Here’s the super simple explanation behind the *new* Cinderella in “Once Upon a Time”
When the showreturns for its “reset” seventh season on October 6th, Once Upon a Time viewers will be introduced to a whole host of new fairytale characters — including Cinderella, with Dania Ramirez taking over for Jessy Schram, who appeared as the princess and her Storybrooke alter ego during the first six seasons.
While Schram’s Cinderella was a minor character, the recasting left many fans wondering how Ramirez’s Cinderella — a major character in the upcoming season — will pick up where Schram’s left off. Well, according to OUAT, they don’t really have to think about the previous Cinderella, as they aren’t *really* recasting the character — they’re just giving us a new iteration of the iconic princess.
That’s right, Ramirez’s Cinderella is simply a different version of Cinderella.
"So you get to see a slightly more mature version of Cinderella in the real world, because she’s been through a lot as Cinderella in the fairy-tale world," Ramirez told Entertainment Weekly. "She has had to deal with her father’s passing and getting treated like less than a human being by her stepmother. I think there’s a lot of pain and struggle that she’s been through in her life."
Ramirez added that OUAT‘s new Cinderella is a new take on the iconic princess fairytale fans have come to know through Charles Perrault, The Brothers Grimm, and Disney. She said, “Unlike other Cinderella stories, she’s not a damsel in distress. She’s not waiting to just go and meet the prince and marry him and have this guy come sweep her off her feet.”
Season 7 of the fairytale series will follow an Adult Henry (Andrew J. West) in Hyperion Heights, a cursed neighborhood in Seattle, whose daughter Lucy (Alison Fernandez) needs his help. Lucy’s mother, however, is Cinderella, so over the course of the season, we’ll likely find out how Henry and Cinderella met, fell in love, and (presumably) lost touch.
It seems our first few questions might be answered — leaving many more in their wake — when Once Upon a Time returns on October 6th.
