‘Once Upon A Time’s’ Raphael Sbarge Teases Jiminy Cricket’s ‘Deep Dive’

From the writers of Lost, ABC’s Once Upon a Time balances the land of fairy tales with the modern world of its Storybrooke, Maine. Each week, it unveils more about its fabled characters and the curse that keeps them trapped and without any memory of who they truly are.

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“I guess this is similar to Lost in that they have a large ensemble and what they do is that they take a few characters and they kind of take them, effectively on a deep dive,” Raphael Sbarge, who plays Archie Hopper aka Jiminy Cricket, tells The Hollywood Reporter.

“That deep dive is able to really open up that whole world,” he says with the knowledge that Sunday’s episode will do the same for his character.

While the curious-natured Henry (Jared Gilmore), explores the mysterious sinkhole that has opened up in town for clues, Archie struggles to find some independence from his family’s business. In the process, we’ll learn more about Jiminy Cricket and his relationship to Regina (Lana Parrilla) aka The Evil Queen, as well as Henry.

“This story is very much about Jiminy Cricket,” he says. “But it’s also about, essentially, Henry’s journey, as well. It’s about what he’s struggling with and how he has to find his way with his stepmother and what complexities lay ahead for him, too.”

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Sbarge says that information on future episodes is kept “pretty tight” on-set, so he’s sometimes not privy to information that form the basis for some of the audience’s burning questions – such as Emma Swan’s (Jennifer Morrison) fairy tale land persona.

“Essentially, I don’t [know],” Sbarge, 47, says. “It’s not clear yet. We know obviously that she was a little girl put into safety in the canoe or whatever that was made of wood. We know that she’s 28. She has come back and obviously she’s there to help fight the curse. That’s what we know.”

“But it’s going to be interesting to see how that opens up,” he continues. “What her fairy tale character is, I don’t know yet and I’m really excited to see what they’re going to do with that.”

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While he doesn’t know Emma’s double identity, he can confirm reports that an unexpected character will meet their end within the next several episodes.

“I can tell you that it’s true. Someone is going to die,” he says. “I guess that’s similar again to Lost where it does obviously add to the high stakes element of the show.”

Once Upon a Time airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on ABC.

Email: Jethro.Nededog@thr.com; Twitter: @TheRealJethro