Colin O’Donoghue saving the day (and CS fans’ hearts)
It was definitely very special to do the musical episode and have Emma marry Hook in it […] When we met Emma six years ago, she was so, so guarded that it was so hard to imagine her walking down the aisle so vulnerable, so open and so truly in love and surrounded by her family and all these people she’s been through so much with.
Wedding bells are officially ringing in Storybrooke!
Once Upon a Time’s highly anticipated musical episode is almost here, which means that we’re just a few days away from witnessing Emma Swan and Killian Jones say “I do” in a breathtaking wedding ceremony. (Trust us. It’s perfect.)
ET had the pleasure of visiting Once Upon a Time’s set in Vancouver, Canada, last month during filming of the musical matrimony, and we sat down with stars Jennifer Morrison and Colin O’Donoghue for an intimate and in-depth interview that focused on each and every aspect of their on-screen wedding.
From their “honest” vows, to Emma’s “timeless” wedding gown, and their dream honeymoon – only ET has all the inside scoop straight from the stars of the series! Plus, we’ve got additional details from executive producers Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, as well as Once Upon a Time’s head costume designer Eduardo Castro.
So, shall we get started? Or, as O’Donoghue cleverly put it: who’s ready for some “music and dance and some mighty fine romance” at Captain Swan’s wedding?
Just a warning that this is the biggest Once Upon a Time article we’ve ever written, so grab a comfy seat, put your cellphone on silent and get ready to go on an emotional roller coaster of feels. And, as always, please remember to breathe!
1. The Venue: The Once showrunners confessed that they had considered a number of “other places” for Emma and Killian to tie the knot – yes, even Granny’s! – but in the end, they settled on a brand new Storybrooke location for the ceremony. “Without wanting to spoil the episode, there’s a story reason for why it’s on the roof,” Horowitz revealed. “But there’s also something to us that was super romantic about having Storybrooke as the backdrop.”
Emma and Killian will tie the knot in front of a dream-worthy sunset and surrounded by their closest friends and family. “It’s the place where they’ve kind of come together,” Horowitz continued. “Where their love has grown and where both of them as characters have grown, so seeing the whole town kind of beneath and surrounding them felt like a really cool way to do it.”
“I thought it was perfect,” Morrison dished. “We just felt, like, what better way to make it feel extra special than to have [the wedding] also be the musical episode?”
“Mmmhmm,” O’Donoghue confirmed. “I picked the engagement ring and then they showed me this [wedding band] and I was like, ‘Yeah, that’ll do.’” To which Morrison added, “They’re very inclusive with us around here. It’s really nice.”
Kitsis and Horowitz explained that they have always encouraged the actors to “take ownership of their characters,” and allowing them to select things like the right gowns or props is a natural extension of that. “I think our props department is awesome and I’m sure that they had some great rings,” Horowitz said. “Nobody knows the character of Hook better than Colin, so of course he’d be the one to figure out what it should be.”
Colin picked out Captain Swan’s rings?!!! Major swooning over here! (via happilyeverhooked)
For Once Upon a Time‘s Emma Swan and Killian “Captain Hook” Jones, their imminent, musical wedding day (airing Sunday at 8/7c) brings with it few jitters — *save for one looming threat from the Black Fairy.
The ABC series’ co-creators, meanwhile, did not take lightly the task of bringing to the screen such an anticipated affair. “It’s intimidating to throw a fairy tale wedding, especially for Hook and Emma,” affirms Adam Horowitz. Part of the difficulty, he quips, is “knowing which pirates to invite and which not to!” Eddy Kitsis meanwhile says it was also critical to find “a nice chuppah.”
Turning serious about doing right by the show’s heroine, Kitsis says, “For us, the most important thing is that [the wedding] was intimate and that you really understood that this was a real milestone in Emma’s growth. She started the show by denying she had a child, and we see her walls up. So for her, in marrying Hook, she was also embracing everything. She was really moving forward with her life, and that is what we wanted.”
That, and “hopefully to make some people cry.”
And cry with joy, some fans might. During TVLine’s visit to the set for the filming of the episode — and amid discussing the episode’s purely musical aspects (detailed here) — Jennifer Morrison and her leading man, Colin O’Donoghue, also shared insight into the bride and groom’s mindset, as their big day unfolds.
TVLINE | Jen, remind me, have you worn a wedding dress before for any role? JENNIFER MORRISON | Yeah. I’ve worn a lot of wedding dresses.
TVLINE | How have those past weddings gone? MORRISON | Fine, I guess. [Laughs] But this is the first time I’ve actually said vows.
TVLINE | As joyous as the day is, is there a tiny, dark cloud looming out there somewhere? MORRISON | Well, we think that we’ve handled the Black Fairy (played by Jaime Murray), and then we end up realizing that we haven’t, and that the threat is still looming. So we were hoping to go into the wedding not worrying about her showing up, not worrying about her interrupting it, not worrying about her ruining anything, but it turns out that there’s a possibility that she could be a problem.
TVLINE | In the group dance number I just saw being filmed, are your characters just letting themselves be free at that moment, pushing any worries aside? COLIN O’DONOGHUE | At this point in time, they’ve just decided whatever’s going to happen is going to happen. We need to make the most of time that we have together now because it’s Storybrooke and you never know what’s going to happen. MORRISON | And we know that we want to be together. We know there are no doubts about that. We just want to move ahead with it and enjoy the moment. O’DONOGHUE | There’s a little glimmer of hope in the middle of a pretty desperate situation.
TVLINE | Watching the group dance number, I felt like this is the happiest Emma has let herself be. In the past it’s always, “I’m happyish, but….” MORRISON | A lot of the song that we shot yesterday (Morrison’s solo, titled “Emma’s Theme”) is about Emma getting to that place in her life, which I think kind of marks the final transformation from ugly duckling to swan. She overcomes the last of her fears and baggage, and realizes that this song has been within her, her whole life, and it holds a power that she didn’t realize. O’DONOGHUE | In [the group number] or the previous scene that we filmed, it’s all happiness. There’s no negative aspect. They know that what’s going to happen is going to happen, and they don’t care. They’re just expressing how much they love each other, and… MORRISON | And that’s it. O’DONOGHUE | That’s it.
But again, the possibility that the Black Fairy is still in play and gunning for “The Final Battle” (as in the title of next week’s two-part finale) cast a slight pall over the proceedings, as the time to be pronounced husband and wife nears. “Weddings on the TV series Once Upon a Time traditionally are frought with unexpected circumstances. And this is no different,” Horowitz reminds. Or as Jared Gilmore, whose face fills the hour’s very final frame, puts it: “That’s Once Upon a Time for you, always that looming threat. Evil stuff going on!”
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