Perhaps they chose a dark haired and eyed actress who maybe could be paralleled to Regina, but did not necessarily need to be. Lana is only half Latina, her mother being Italia
Nicole Munoz is Latina. Same as Lana Parilla. They chose an actress with a similar look and the Latina heritage to draw the Regina/Lily parallel. It’s the same reason they chose a Latino actor for both Young Henry and Old Henry
^ This!
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