ONCE UPON A TIME: Emilie de Ravin Previews a Return to Storybrooke

ONCE UPON A TIME viewers have seen a bit of Belle in Neverland — thanks to the Shadow’s mindtricks on Rumple — but in tonight’s brand new episode, we’ll finally see what’s been going on in Storybrooke.

“That was really cool,” Emilie de Ravin (Belle) told reporters on set last month about returning to Storybrooke. “It was fun to get back to that Belle.”

“Obviously she has to be quite responsible,” she noted. “There’s a lot on her shoulders with her cloaking spell in hand. That obviously — she’s always been an independent woman, she’s just always hanging out with [Rumple]. I don’t think that’s ever trampled on her independence. I think it’s almost lifted it in a sense…she has the most information, too, of what’s going on. Everyone else is kind of hearing [what’s going on] from her.”

Of course, the reason viewers are getting to return to Storybrooke is because Ariel is coming to them with a message…and that means de Ravin is getting to work with someone new.

“JoAnna [Garcia Swisher (Ariel)]’s awesome to work with,” de Ravin gushed. “It was a lot of fun.”

Are you excited to see what Ariel’s presence in Storybrooke will do to the town and the characters who were left behind? And are you intrigued by how Belle has been handling her new role in the community?