BLOG CRITICS: Reinventing Fairy Tales: An Interview with Once Upon a Time's Jane Espenson
Dec 16, 2011
by Barbara Barnett
Jane Espenson is well known to fans of the science fiction and fantasy television genre. A 20-year veteran television writer and producer, she has written for some of the best, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Battlestar Galactica, Game of Thrones, Torchwood. She is also the co-creator and executive producer of Husbands, viewable at http://husbandstheseries.com. Currently Ms. Espenson is a writer/producer for the new hit series Once Upon a Time, which airs Sunday nights on ABC.
She wrote the recently aired, “A Still Small Voice,” which explores Jiminy Cricket's (Raphael Sbarge) backstory, and she’s also written the upcoming “Desperate Souls.” I last interviewed Ms. Espenson just before the series premiered back in October, and she was kind enough to chat with me again, in advance of her latest episode, airing just after the show comes out of its brief winter hiatus...
[NOTE: Once Upon A Time's 'Desperate Souls' airs Sunday, January 8, 2012 at 8/7C on ABC.]
... Q: I'm really excited to see your next episode, which, I understand reveals more about Rumpelstiltskin (Robert Carlyle).
Jane Espenson: "Episode 8 is called "Desperate Souls," and it does reveal more about Rumple. Lots more. You'll learn about where he comes from and what drives him. It's also got a fun Storybrooke story where we see more of how Emma is going to fit into this wonderful insular strange little town..."
... Q: I read a poll the other day on some fansite, and interestingly Rumpelstiltskin was far in the lead as favorite character. He's certainly my favorite character, but I'm not sure why that is. I don't usually find myself drawn to "villains," but is Rumpelstiltskin/Mr. Gold a real villain? After all, he did bring Henry to Storybrooke (and helped Snow White and the Prince save their baby).
Jane Espenson: "We are fortunate to have two amazing villains in The Evil Queen/Regina and Rumple. And I really love how both of them can justify their own actions. Regina has a yet-to-be-revealed beef against Snow, and you're going to learn a lot more about the source of Rumple's dark energy soon. And, yes, you're onto something. Rumple's agenda is very complex. Look not just to episode 8, but to episode 12 and beyond to learn more about it. You'll have to decide for yourself if it's evil or not..."
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