Image Credit: ABC
The Belle audiences get to know tonight on Once Upon a Time will be a little different than the one they met years ago who danced with a hairy animated beast, according to Lost alum Emilie de Ravin, who plays the character in tonight’s episode.
“Well, she sounds kind of Australian,” she jokes.
Laughs aside, the actress says that while Once‘s Belle has the same passionate and caring personality as the animated version, she is “not as whimsical.” “The bravery and the drive she has to save her family and to help the world…that comes across much stronger,” she says. “And she’s extremely nonjudgmental — even probably more so than the original.”
But gone will be the happy ending that audiences were treated to in the animated film version, she says. “It’s a beautiful story, but I think it also shows that there’s not always a happy ending, which is something they’ve made a point of doing with some of these episodes. Most of these original fairy tales — of course, being predominately made as animations for children — didn’t want to have a tragedy at the end. So they definitely take a more realistic approach.” That, she says, is what she appreciates about the series and part of why she’s a fan of it.
De Ravin also says she loved the opportunity to see firsthand the quality of the costumes on the show. “I think the gold dress is absolutely stunning,” she says. “They’re making the most intricate gowns that the most high-ending wedding designers would take three weeks to make, and they’re perfect. I mean, the petticoats have lace and are stitched perfectly and you never see them… Being able to feel so in character from an outfit is a unique feeling too.”
Luckily for her and audiences, this will not be the last of de Ravin we see on the series. As she told EW’s Spoiler Room, “I do come back and I’d love to come back for a lot more because I love the show. I had a lot of fun with it,” she says. But as for when we’ll see her next, “you’ll have to wait and see.”
Return to EW.com in the morning for a full recap of the episode.
Read more:
‘Once Upon a Time’ in EW’s Spoiler Room
‘Once Upon a Time’ scoop: ‘Alice in Wonderland’ episode planned with Roger Daltrey — EXCLUSIVE
EW Recaps: ‘Once Upon a Time’
