Jennifer Morrison details the key to character evolution

(9 Jan 2026)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Los Angeles - 8 January
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Jennifer Morrison, Actor/Director:

"I think you really have to ground yourself in certain core values. You know, I feel like there are certain things that I always feel are sort of the North Star elements of who someone is and what they believe and what drives them and what they need and what in life and what their core wounds are."
++WHITE FLASH++
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Jennifer Morrison, Actor/Director:

"And when you make sure that you're anchoring it in that, no matter what they go through and what way they start to evolve, then you're at least anchoring them in something that's going to feel familiar and something that's going to feel, like, maybe why people related to them in the first place, you know? So I think one of the trickier turns for me ever was on 'Once Upon a Time' going from being Emma as Emma to being Dark Swan. And that was very polarizing for some people because it was a huge left turn of what people expected of that character. But she was still anchored in who she was and, ultimately, I knew that they were bringing her back around to who she started as."

AP VIDEO SHOT BY: Sarah Jones-Smith

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