Once Upon a Dragon Con Part 1: 'Bad to the Bone'

Questions from the audience:

When asked what background information they had going in, Dungey explained that they did not know their characters’ backstories, which makes sense. That way, they couldn’t give it away. Otherwise, Smurfit added, all they had to go on was what was in the Disney annals.

Bauer was specifically questioned about how her portrayal of Pam on True Blood influenced her portrayal of Maleficent. She admitted that initially, in season one, she was worried that she wouldn’t make Maleficent different enough. In season four, however, True Blood had ended and she was missing it. Dungey helped her cope by asking her to do her lines as Pam between takes.

Dungey and Smurfit were asked how they felt about their arcs. Ursula found her happy ending, and Cruella found her ending, though it wasn’t exactly happy. Dungey sighed that the fans seemed satisfied with how her story tied up, she just wished it had lasted longer. Smurfit shared her ending audio take, and admitted that after her falling scream she continued with “I’m OK, I’m fine. Be back up there in a minute.” It’s a shame they didn’t keep it. That wasn’t the only time she tried to survive. She also attempted to persuade Patrick Fischler (the author) to rip open her casket during her funeral scene. Her plan was for there to be nothing in it but a wig! I suppose it just wasn’t meant to be. We can always hope to see more Cruella in flash backs.

One audience member pointed out that there’s always that one person on set who’s crazy to work with, a prankster. Smurfit and Bauer immediately thought of Josh Dallas, but Dungey was hesitant. Although he is funny and a bit crazy, she felt that it was in a sweet way, and not as a prankster. She identified Colin O’Donoghue as the prankster, and provided an example. When she was preparing for the scene on the Jolly Roger in which she knocks the gun out of Hook’s hand, he kept distracting her by singing “It’s all about that bass, ‘bout that bass.” As if that wasn’t bad enough, when she got to the set the next day, several crew members started singing it to her.

In honor of that prank, here’s a Once Upon a Time season four blooper reel set to the tune of “All About That Bass.”

If you want to hear O’Donoghue sing it, check out this clip from the Ever After convention.

Playing evil is so much fun. Bauer said she would be interested in Maleficent going dark again, perhaps as a way to protect her daughter. She also shared that Lana Parrilla was very excited to “play” this past season, and that JMo (Jennifer Morrison) is looking forward to being Dark Swan in season five. While we’re on the topic of evil, Smurfit admitted that in retrospect, she thinks Cruella had some of the best and funnest lines, but she wished her idea of Cruella and Rumple had been well received. She sighed, “Crumple was not to be!” Then, Dungey claimed that Ursula wasn’t really evil in comparison, she just had a bad day!

The panel ended with this lesson: being evil at work can make you nicer at home. The entire panel is included below, thanks to Once Upon a Fan.

Part 1

Part 2