'Once Upon a Time' Interview: Josh Dallas on Obstacles in Neverland and David's Secret

The search for Henry on Once Upon a Time has brought former foes together to work towards a common goal. Their quest comes with difficulties from both inside and outside of the group. BuddyTV recently spent some time on the Neverland set in Vancouver and caught up with Josh Dallas to get the scoop on what's coming up this season.

Josh Dallas discusses the challenges in Neverland, including the changing relationships, David's secret, and Emma's relationship with her parents. Check out the edited interview below.

How are the relationships changing this season?

We have heroes, we have villains, we have a pirate, we have a savior, we have a wizard, and everyone has different ideals about going towards this same motivation which is saving Henry. So, it's explosive. As you saw, but also as you saw, we all came together. We had to work together to stop that.

What I find so great about this first half of the season so far is that we all have a common goal. And, we all have an obstacle and our obstacle is all ourselves. So, it's everybody kind of wrestling with trying to get back to their true self and Neverland is going to test that for everyone, particularly David. 

David and Mary Margaret have always been so good-hearted. Now that they are in the dark world of Neverland, will some of that darkness change them?

David's got this secret that he's been hit by the Dream Shade so he's dying and he's not going to tell anyone [initially]. So it's whether or not -- and why is he doing that and why is he doing that because he doesn't want to burden the group. 

He doesn't want to tell anyone because he wants them to focus on the mission. That's what he thinks. What's that going to do to his relationship with Mary Margaret? How does that change her? Why didn't you tell me? What do you mean we've been through all this and you don't tell me that? 

It's going to throw up a lot of questions and then it's going to create other relationships because ... [Hook] finds out about it and ends up helping. And, he and David go out and try to fix this thing. So, it's going to create different relationships and different dynamics with other characters where it could have been combative and maybe it becomes more of a camaraderie thing.

Emma's acceptance of who she is and how that will change the family dynamic?

I think as far as Mary Margaret and David are concerned they always wanted to be her parents. They have always wanted to have that experience with her. And, Mary Margaret has always approached it differently than David. She's always tried to push the subject and really try -- "I want to be your mother. I want to do this. I want to try to make this right from this point on."

And, David has always tried to step back and let Emma try to find it organically as much as he could while still supporting his wife's decision to go forward and trying to make it more. But, I think we come to a conclusion throughout the first half of this season that we can never be her parents in that way, in that idealistic way that we would want to be her parents. We can never do that. It's not going to be possible. 

We can be there for her and we can be her friends and we can be her family. But, we're never going to be her mother and father the way we wanted to be her mother and father growing up. So, it's going to take them in a different direction and it's going to change them and it's going to change her. I think it's going to be put them -- of course, she's got a lot of resentment, she's got a lot of resentment and confusion about that and rightfully so. It's going to keep evolving and keep changing.

What's the biggest obstacle to finding Henry?

Peter Pan. Peter Pan is the biggest obstacle for everyone. This guy is nasty. He's a nasty piece of work and along with everyone's individualness, that's going to be everyone's obstacle as well. 

Once Upon a Time - Episode 3.04 - Nasty Habits - Press Release

MR. GOLD MAKES A DECISION TO CONFRONT PAN, DAVID STRUGGLES FOR HIS LIFE ASTHE POISON BEGINS TO TAKE ITS TOLL ON HIM, AND IN THE FAIRY TALE LAND THAT WAS, RUMPLESTILTSKIN GOES IN SEARCH OF BAE -- WHO HAS FOLLOWED A MYSTERIOUS FIGURE WHO STEALS AWAY CHILDREN WITH HIS MUSIC -- ON ABC’S “ONCE UPON A TIME”

“Nasty Habits” – Mr. Gold makes a decision to confront Pan, but will he go there to save Henry or give in to the prophecy that the boy will be his undoing? Neal finds himself back in Neverland and in the custody of one of Pan’s most loyal Lost Boys. And David struggles for his life as the poison continues to take its toll on him. Meanwhile, in the Fairy Tale Land that was, Rumplestiltskin goes in search of a missing Bae, who has followed a mysterious figure who steals away children with his music, on “Once Upon a Time,” SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

“Once Upon a Time” stars Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White/Mary Margaret, Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan, Lana Parrilla as the Evil Queen/Regina, Josh Dallas as Prince Charming/David, Emilie de Ravin as Belle, Colin O’Donoghue as Hook, Michael Raymond-James as Baelfire/Neal Cassidy, Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills and Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold.

Guest starring are Dylan Schmid as teenage Baelfire, Robbie Kay as Pan, Rose McIver as Tinker Bell, Parker Croft as Felix, Giacomo Baessato as sleeping man, Jack Di Blasio as lost boy sentry no. 1 and Doug Abrahams as sheriff.

”Nasty Habits” was written by David H. Goodman & Robert Hull and directed by David Boyd.

Once Upon a Time @ NY Comic-Con: Talking Kissing, 'SwanQueen,' Life in Storybrooke & More

Once Upon a Time creators Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis, along with series star Jennifer Morrison, held court at New York Comic-Con on Saturday afternoon, in a panel discussion moderated by yours truly.
 After screening for the crowd the first act from tonight’s episode (ABC, 8/7c) — during which Hook’s mention of Tinker Bell raises Regina’s eyebrows — the trio answered questions about these topics:

PACKING FOR NEVERLAND | Having spent a chunk of Season 2 in Fairytale Land in the same outfit, Morrison (among others) tried to “smuggle” wardrobe changes onto the Jolly Roger in last May’s finale. “If you watch,” Kitsis said, “every actor gets on the ship with, like, a backpack, because they were trying to outsmart us. So we were like, ‘Well then, we’ll just send a pack of mermaids to destroy them. We’ll see who wins this.” (That said, a black sweater of Emma’s will make a cameo, if only because the Vancouver temps during an upcoming scene were so frigid.)

RETURN TO STORYBROOKE! | As hinted by Emilie de Ravin during our visit to the set last week, in Episode 7, “We will be going back and showing the moment the ship went through the portal… and then [Belle] enacting the curse to protect the town,” Kitsis confirmed. Added Horowitz: “We will fill in all the blanks with what’s been going on with our characters back there” during the five days that will thus far have been spent in Neverland.

PAN-TASTIC | Sizing up teenage Robbie Kay, who’s playing the puckish Peter Pan, “He’s awesome. He’s a really, really smart kid,” Morrison raved. Kitsis meanwhile said that in this week’s episode, we will see why Pan hasn’t just plucked out Henry’s heart and dispatched with the lad, giving a sense of his grander game. “Peter Pan may be one of our nastiest … and most complicated villains,” he avowed. “By the end of [the 11-episode Neverland arc], you will understand why I just made that comment.”

OH, DEER | I presented the panel with this screen grab from last week’s episode, during which a deer rather conspicuously crossed a Snow White flashback scene. Could it be… Bambi?! The boys played along with that theory, then explained that it was just location shooting “magic.” “We cannot afford that shot, to get a trained deer to walk into a scene,” Kitsis laughed. So when the animal broached the set, “The director was like, ‘Shoot it!’” (The moment, not the deer.) On the topic of actually introducing other familiar characters, Horowitz said that during Ariel’s imminent visit, “You will see Ursula and our twist on that,” while Rapunzel and Cruella [DeVille] are on their short list of characters to visit, eventually.

BUSS STOP IN NEVERLAND?! | When asked if she has a favorite Season 3 episode to date, Morrison teased: “Well, it’s always fun when you get to kiss someone….” [Cue hoots and hollers.] I followed up with talk of Hook’s flirtatious ways, and if they’ll ever chink Emma’s armow. “It’s complicated…,” the actress observed. “Hook has definitely been surprising Emma…. She’s really not wanting to be distracted [from the search for Henry], so there’s a lot coming at her that she’s not paying very close attention to.” As for Neal’s eventual arrival in Neverland, Kitsis said it won’t be “as simple as running into each others’ arms” for a lovey-dovey reunion. “There are the things you say to somebody as they’re about to die and fall into a portal, and then there are the things you say when things calm down and you have a chance to talk.” Added Morrison: “It doesn’t eliminate 10 years of her being heartbroken…. She has to sort of re-understand her own history a bit.”

REGINA’S NEW ROMANCE | In tonight’s episode, Tinker Bell will urge a young Regina to move on from mourning Daniel and ultimately reveal — at least to us, the audience — what other fella “is right for Regina,” Kitsis shared.

SIZING UP ‘SWANQUEEN’ | Discussing Once‘s many romantic ‘ships, actual and potential – Emma/Regina included – Morrison noted, “We’re doing a show about fairy tales, which is about self discovery, it’s about identity. And if you guys are watching the show and seeing yourself in it, then great, that’s awesome. It warms my heart and it makes me so happy.” But will Once ever “go there” with, if not SwanQueen, any other same-sex match-up? “What I can say to you genuinely is: I think you should keep watching,” Morrison teased, “because I think you will see what you want to see.”

BONUS BUZZ FROM BACKSTAGE | Perhaps related to one of the above topics (…or not), I am hearing that a theory held by some fans will (possibly) be proven true by the end of tonight’s episode.

Once: Wonderland review (CAUTION: if you haven't seen the pilot episode yet DO NOT READ THIS!!!!)

You know when you see a promo for a series premiere and you think oh that looks totally awesome. So you mark it on your calendar so that you will remember to watch it? And right before it comes on you get those excitement butterflies, you know, the ones that do jumping jacks and cartwheels in your stomach. But then you turn it on and are like WTF this is terrible???

Well Once in Wonderland was not like that at all! There was plenty of action. Alice can really kick some ass!!! Most of the back story was put into this one where as in OUAT it played out through the entire season.

Jafar was a total douche -of course- and I was surprised to see the almost demise of the Red queen tonight with the powerful genies Darth Vader telekinetic death grip.

I am curious to see where the relationship between Alice and the Knave of Hearts will go. Something tells me that he has eyes for our heroine. And wants to help her find Cyrus but at the same time he wants her all to himself.

I wonder what happens between Alice and the Cheshire cat? What led up to him trying to kill her tonight?

I was really pissed when we found out that the White Rabbit was working for the Red Queen. That was one of those moments that I shouted at the television screen like it could do something about it!

As for the Red Queen I have a theory as to why she wanted to trick Alice into thinking Cyrus was dead. I think its because while couple were traveling they did something to the queen and Jafaf and now they are seeking revenge.

Anyway that's just a theory. But j would really like to know what all of you think. So let me know in the comments below.

Or and one more thing. Does anyone think Jefferson will show up a time or two?

I sure hope so!

All in all this was a fantastic show!!! I can't wait to see how the plot unfolds! I will most definitely be tuning in next week for episode 2 entitled "Trust Me"

Once Upon a Time 3x03 Promo - Quite a Common Fairy (HD)

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland Extended Promo (HD)

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland Extended Promo (HD)