then risked her own life when her half-sister, Zelena, came to town to cause death and destruction. This major life twist, however, has the potential to send her spiraling back down a dark path. It's an interesting place to be for an actress who has had to show so much range on the ABC Sunday night fairytale drama. With the show returning September 28 at 8/7c on ABC, Lana spoke with Access Hollywood about what's ahead.
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AccessHollywood.com: At the end of Season 3, Marian had come to town. What kinds of problems will that set up for Regina, because that puts her into maybe some old patterns or some potential for old patterns?
Lana Parrilla: Yeah, it definitely has shaken her world a bit. [It was not at all] what she was expecting. She's finally gotten her happy ending and now it's been torn apart. And, you know, Regina -- she's really uncertain as to what to do initially. She will be toying with both sides, which is both light and dark, throughout the season and it's that sort of 'old habits die hard' thing. But it's also -- for Regina, she's been the Evil Queen a lot longer than she has this new, redeemed Regina. She's much more kind of comfortable with the dark side, I would say. She will have to kind of fight the tendencies which, organically for her are committing evil acts, so she's gonna be struggling with both sides for a good portion of the season.
Access: What skills do you think she actually has picked up, though, that could help ground her, especially in the last season when she had to deal with her half-sister?
Lana: Yeah, I mean, I think the skills that she's still developing are just [a] new approach on how to deal with conflict. She's not as impulsive as she used to be. She's much more contemplative and she has this relationship with her son and with the rest of the people in Storybrooke. She's kind of developed more of a familial relationship with everyone, which, in turn is, for her, very new. But also, she has an incredible support system, so I mean, a lot of the skills -- I don't know if I would necessarily call them skills. I think these newfound relationships that she's developed over the course of the second and mostly third season, will kind of guide her through this heartbreak. It's a good question that you asked me, and it's kind of hard to answer...I never called it skills before...
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Access: Or coping mechanisms, just the way we react to things.
Lana: Yeah, and I guess it falls in line with kind of what I'm saying about her relationships with people. I think that those relationships have developed in a way that she wasn't expecting and it has become more friendly and familial and I think she will find refuge in that, and solace, and kind of turn to them in this time of need. So I guess maybe that's a new skill for her, is that she's learning and she has learned to ask for help, which I don’t think she's ever done before.
Access: I love how you've talked about the fire and the ice thing before [with 'Frozen' coming to 'OUAT']. You have the fire and Elsa has the ice. Will we get to see your two characters meeting in any sort of nice way?
Lana: I would say that Regina's not a real fan when it comes to newcomers. She has a hard time kind of trusting anyone and letting anyone in to begin with that anyone new in her eyes is just a problem, so when Elsa comes to town, it's another problem on top of the already existing problem that her true love's ex-wife has now come back from the dead (laughs). The way she sees [it] is just like, 'Oh great, another issue! When are we gonna sleep?' (laughs) It just doesn't end and I think when she meets Elsa, it's confrontational. It's not welcoming someone with open arms, that's for sure.
Access: Is she going to be able to take comfort in her relationship with her son this season, because he does love her so much.
Lana: Yeah, I think that Regina's feeling pretty confident with her relationship with Henry and I think one thing she fears is that if she starts committing these evil acts she's gonna lose him again, so she has to be very strategic about her next move. However, Henry has light and dark tendencies kind of pumping through his veins with his biological mother being the savior and his grandfather being Rumpelstiltskin, I think Henry's gonna be kind of tempted himself, and that will either aid Regina or not. So, you'll have to see (laughs). I can't give that part away.
Access: Finally, are the costumes changing for you this season? I'm guessing we're going to have a lot more Storybrooke. Or, are we going to get some of those Evil Queen amazing costumes too?
Lana: Yes, I think that those costumes you'll get a little taste of in the beginning and then they kind of – I think they're gonna hold off. And really, in the beginning, I'm mostly the mayor. I have a couple of episodes where I am the Evil Queen, but for the most part I'm the mayor... in the front end of the season. But I have a really good inclination that we are gonna see a ton of Queen costumes on the back end of the season, so it's really something that we can all look forward to, including myself.
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"Once Upon A Time" returns for Season 4 this Sunday night at 8/7c on ABC.
-- Jolie Lash
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