Once Upon A Time: Lana Parrilla Remembers The Evil Queen at Denver Pop Culture Con

For seven years, Lana Parrilla portrayed Regina Mills, aka The Evil Queen on Once Upon a Time.

While Once Upon a Time came to an end last year, there are still lots of fans who love Regina and Parrilla herself. 

Earlier this month we attended Denver Pop Culture Con, where I got the chance to hear Parrilla speak about her time as Regina, how hard it is to let go of a character she’s played for seven years, and her advice for anyone looking to enter the entertainment and film industry. 

Here are some of the highlights from her Spotlight Panel which took place on Saturday, June 1, 2019. 

Opening Remarks

To start off, moderator Ryan Frost asked Parrilla if this was her first time in Denver. 

“It is not my first time in Denver, I was here about ten years ago, actually,” Parrilla began. “I was on a cross-country road trip with Lola, my dog, my dear friend Ileeks, and my Mini Cooper convertible. Yes, camping and roughing it in a convertible Mini Cooper, and [got a] tiny fender-bender in Wyoming.” 

“I was like, ‘My brand new car. There’s no way I can continue driving across the country with this fender bender. I have to get it fixed. Let’s go to Denver. I know I can find a great body shop there.’ And so I was here for a whole week, and I loved it.”

On How She Got Into Acting

Parrilla also talked a little bit about how she got into acting originally. It was partially through her aunt, but also because she was a young girl who loved to act stuff out. 

“Honestly, I feel like I was born with it, because as a young girl, around three or four years old I was mimicking commercials for my mom, and I was crying in front of the mirror and everyone thought someone was wrong, and I would look at them and say ‘I’m practicing,'” Parrilla recalled. 

On What She Would Have Liked to See From Regina’s Arc

Parrilla then took audience questions. The first one was about how happy she was with Regina’s arc overall on Once Upon a Time. 

“You know, I was really pleased with what the writers had written for Regina’s arc overall. I think in hindsight, I would have loved to see The Evil Queen and Regina come back together again because that’s really fully accepting one’s self, and so I would have loved that somehow.”

“If the show continued, I bet there would have been a moment when they would have just morphed back into one person again,” Parrilla continued. “I, as the actress, I wanted to just kind go through the experience as Regina was going through it. So I didn’t ever want to know what was coming up. I liked experiencing everything first thing the way she was. So I didn’t interfere. That’s not my hat.” 

On Her Once Upon a Time Audition 

Parilla also discussed her audition for The Evil Queen. She was originally auditioning for another show where she was going to play a trauma surgeon, but the casting director saw her audition and wanted her to read for The Evil Queen because she felt like Parilla was a good storyteller. 

“She gave me the script, and I took it home. Read it, fell in love with it, and started working on it, and went in, auditioned. Read two scenes, once. And Adam and Eddie sat there and said — I mean not in the room, but they told me later — they sat there and went, ‘This is our Queen.’ They said ‘You scared the crap out us,'” Parrilla remembered.

“You never know for those actresses, or any aspiring actors out there, sometimes you may read something and you’re like ‘I don’t know if this is right for me.’ But then, the casting director, or producer, or director, in the room will often say, ‘Oh my god, you’re not right for this, but you’re right for this other part,'” she said. “So for all those aspiring actors, go and get in those rooms. You never know what’s going to come out of it.”

On Her Favorite Outfits from Once Upon a Time

Another audience member asked Parrilla about her favorite outfit she wore as The Evil Queen and Regina and if she which one she would steal if she could. Parrilla has a lot of favorite outfits, but one of her favorites is the rubber dress she wore in the Once Upon a Time Season 3 Episode 2, “Lost Girl.”

“I step out of the carriage and I don’t go any further than that because I couldn’t walk,” she laughed. “But I looked amazing. That rubber dress that I sweat in like you couldn’t believe, in the middle of July. In rubber. That one was pretty hot.”

She also loves Regina’s iconic red velvet dress with the lace because it’s feminine, sexy, regal, and evil. She would also steal Regina’s purple dress from when Rebecca Mader joined the cast. 

“I loved when Rebecca came on in Season 3, and we were both wearing these–it was like competing dresses. I think mine was purple and hers was obviously, green. I had this purple dress on that was just so beautiful, and I love that. I wish it still fit me. Then I would have kept it, but…it doesn’t,” Parrilla lamented.

On Playing Two Versions of Her Character

One question came in about Parrilla having to play two versions of herself when The Evil Queen and Regina split into two separate versions of herself in Once Upon a Time Season 6. 

“It was difficult because it was new, so there was a bit of a learning curve for me as an actress. Not playing different parts because it’s what we do, but playing different parts in the same day,” she explained. “I like a challenge though. I’m always up for one. So when I’m presented with something like I’m like, let’s go for it.” 

On Healing From Emotional Trauma

Another question came from a fan who had recently exited a toxic relationship. Parrilla offered a few words of advice on how to get through it. 

“My advice is to be very patient and kind with yourself. Don’t try to distract yourself from whatever you’re feeling. Allow yourself to feel it. Allow yourself to grieve. Allow yourself to be in despair. Because it’s there anyway, and so if you shove it under a rug or you try to distract yourself by going here and doing that and staying busy, you’re just really kind of putting a bandaid on your emotions,” she said.

“And just know that you’re not alone. This is life. Life is beautiful because of the challenges, and because of the joys and happiness as well. But you have to have the yin and yang, the light and the dark. So if you’re in the dark, just be in the dark, and then also surround yourself with people who are very supportive and loving. That’s very helpful.”

On the Most Emotionally Impactful Scenes of Her Career

Parrilla discussed a couple of the hardest scenes she’s had to film in her career as well. There were two that came to mind. One from Boomtown, and one from Once Upon a Time. 

“There’s been two. One in Boomtown, where I was Theresa, and it was Season 2, and I had to shoot someone for the first time. And that was really hard for me to do — because I didn’t really shoot them obviously — but I had to go into training, holding guns and stuff, and that was really not my thing. It freaked me out for personal reasons, because I lost my father tragically, so that was really difficult for me. Having to do that on camera was also really hard.”

“The second hardest scene I did, was in the Underworld when Regina sees her dad for the first time after she’s murdered him,” she explained. “That was really hard for me because it was just so connected to my own personal life.” 

On Her Favorite Personality to Play

Another topic that came up during Parrilla’s spotlight panel was what her favorite personality to play was. She says she loves playing broken characters because when they’re broken they have somewhere to go.

“And I feel like I played a lot of controversial characters,” she said. “I love that they were all involved in something or some sort of lifestyle where they felt a certain way or behaved a certain way where everyone was like, ‘Oh my god, how could they?’ And everyone’s filled with judgment.”

“You look at these characters, and you go ‘But how did they get here?’ and you see their struggle and journey, and then you feel like, ‘Oh my god, I can relate to that,’ and now they’re compelling,” Parrilla continued. 

Parrilla talked a little bit about the anti-heroes that have popped up recently including Walter White and Tony Soprano, and how the audiences root for them even though they’re selling meth and killing so many people. 

“I just think that what it says is that, at the core, these people aren’t really bad, I feel like that’s kind of how we have to look at people in life. You might meet someone on a bad day.”

Her Favorite Scene to Film

Reflecting on her favorite scene to film, Parrilla also talked about the battle between Regina and The Evil Queen during Once Upon a Time Season 6 Episode 14, “Page 23.” 

“She has this memory of herself as The Evil Queen and remembering that she is her worst enemy, and she snaps out of it, and she realizes what she has to do. She has to fully accept herself and her darkness, and I just think that that is so powerful. So that’s why it’s my favorite scene, is because of the message behind it.”

On Wishing There’d Been Some Closure With Daniel

Another question came in about Daniel. Daniel was Regina’s “one true love,” who Cora killed after hearing about their relationship from a young Snow White. The question was about what Parrilla would change about the arc if she could. 

“I think a different form of closure, kind of like how she was able to have closure with her dad and her mother. I would have liked to have seen more closure between them,” Parrilla said. 

There was a scene originally in The Underworld arc where Regina had a monologue at Daniel’s grave that got cut out because of time.

On Letting Go of The Evil Queen

One of the last questions was from a fan who asked Parrilla about how she was letting go The Evil Queen and closing that seven-year chapter of her life. It’s been a process and it’s one that Parrilla is still working towards.

“Playing someone for seven years is very consuming in ways I don’t think I even understood, and I think it’s a very strange thing for people who look at actors and don’t even consider that part of it,” she said.

“For actors who are also living in a different country, away from home, away from family, away from friends, telling this woman’s story, her life, her journey. There is very little room for self, and that’s just kind of the sacrifices that we make for our art. And I would do it again because I love what I do so much.”

On Swan Queen

“If you’re asking if I changed my performance to please Swan Queen, no,” she said. “I’m sorry. That’s not the answer you want, but no I did not. I always stayed true to where Regina was in her story and what the writer’s intended.”

“However, I love the Swan Queen fandom, I think all of you know that,” Parrilla added. “I love all the ‘ships. I don’t discriminate and I don’t favor them. 

Advice for Aspiring Actors, Directors

Parrilla also had some advice for aspiring actors, actresses, and anyone who wants to enter the film industry in any respect.

“Don’t give up,” she began. “Work really hard on your craft. “Research, study, know what you’re talking about, and stay open, and don’t be afraid to fail.”

“You’re going to fail a lot, but that’s just part of what we do in life. You’re going to fail, but brush yourself off, and keep moving forward. Don’t lose sight of your vision, or allow people to mess with it too much, but learn how to be collaborative.”

She also talked about some of the pitfalls to avoid as an actor. 

“Don’t show up not knowing your lines,” she stated. “I’m serious! When I directed and people were coming in I was like…what? Just really be prepared and set that time aside. Do not go out drinking the night before. I’m serious! If this is something you want.”

“I missed a lot of parties. I did. I missed a lot of birthday parties, I missed a lot of outings, and friends doing this, that, and whatever. And I was the nerd, who had an audition on a Monday, and I was in my apartment focusing the entire weekend. And dedicating myself to my craft and my work.” 

“I think that if it’s something you truly, truly want, then it has to be something you can’t live and breathe without. So give it everything you got, feel good about it,” Parrilla said. “When you walk out of that room, you’re like ‘You know what, I may not be right for it, I may or may not get it, but I feel good about my work.'” 

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Check out all of our coverage of Denver Pop Culture Con. There is a lot more to come!

Once Upon a Time is available to stream on Netflix. 

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