Jennifer Morrison understood from the very beginning that Once Upon a Time would be a hit on television, and that is precisely what happened. Created by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, it drew inspiration from the world of fairy tales, offering characters trapped in a modern reality due to a curse. Jennifer Morrison in that setting portrayed Emma Swan, the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, summoned by her son Henry to save Storybrooke. Her adventure spanned seven seasons, and years after its ending, the actress has reflected on that period of her career.
Once Upon a Time, Jennifer Morrison recalls that she knew from the first episode that it would be a success
In Storybrooke, a small town in Maine, nothing is as it seems. Mary Margaret, for instance, is actually Snow White but does not remember it, and all of this is due to Regina, the Evil Queen. Emma Swan’s arrival disrupts that reality and brings buried memories to the surface, and slowly the residents of Storybrooke rediscover their fairy-tale histories.
Reflecting on that period, Jennifer Morrison told Collider that she sensed the success from the start: “I was really struck by the pilot episode. I was truly amazed. I thought it was a brilliant idea. It was one of those concepts that grab you. The familiarity of all these fairy-tale characters, combined with the idea that they all know each other and that somehow their lives intertwine, was incredibly exciting.” She also appreciated the work of the showrunners: “They did an incredible job, infusing it with a great amount of psychology and metaphors. You could feel the richness of their approach, so I was very enthusiastic.”
Jennifer Morrison grew up in a family that loves fairy tales. “Maybe I didn’t realize it at the time, but I grew up in a family that truly loves Disney. So I think there was also a lot of that Disney mythology in my veins, and I was excited by the idea of being the newcomer. What does it mean to be the invention that is hurled into that world? I believe that, without realizing it, I had spent my whole life researching to become that person, so there was something very familiar in everything that was calling me.”
The other side of the coin, the part that is usually unseen, is the challenge of portraying this character for so long. The actress shared: “I started with great enthusiasm and passion, and I think what I didn’t expect in the end were some of the challenges and things that turned out to be the most difficult for me, namely being away from my family, from home for so long, the exhausting hours, the expectations and demands of a show of this kind at that age, at that moment in my life. Because I wasn’t yet married and didn’t have a partner, so doing all this and still being somewhat alone really tested me. It really, really tested me. I think it forced me to realize the need to know myself better. I am not a person who fully sinks into the character in the lead role. I don’t take the character home with me or anything like that, but if you’re in someone else’s shoes for 14-16 hours a day, you don’t have much time to get to know yourself.”
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