The Hollywood Reporter: When you first joined, did you know how integral Neal would be to the Once Upon a Time story?
Michael Raymond-James: When [Eddy and Adam] explained to me how they wanted to do the reveal (that Neal was Henry's father and Gold was his), it was the idea of Neal walking around Manhattan with no explanation as to why. They wanted the audience to be like: "Are we watching the right f---ing show? Wait a second! Who and what is happening?!" They pitched me the whole arc of who Baelfire was for this season and I was hooked.
THR: "Manhattan" was a huge turning point for Neal/Baelfire. How did that episode kick off the rest of your character's journey?
Raymond-James: It was one of my favorite episodes this season for my character. It's an intense episode. To say it was shocking to Neal would be an understatement. Emma and Neal have unfinished business and there's a lot of hurt there. That was the first time they were seeing each other since -- as far as she's concerned -- she was left holding the bag, literally, and sent to prison. There was a lot that she didn't know that Neal couldn't exactly explain to her. This is still the woman that Neal loves so I have to protect her in any capacity that I can; if that means he has to suck it up and look into his father's eyes for the first time in years then so be it. Robert Carlyle (Mr. Gold/Rumpelstiltskin) summed it up best: "It's sort of like waiting for a bus to come and you've been waiting all day and all of a sudden four of them show up at the same time." That's kinda what it felt like.
Read full interview at THR
Michael Raymond-James: When [Eddy and Adam] explained to me how they wanted to do the reveal (that Neal was Henry's father and Gold was his), it was the idea of Neal walking around Manhattan with no explanation as to why. They wanted the audience to be like: "Are we watching the right f---ing show? Wait a second! Who and what is happening?!" They pitched me the whole arc of who Baelfire was for this season and I was hooked.
THR: "Manhattan" was a huge turning point for Neal/Baelfire. How did that episode kick off the rest of your character's journey?
Raymond-James: It was one of my favorite episodes this season for my character. It's an intense episode. To say it was shocking to Neal would be an understatement. Emma and Neal have unfinished business and there's a lot of hurt there. That was the first time they were seeing each other since -- as far as she's concerned -- she was left holding the bag, literally, and sent to prison. There was a lot that she didn't know that Neal couldn't exactly explain to her. This is still the woman that Neal loves so I have to protect her in any capacity that I can; if that means he has to suck it up and look into his father's eyes for the first time in years then so be it. Robert Carlyle (Mr. Gold/Rumpelstiltskin) summed it up best: "It's sort of like waiting for a bus to come and you've been waiting all day and all of a sudden four of them show up at the same time." That's kinda what it felt like.
Read full interview at THR
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