TVGuide: Scott Michael Foster Talks Anna/Kristoff and Sven

“I imagine the time you really want to prove yourself is right before a wedding. He has faith in her and wants to show that he can be a good husband,” Foster tells TVGuide.com. “Kristoff and Anna just love each other. He just has complete support for his fiancée.”

That support continues on Sunday’s episode (8/7c, ABC), when Anna finally encounters Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle), whose magical know-how she hopes will help her sister. Rumple has other plans, however, and wants to use Anna to obtain a magical box that the Sorcerer’s apprentice is guarding. It’s a sticky situation, and according to Foster, “You’re going to see Kristoff again prove himself to Anna. He’s going to have to give his own advice along the way about what to do.”

This role earns you some cred with a whole new generation. You’re not just Greek‘s Cappie anymore.
Scott Michael Foster: Right, I’ve broken into two other groups of people: the Frozen family, which is a large, growing family, and then we have the Once Upon a Time family, which is full of avid fans. I’m learning about that because they have such a strong presence online. They make their appreciation very known.

Being blond is a new look for you, as is the short hair. In the past you’ve had long hair that would’ve been more of a match for Kristoff, so why the cut?
Foster: I haven’t had my hair this shade of blond since I was 13. It’s definitely a new look, and it’s starting to grow back out because they wanted to keep it growing long for the show. I’ll probably trim it up here when I’m done playing Kristoff. I had cut my hair for another role and had kept it short. That was for The Pact II, a horror movie that came out. I was playing a cop, so I had to cut my hair for that.

Are there any secrets to working with the reindeer who plays Sven?
Foster: His name is Jack. He’s a lot smaller than you’d think. I was expecting a large moose- or elk-like creature, and reindeer are actually like big Great Danes. They’re not something you can saddle up and ride on. They’re absolutely fun to work with. They have these crazy antlers, and I think you can see on the show, they’re covered in fur half the year. They’re very sensitive, so if you touch their antler, they’ll shake it off. So that was a bit of a learning curve on set: Don’t touch the reindeer’s antler or else he’ll shake his head violently. I had to be cautious of that.

Is there a scene you can tease coming up that was particularly fun to shoot?
Foster: Yeah, working with Elizabeth [Lail] is a blast. We got to do a pretty fun scene — and I can’t say what we’re doing — but I can tell you it’s a bit out of the ordinary. It’s a type of filming that I’ve never done before. It was fun to sort of be thrust into a new set experience that [neither] her nor I have ever done before. It was fun to actually do a scene that felt like we were doing a huge budget movie.

Will Kristoff be pulled back into the ongoing conflict with Hans (Tyler Jacob Moore) and his many brothers?
Foster: It could very well be. I don’t think the 12 Southern Isle brothers story line is quite finished yet. There might be another run-in with them.

What are Kristoff’s feelings toward Hans?
Foster: It’s pretty clear that this was the guy who betrayed and ultimately attempted to kill the one woman that Kristoff loves, so he doesn’t have too many warm feelings toward Hans. I think he treats him like an ex-boyfriend. This is the guy who failed and did terrible things and tried to overthrow the kingdom, so there’s not a lot of love lost between them.

You’ve actually had more scenes with Elsa, since Anna’s been gone. Do you and Georgina Haig discuss this almost-in-law sibling relationship?
Foster: The relationship between Elsa and Kristoff in the beginning was she was still getting used to him being around all the time, living in the kingdom with them. As you [could see] the first week, they didn’t see eye-to-eye on everything. It took some time to actually build their relationship, to become more than just brother- and sister-in-law and actually become friends.

He was there when the Snow Queen (Elizabeth Mitchell) emerged. Is he suspicious of her?
Foster: It’s exciting because she’s somebody who also has the same powers that Elsa has. No one thought that another person like that existed. There’s intrigue there. Obviously there’s going to be some concern about, “Is she who she says she is? Is everything valid?” I think Kristoff has those concerns, but ultimately it’s more intriguing and it raises more questions than answers. You’ll see them tackle those issues.

Will we learn how Kristoff knows David (Josh Dallas)?
Foster: Where I am in the story, I haven’t been filled in on that yet. I’m not entirely sure if we’ll find that out or not.

What do you think Rumple wants Anna to do? What are your theories on the big, movie-like scene that Foster shot?

Once Upon a Time airs Sunday at 8/7c on ABC.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Once-Upon-Time-Scott-Michael-Foster-1088109.aspx