Once Upon a Time Casting Rumple's Mom — Dare We Hope for Karen Gillan? 

Tick-tock, Dearie! If you’re a young actress who can brandish a Scottish burr,

TVLine has learned that for an early Season 5 episode, the ABC drama is guest-casting the role of Rumplestiltskin’s mother, Evanna, to appear in flashbacks.

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To date, precious little is know about Evanna — she was already gone at the that time Rumple’s unscrupulous father Malcolm left the lad to be tended to by spinner spinsters (which

should be the name of an all-girl band), only to resurface for the gents’ first trip to Neverland.

is seeking an actress in her mid-20s to early 30s to play the “stunningly beautiful” Evanna, who is described as “plucky, strong and imbued with an unshakeable sense of self-confidence.” Evanna sometimes acts before she thinks, though unlike her son she never acts out of pure self-interest. Rather, her noble spirit stands in stark contrast to the now-dark soul of her offspring.

Candidates must also be able to pull off a Scottish accent.

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Mid-20s to early 30s? Scottish accent? Dare we hope for Whoniverse alum Karen Gillan? Or, maybe steal Rose Leslie aka

So I am guessing even though Rumple is now free of the Dark One doesn’t mean he’s suddenly going to turn into Mother Theresa: “the now dark soul of her offspring.”

Anyone who thinks Rumple is some saint or even deemed good – is wrong. The man has always wanted power. And i hate ppl who makes excuse that his actions are coz it was down to him being a dark one as its the dark curse. No – he had a choice and he wanted to do those evil things. Still a villain to me, always since season 1.

Oh I still think of him as a villain since he chose to take in the Dark One willingly just wasn’t sure how writers were going to play it.

Yeah, same for Regina. I could care less that she’s a ‘mom’ now because all she ever wanted was power and revenge as well. She killed her own father! And it really gets difficult to even try and see her as anything but a villain when the writers keep doing flashbacks to make her kill or terrorize more innocent people.

If Regina doesn’t kill her own father for revenge. She would never met Henry, Emma’s son. Henry will put in the foster system, cause Emma doesn’t want her own son. But now Emma does want her son since in the 3rd season “Going Home” episode.

Well, Emma was only alone and pregnant because Regina killed her father to cast the spell that Snow and Charming sent Emma away to avoid. There is no getting aroudn the fact that Regina is responsible for a lot of terrible things, all because Daniel died.

So the Dark One curse was just…nothing then? All that darkness that came out of him was just a pretty black cloud and nothing else? Really? What happens when Emma starts doing evil things? Is that going to be just “Emma is evil! She chooses to be evil!” or will you defend it and say it’s the Dark One curse?

Emma won’t do evil things, obviously. She’ll just be absolutely normal Emma, because wow, that will be a fascinating story. Becoming the Dark One doesn’t change her a bit…she spends the whole season watching Netflix with her honeyboo (Regina) and Killian. Can’t wait!

Firstly Emma didn’t kill anyone to become the Dark One and wanted the power and Emma isn’t hellbent on hurting ppl for the sake of it unlike Rumple was and does. Emma isn’t selfish, and Emma has faith in the ppl who love her – her parents, her son, and Killian which is what i am seeing and heard in the show and the last scenes.

Rumple and Emma are MILES apart to the person they are. And Emma has pure magic that can balance the darkness. She wants the darkness stopped and to get rid of it. Rumple never wanted it gone from him.

This is what you really think? I mean really. Rumple wanted the power to save his son. He wanted it for GOOD. He says this himself. On the show. It’s canon. He wasn’t hellbent on hurting people. He saved all the kids from a horrible war. That was what Rumple wanted. But guess what? The DARK ONE CURSE corrupts. It’s not just a happy magic blessing. It’s a curse. Did he kill someone? Yes. Because he thought that was the only way to be able to save his son and desperate parents do desperate things to protect their kids (also, Zoso wanted to die…he goaded him into it purposely…suicide by murder).

And you’re right. Emma has faith in all those people. She has support. She has people who are going to search for a way to save her. And if she is exactly the same Emma under the curse then that is going to be some pretty horrible writing. Because they’ve established that it messes you up pretty bad. Why did Rumple want to hang onto it? Because he had it already. Because the curse wants to hang on. Would spinner!Rumple really want that sort of thing? No. But he was no longer spinner!Rumple. He had a dark entity living inside him for 300 years corrupting him.

And who did Rumple have for support? No one. Just his young son. And no one else. No one who loved him or cared for him or who wanted to go to the end of the earth and find a way to free him. He had one young boy who did all he could, but that wasn’t enough. Emma has many people going to bat for her and they’re going to try to find a way to END the darkness, not just jump into a portal to a new land to try to free her of it.

And we honestly don’t know how Emma is going to be under the curse. She may very well try to retain the power because THAT is what the Dark One curse wants.

Well said crysania4. Also remember that the Dark One is an entity in itself. It controls the one it’s inside. Rumple set out to do good. Not just for his son but for his wife earlier on. He wanted to do the right thing. If he was all evil then his happy ending would be to control everyone no matter what. But no, he wanted to use the power to help. To be in a world where the Dark One could not control his actions. That he controlled it to do good. To me, Ragina is more evil at heart then Rumple is. Team RumBelle all the way!!!

I rather think he would want his power back. Its not like he gave it up due to his own choice. He will be a cunning man and want it back. He doesn’t care and never has especially when power is involved. We all know what he will choose

Okay, the Spinner Spinsters is an excellent idea. I play ukulele, let’s do this.

I doubt Karen would do this, though she’s friends with JMo, but that would be excellent.

Ah interesting. Fans have been curious about his mom for a while too. Interesting description of her as well. I like your casting suggestions too. Not sure I would compare her to her son’s cursed self, but rather to his character prior to that curse. I think there is a difference, even though I love the character throughout pre-curse and during-curse. Should be interesting to see him post-curse removal too.

Thank you so much for this scoop! I’m so excited. We’ve been wondering about Rumple’s mother for a very long time.

maybe someone from game of thrones or something? I don’t do cast guessing games. I’m just waiting for Once to return and it’s going to be a long three months

Thank god Henry isnt like them!! Cowardice stops at him

Neal did have his cowardly moments but I agree he was a good guy at heart. However, can we all please give some credit to the woman who raised Henry?

A vengeful woman who murdered her own father to get her revenge and when she became lonely and bored after doing so, she adopted a son who she named after her father to replace the sadness in her dark soul. There ya go.

Dean – “Henry’s a Charming through and through” . – YES!!!!

Jennifer – I kinda agree with you.

Neal was a coward and did cowardly things (and then try to pass it off like what he did was ok and justifying it eg sending Emma to prison as he didnt want to ever see his father and making it seem like he was getting her home – umm NO), being a good guy (who was insensitive to Emma) doesnt mean you dont do cowardly things.

But once he knew he had Henry, he did try to be there but it was never going to be.

Did not like Neal much to say the least. I thought Little Bae was ok

Neal was literally the Webster definition of a good guy.

I’m not really sure how maiming yourself in such a horrific way to make sure your son doesn’t grow up fatherless and taking on a dark curse to try to protect him and free all the children from an unwinnable war is “cowardly.” I’m not sure how Neal is a coward either. He seems to be rather brave, considering he was willing to jump into a portal to an unknown land to save his father. A bunch of creepy soldiers and an abusive wife claiming he’s a coward does not ACTUALLY make him a coward.

Henry is more on Charmings side and Emma and has their fighting spirit and belief. He might be Stiltskin lineage but he isn’t like them and never had been. Thank Lord.

I’m sure he doesn’t much like you either. ;-)

I’m so excited! Thanks for the scoop. My question is does he still have a black soul now that the Dark One has been removed from him? He was a kind loving man pre-curse.

Maybe rose leslie is better fit,im saving karen gillan for brianna mckenzie jamie and claire’s daughter on outlander

Because there aren’t enough characters on this show as it is.

I am somewhat fed of multiple Rumple and esp Regina centrics (tiring same stuff) they hurt ppl, screw ppl over. Yes we know. Thanks

Somehow I have a good feeling I know exactly who your favorite character is.

More Rumple backstory sounds great. Hopefully this means Robert Carlyle won’t be sidelined. I’m curious as to how it will connect to the present storyline. Will it tie into the darkness now in Emma or will it be a new story for Rumple?

I love Robert Carlyle (long term fan). He was the only reason I started watching this series in the first place. As long as he stays, I will be there. If he leaves or is let go, I am gone, f or sure.

Really? Enough with the Rumple, Regina and Snow White flashbacks. There are plenty of other characters on this show whose history I’m more interested in — Emma, Hook, Robin, etc. And I’m sure we’ll get some history about the new characters from Camelot. So why take up precious flashbacks with more of the same?

AMEN! They keep going back to the same flashback characters over and over and over again. If I never see another Regina or Rumple flashback again, it will still be too soon. Trod some new ground, for heaven’s sake! There are other characters who need some backstory a heck of a lot more.

Hook is the only main character (or at least the only one until Robin Hood was made a regular) where we haven’t met at least ONE of his parents. We’ll now have met both parents for every other character except Charming. They keep promising it, but never bother to actually do it. I mean, why show us something new when they can do Flashback #4,087 with Rumple or Regina? So. Tired. Of. Their. Flashbacks.

Yes!!! The ONLY reason I give a crap about Once Upon A Time, is because of Killian Jones/Captain Hook. I am so tired of Rumple, Belle, Regina, and honestly see them as a bunch of whiners I can’t tolerate much more, of. The show is crap without Hook.

And guess what? Plenty of people disagreed? Some of us even think the show would be better without Hook. Crazy, huh? We haven’t had a Rumple flashback in ages (he’s been IN flashbacks, but has not had one really focused directly on him) so it’s nice to see another one coming down the pike. A lot of people have wondered what happened to his mother.

I would make the effort to disagree, but believe defensive comments to the contrary argue my case. If objections to Rumple Regina, etc were not legitimate, then they would not need to be argued.

Sorry but I’ll disagree. The Snowing/Regina feud has been played out and so some of those flashbacks do get tiresome because it keeps rehashing that feud over and over again. But I’ve never seen the Rumple ones (which are usually 2 a season, though we haven’t had one in a long time) as anything but interesting. They always give us new information. Which is perhaps easier since he’s 300 years old or so. The last Rumple-centric we had was 3×08.

Hook is one of the most interesting characters on the show. No way it would be better without him. A lot of people would probably quit watching if he was gone. I like Rumple, but we’ve see so much of his backstory already. At least the mom is something new, but I’m more interested in the backstories for Hook and Robin Hood, of whom we know very little. We know nothing about either of their parents or even what realms they are from. More about Maleficent/Lily would be good, too.

Many people DID tune out when Hook was moved front and center and Rumple demonized–literally millions, considering the drop in ratings during S4 from 3.5 to 1.8. Hook is a bore to many of us.

See, I find Hook pretty snooze-worthy. His centrics have been some of the lowest points of the show for me. He’s pretty much just Emma’s love interest and that’s about it. He was missing from a couple episodes this season and I barely even noticed until someone pointed it out.

K — The ratings didn’t drop because of Hook. The ratings dropped because the show got a bunch of new viewers from Frozen who left when the novelty wore off. There are some great TV ratings sites that have charts proving the big gain from Frozen was lost even before Elsa and Anna finally found their way back home.

Jenny–We don’t know if the ratings dropped ONLY because of Hook, but it was definitely not just the Frozen fans leaving. Ratings at the end of S3 were at about 2.3; they dropped as low as 1.6 in 4B, long after the Frozen folks were (thankfully) gone. (And the freefall of the ratings in 4B only stabilized at 1.7, “coincidentally” exactly around the time that Hook was relegated to the background for three or four eps.)

K – The Frozen fans leaving was a BIG factor! The numbers don’t lie. Season 4A started at 3.5 and ended with a 1.7. That’s pretty much the entire freefall you’re talking about. For season 3B, the ratings started at 2.2 — 1.3 shares lower than the 4A premiere — and ended at 1.8. So 4A fell 1.8 shares while 4B only fell .4 from beginning to end. The 4B finale actually ended a tenth HIGHER than the 4A finale. And if you want to get technical, the ratings in 4B fell AFTER Hook’s one centric episode and never got back up to the level of his centric for the rest of the season at a time when you correctly say he was pushed into the background.

What most people fail to note is the biggest drop in ratings came for season 4B which was Queens of Darkness. That arc was very Regina/Rumple centric . Hook had little to no scenes with exception of Poor Unfortunate Soul which was one of the higher rated episodes actually. Charmings also on backburner. Don’t get me wrong I like both Regina and Rumple, just think it’s time to spread the wealth of story out a little.

Looking at 10/19/2014. That was the Apprentice..Killian heavy episode. One of higher rated episodes. 3/22/2015 one of higher rated episodes in 4 b that’s Poor Unfortunate Soul. So while there are those that don’t like him, and that’s their right, ratings didn’t drop because of him. His episodes were popular and watched.

Actually, the biggest ratings drops occurred when Hook started getting less screen time. People tuned in big at the beginning of 4a after 3b ended with two things–Hook and Emma finally getting together, and Frozen. But after the date episode in 4×4, we didn’t see much of Hook and Emma together, because Emma was too busy with Elsa and the Snow Queen. Ratings started to go down at that point (guess Frozen could only hold people’s attention for so long). The biggest drop came in 4b when Hook started getting less screen time with so much focus on the Queens of Darkness and Regina’s search for the author. Other than Poor Unfortunate Soul and the second half of the finale, Hook only had a few minutes here and there, and the ratings suffered.

Why am i not surprised with an Hook comment. Lets all argue about Hook when someone makes a comment on either Rumple or Neal or Regina lol.

Firstly i like Hook – i am impressed with the character and more so the acting (if acting was to standard – i dont think i would care that much however much someone was so HOT – seeing as i needed to get this bit of info out there) . I think he has a interesting backstory, an rich backstory. When he was a lieutenant, when he became a pirate, when he became Captain Hook (you know due to Rumple) and living for centuries to get the dark one. And now the woman he loves is the dark one. That is one iconic and poetic parallel.

And as far as i can see i think the show was missing a character like Hook since season 1 (which by the way they wanted since season 1 but couldnt get the rights to it in time, so yes he would of been there since season 1 with the others)

People are talking about Hook because someone said he was the only reason he/she watched the show. I find Hook boring and would much rather talk about Rumple but if he’s brought up people will comment. And Hook’s enemy has never been “the Dark One”–it’s been Rumple, Milah’s former husband and the person who killed her. The Dark One is a monster of the week to Hook. Now, if Neal was still around, and was facing seeing the woman he loved devoured by the same darkness that took his father, and seeing his son go through the same ordeal that he did…THAT would be an iconic, fascinating, and dramatic parallel.

I’m with you, Tennessee. I was on the verge of giving up OUAT until Hook came along & since season 3 it’s must-watch-live for me (which I can only say for 2 or 3 shows). My favorite moments in every episode are Hook’s scenes, with or without Emma. If he weren’t around, I don’t know that there’d be much left to hold my interest.

Rumple’s mother is not “more of the same.” While we’ve had every excruciating detail of the Snowing/Regina feud, we’ve seen more of Emma’s childhood now than we have of Rumple’s. Considering that he hasn’t had a centric is nearly two years (in that period Emma and Hook have both had three), I don’t think it’s asking too much.

I agree with you. I’ve had enough Rumple (& Snow & Regina) flashbacks to last a lifetime. Frankly, I’ve never had any sympathy for Rumple and I doubt learning anything about his mom will change that. I do love both of Matt’s casting suggestions though.

These characters are the heart of the show. Every core character should at the very least have one centric episode per season. I want to see more of Robin for example too, but the centrics for the core characters are not what needs to be cut in order for that to happen.

Do we really need to guest star his mother, who’ll be there for a minimum of 5 minutes of screentime, in ANOTHER Rumple-centric flashback? Cause I think the show can survive without it tbh.

Lol…. that would finally give Rumple something to have in common with Belle.

I don’t think we’ve had a Rumple-centric flashback since 3a. We had none in season 4 and I can’t remember any in season 4b either.

Surely someone out there has a handy chart of how many centrics per character thus far.

I think the reality is that even ONE is too many centrics when someone doesn’t like a character. I think Rumple’s centrics have dried up since season 2. We got 3×04 and 3×08 in 3a and that was the end of them. He’s appeared in many people’s flashbacks, so maybe that’s where the confusion is?

Rumple’s last centric was 3.8, Think Lovely Thoughts, in late 2013. By the time this ep airs, it will have been nearly TWO YEARS. That’s a long time to not get the POV or new info about the show’s best character played by its best actor.

I concur. Rumple’s last centric was 3.08, unless you count the 4A finale, which was a sort of Rumbelle centric. Also, Rumple is a founding member of this cast and the over-reaching story of the show. He should have more centrics than some of the newer characters. He’s been around longer, and is a large component of the mythology of the show. IMO.

I think you need to count any flashback where the character plays a central role. The show rarely seemed to have any flashbacks dedicated to a core character in season 4 when you consider all the Frozen and Queens of Darkness stuff. So with that in mind, the Rumbelle flashback counts, the flashback with Anna counts, the flashback with Ingrid and her sisters counts, and the meeting with the Queens of Darkness counts. So that’s four vs. the one flashback Hook was in, which is where my frustration lies. Perhaps the bigger issue may be the fact that many of the flashbacks in the past season didn’t focus on ANY of the main cast but rather on the guest stars, which was another big frustration of mine.

It’s about time we got a flashback about Rumple’s mom. He’s one of the driving forces of the show and we never got to see who his mom was or what happened to her. Instead we’ve seen countless flashbacks of some of the other characters that rehash the same material over and over again. I’m excited about this!

Let me look again at the casting call, see if it says anything about archery skillz…. ;)

I don’t miss Peter Pan at all. He seemed like a bit of a sociopath and not necessary for the overall story. Second, I am so, so, so happy that any part of the “Frozen” arc is gone. I hope that storyline is long gone.

I hope this means we’re going back to the complex and layered characterization of Rumple that they so carefully crafted in seasons 1-3. Season 4 threw all of that away to force a completely unsatisfying story arc on him that lost the show many Rumple and Rumbelle fans. And I hope they clarify just how much the Dark Curse affected him. It didn’t just reside in him without having any influence on him whatsoever.

Totally agree. Anyone who really paid attention to the first three seasons knows that the complicated character of Rumplestiltskin can’t be explained away with a simple, black-and-white “he always acts in his self interest”. He became the Dark One to save Bae from going to war. He sacrificed himself to defeat Pan and saved the whole town. That’s why Season 4 was so unsatisfying: the writing took a complex character and reduced him to cardboard villain without delving into his psychology after the events of Season 3. I hope that, with him freed from the Dark One and this flashback to his mother, we’ll get a more layered look at Rumple. Robert Carlyle is the best actor on this show and he deserves some good material.

Agreed on everything. 4B did a bit better for Rumple, but 4A did a lot of damage. It kills me that we had all of this stuff about the Dark One curse and we didn’t have one “previously on” or other type of reference to how Rumple became the Dark One in the first place. There weren’t that many call backs to the previous seasons overall in S4. It felt really disconnected to me a lot of the time. Hopefully we’ll be more satisfied with S5.

They really need to revisit how Rumple became the Dark One. It’s obvious from a lot of these comments that either people have forgotten or just like making things up to make their favorites look better. I hope they go into that in S5.

It wasn’t just Rumple. Think about how many flashbacks we had in season 4 that had nothing or little to do with the main cast. Lots of Elsa in Arendelle, lots of Anna on her adventures, lots of Queens of Darkness. And now with Camelot coming into play, I’m worried about our main characters being pushed to the side again for Merlin and King Arthur flashbacks.

I agree season four was kinda screwy. If the want someone who can do a Scottish brogue get a Scottish actress.

Thanks so much for the scoop :). Rumple is my joint fave character on the show, and I’m excited to read that we’re going to be seeing more of his family background. Been waiting to see the appearance of Rumple’s Mum for a while, so all good news for me :D

Thank you for the first interesting season 5 casting news! Beautiful, plucky, strong, impulsive, and with a noble spirit…hmm, sounds like another woman Rumple knows…

Matt U always bring out the big guns/news. Love this casting scoop. Please put Arrow next on Ur to do list. ^^

Shame they are going for a younger one, Kate Walah would be a nice choice.

Malcolm didn’t run away to dodge the ogres war…he ran away because he was a cheater and a liar and as little Rumple told him “nobody trusts {him}” So I’m curious where you got that idea from? I don’t think the ogres wars were even happening then – Adam and Eddie have said Rumple was called to fight in the first ogres war. And there was no mention of any wars in “Think Lovely Thoughts” – ???

Hmm, you may be right. (I may have been conflating Rumple’s own backstory.) Allow me to amend….

I say Ruth Connel from Supernatural should pay Rumple’s mother.

Karen Gillan as Rump’s mother?! Yes, please!

What about the wonderful Ruth Connell who’s already played the mother of a rather charming snarky villain ;)

Yes!!! I have to disagree about the comparison of mother and son since the real Rumplestiltskin is a good man with a huge heart – and he was a very unselfish, loving little boy who grew into a good and kind man. Comparing her to a cursed man isn’t the best analogy.I HOPE that she is just as I expect, that she loved and cherished her little boy – and I think she will be. I can’t wait; thank you!

As long as there’s one scene set in the present where she picks up a cellphone, looks at it, shrugs regretfully and sets it down…..

I was so underwhelmed by the finale the bad special effects and too much focus on Henry the actor that portrays Henry was just so bad it was painful

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