TVGuide White Out interveiw with Josh Dallas

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Ages before Elsa hit Storybrooke, one resident already had a run-in with someone from Arendelle.

Sunday’s Once Upon a Time (8/7c, ABC) uncovers more about David/Prince Charming (Josh Dallas) through a flashback in which he encounters Frozen‘s Anna (Elizabeth Lail), who has traveled to the Enchanted Forest to complete her parents’ final quest. “We’re going to go back even before what we’ve seen previously of David, when he was a shepherd,” Dallas tells TVGuide.com. “He’s going to have an encounter with Anna, which is a friendship that is probably one of the most important outside of Snow White that he’s had, that basically changes his life and sets him out on a task to becoming the hero that he is.”

Part of this flashback will reveal yet another thing about Charming that is not quite so charming: He had really long, ratty hair at one time. “This is David before that haircut we had him [in] before as the shepherd. This is before he even saw a pair of scissors,” Dallas says. “I felt like I was in some 1980s rock band, all in the best way. It was the greatest thing ever. I loved wearing the wig. I wish I could wear it more often. When the wind hit me, it blew, like I was Beyonce or something.”

Check out what else Dallas has to say about Bo Peep, sheep and fatherhood:

What is happening in Storybrooke’s present day that sets the scene for this flashback?
Josh Dallas: The [snow] monster is now gone, and now, Mary Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin) has taken over leadership as mayor so she’s got a lot going on there. Elsa (Georgina Haig) and Emma (Jennifer Morrison) are going to be spending a lot of time together, and Emma startles Elsa, and Elsa ends up putting them in this ice cave, and she can’t get them out. So David uses what he’s learned from the past from her sister Anna to try to talk her down and try to get them out of that ice cave and help save Emma’s life. Just another day in Storybrooke!

In the past, how does David encounter Anna? What is that interaction like?
Dallas: I think it’s friendly, and it’s also, “Who is this girl?” I think he figures it out very quickly because he has another connection to someone else in Arendelle that we will find out about as well.

The episode description says that Bo Peep (Robin Weigert) is a warlord?! What can you say about this version of Bo Peep?
Dallas: It is a brutal warlord. She shows no mercy over David and his family and his small farm. David is, at this point, still a young man. Because the circumstances of his life, we’ll learn in this episode that he’s been conditioned to run from things. Running is easier than tackling whatever the problem is. Anna really teaches him to face life and stop running from things. His instinct with Bo Peep is to run from her, and she’s a brutal warlord who’s actually just a bully that he needs to face up to. So Anna really shows him the way.

According to the nursery rhyme, Bo Peep wants her sheep, and we know that David is a shepherd…
Dallas: Well, she wants everything. She owns everything: She owns land, she owns rights, she owns you. In a sense, everyone who lives on her land becomes her sheep, her slaves. He wants to break away from her tyranny.

Beyond the figurative sheep, is it literal too? Are there sheep present?
Dallas: Oh there are many sheep, yes. In fact, there should be a whole scene of me feeding sheep.

What is the importance of this episode?
Dallas: It pushes things forward back in Storybrooke. David uses what Anna instilled him in his whole life to help out Elsa, who then hopefully helps him out of that ice cave.  It’s all about believing in the people that you love and not giving up on them.

Does he make the connection between Anna and Elsa, or does he not know that they’re sisters?
Dallas: That becomes clear to him in Storybrooke for sure. Anna is such a great character because she’s purely good. She sees something in him that is good that she can help. She does that without wanting anything in return.

Do you know when the fact that David and Mary Margaret are sharing one heart will be addressed?
Dallas: We haven’t forgotten about that. At the moment, there are some other things that are going down that need more attention, but it’s a beautiful thing that they both share one heart.  I think it definitely encapsulates what their love is and how they work together as a team and are always connected in such a deep way. That’s why they have the truest love of all. They are one; they’re [each] half of a whole. I think it will definitely be something we’ll get into later in the season.

And there was a black spot we saw on Mary Margaret’s heart earlier. Will that also be addressed?
Dallas: Yeah, who has that bit, who has that half? Hopefully these are all things that will be answered and looked at later in the season.

How is David adjusting, being a real dad for the first time to Baby Neal?
Dallas: He’s trying to do the best that he can because this is his opportunity now. He always had that fear of failing as a father. Basically, he doesn’t want to put Neal in a wardrobe. He’s just trying not to do that, so he’s going to keep Neal by him as much as possible and try to make up for where he lost with Emma. There are  huge repercussions for Emma growing up without her parents. She’s still searching in many ways. I think for Mary Margaret and David, they’re going to try their best to bring up Neal the way that they always wanted to bring up Emma, but at the same time, not alienate Emma because Emma is still his child [even though] she’s grown up. She can completely take care of herself. But she’s still their daughter, so they want to make sure that she’s not excluded in any way. She’s going to feel different about it when she sees David and Mary Margaret with Baby Neal and giving Baby Neal everything that she didn’t have.

Is David protective of Emma dating Hook (Colin O’Donoghue)?
Dallas: The guyliner he doesn’t really care for, that’s for sure. But you know what? With Hook and David, they obviously have their differences… but I think he’s seen a man who, whatever his moral code is that he lives by, he sees that [Hook is] trying to change. He’s tried to change for his daughter, for Emma. I think that’s a really admirable quality that David sees in him. At the end of the day, he wants his daughter happy. And if his daughter is going to be happy about a pirate, then he’s going to figure out a way to deal with it.

How much can this show follow your life or vice versa? You got married to your on-screen wife, then your alter ego also had a kid, while you’re a new dad.
Dallas: Art imitating life! I have babies at home and babies at work. It is interesting. You can do the research on this, but I think we might be the first couple since Lucy and Desi [Arnaz] to be on a show together and be married and have a kid on the show at the same time. It’s an interesting exercise as an actor to see what comes up in real life and using that in the script in the storytelling of Once Upon a Time.

Is there anything to draw on from being a father yourself?
Dallas: Life always informs your choices as actors for sure. It’s all so new to me. David is figuring it out, just like Josh is figuring it out. We’re just four months in, so there are new things every day, and new things to learn about: tummy time and teething and all things like that.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Once-Upon-Time-Josh-Dallas-1087773.aspx

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