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Q&A With Emilie de Ravin of 'Once Upon A Time'
Actress talks about her fairy-tale character and 'Lost' fans
By Minh Nguyen
Special to MSN TV
Emilie de Ravin has starred opposite Robert Pattinson and Pierce Brosnan in "Remember Me," but TV fans will recognize her from
"Lost"
as single mother Claire Littleton. She will be returning to the small screen to
star as Belle (from "Beauty and the Beast") and visiting the fairy-tale land in
"Once Upon a
Time" just in time for Valentine's Day. MSN TV had a chance to talk to
Emilie about her experience playing Belle and acting with the green screen on
this magical show.
MSN TV: You play Belle. Were you a fan of "Beauty and the Beast"
while growing up?
Emilie de Ravin: I was a fan, but I had not actually seen
the animated movie in '91, I think [that's when it came out]. I should have: '91
was definitely [one of] the growing-up years for me. I watched it after I filmed
my episode. It's really gorgeous. I was a fan of the story because,
moralistically, I think it's fantastic. It's not only a beautiful, fun, gorgeous
and sweet movie; it sends a really great message.
Bing: More about 'Once Upon a Time' | More about Emilie de Ravin
Tell us what we should be looking for in this
episode.
A lot will be happening. Belle is basically as she is in the original story.
She is a little less whimsical. She also does want to break free of her
constrained life. ...She wants to explore and be brave, be something that most
women in the fairy-tale land were not pushed to be. She volunteers to save her
family and friends, goes with Rumple [Rumpelstiltskin], aka the Beast.
Although it's different in many ways with "Once Upon a Time," they grow together
in different ways through their relationship [nervously giggling] in his castle.
They bring out different qualities in each other that neither one expected.
Did you feel any pressure when taking on such a classic fairy-tale
role?
Yes, it was challenging. It was one of the reasons I didn't watch the
animation before, because I didn't want to think, "Oh, hang on. Should I be
doing it more like this?" I think it's definitely less challenging than, say,
playing Audrey Hepburn or somebody where there's full footage of mannerisms,
speech patterns, all those kinds of things. It's a character, so there's less
pressure in that way, but being a character everyone knows, you want to adjust
to play her a little stronger and a little different. The conversations I had
before we shot really guided me to how she ended up.
What was it like filming in a fairy-tale land? Was it hard to imagine
all the special effects?
Behind this green screen, we have certain kinds of props, everything there
that you really need but totally different. There's a fantastic system where you
can walk over to the special monitors they have where you can see a mock-up of
how it's going to look. Not perfect at that point, obviously, but you can see
where the windows and trees are. I had a beautiful scene outside, which was
magical, with horses and carriages and forests. It's a beautifully shot show.
They do a lovely job with the cinematography.
Have you seen the final cut of the episode you're in?
I have an idea, but, no, I haven't. [Smiling] I am excited to see.
You were on an iconic show like "Lost." Do you find your fans follow
you?
Yeah, I think they do. I don't really know. How I would know? [Laughing] I
don't know. I hope so. [Laughing harder] I think for me and for most people, if
they like someone's work, they are interested to see what they're doing, so
hopefully [they're following].
Bing: More about 'Lost'
"Once Upon a Time" airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
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