Once Upon a Time: Rebecca Mader to Return for Multiple Season 7 Episodes
Finally, the moment you were hoping would come (as a certain song goes) — Rebecca Mader is returning to ABC‘s Once Upon a Time.
TVLine has learned exclusively that the onetime series regular is set to return for multiple Season 7 episodes. No further details could be confirmed at this time — including whether she again will be playing Regina’s sister Zelena aka the Wicked Witch.
“I am beyond thrilled to be returning to make magic with my beloved Once Upon a Time family,” Mader, who made her debut on the fantasy series midway through Season 3, tells TVLine. “I’m excited for this next chapter.”
Busting out the Oz empress’ motto-turned-musical episode solo title, she adds/reminds: “Wicked always wins!”
Along with Jennifer Morrison, Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Dallas, Jared Gilmore and Emilie de Ravin, Mader was among the half-dozen actors not returning for the Season 7 “reset” as series regulars, while Lana Parrilla, Robert Carlyle and Colin O’Donoghue stayed on as the Evil Queen, Rumplestiltskin and Captain Hook. (As previously reported, Gilmore, Morrison and de Ravin will make one-off encores in Episodes 1, 2 and 4 of the coming season, which premieres Friday, Oct. 6 at 8/7c.)
New to the mix for the Season 7, meanwhile, are Andrew J. West and Alison Fernandez (playing grown Henry and his daughter Lucy), Gabrielle Anwar (as Lady Tremaine), Dania Ramirez (Cinderella) and Mekia Cox (Tiana), while Adelaide Kane and Rose Reynolds Reynolds will recur as Drizella and Alice.
Want more scoop on Once, or for any other show? Email InsideLine@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line.
Yaaaay!!!
i like her better then regina, but really season 7 seems uninteresting
I didn’t enjoy Zelena until like the last handful of Season 6 episodes, and felt kinda bummed that she was suddenly going to be gone. My own fault, I know, but she was aggravating to me up to that point. Never thought I’d say this… but I’m happy to hear she’ll be back :-)
So happy she back
Ugh, I Zelena. I don’t know how anyone likes her.
Totally agreed. Season 7 just took a dive for me :/ Next they’ll be saying Belle will be back permanently
I’m glad shes coming back, she should come back as a series regular would be better. Liked her!!!
This is why I’m so done with Once, if they were going to do this, why all the drama? I don’t know how they managed to ruin something that was “must see” TV for me, nothing about season 7 has me interested except for one episode title, I think it was time to except Once is done, unfortunately Adam Horowitz can’t accept that. Nothing against anyone that wants to watch, but for me, I like it when shows bow out with dignity.
Actually, I haven’t watched Once in a few years, but I’m interested this year in starting again.
The finale was good, but for me, the window for this show to bow out with dignity passed at least a season ago. I’m intrigued about S7, so I’m going to give it a shot.
I totally agree with you!
I had no idea, that so many of the regular cast members would be gone (until I read about it just a few minutes ago.)!
I am extremely disappointed, especially since my family and I have been watching this show faithfully ever since the first episode aired!
Maybe, if we all ban together and express that we are all very upset (with a HUGE cut to the regular cast members) they will bring some, or possibly all of them back (maybe not in every episode, but on an occasional basis?).
I personally will watch the “Season 7 Premiere”, but if it doesn’t captivate myself or my family’s attention then I guess it will be “Good Bye”!
Who knows, maybe with a loss of viewers (due to the huge cast cut) the producers might get a BIG wake up call (that what they did was wrong, and bring some or all of them back? The saying goes “The squeeky wheel gets the grease”.).
Cast cuts were announced a while ago, I would catch up on allll the reporting before hitching my wagon to hopes for a turnabout: https://tvline.com/tag/once-upon-a-time/
I confess I hope not. I’m not interested in even one more season of the same old, same old. It might have been nice to retain some more of the initial cast, but I’m looking forward to this new beginning. I didn’t like the idea of some beloved main characters (Snow, Charming, etc.) serving as window dressing. I think what I mean to say is, if these lovely characters can’t be more integral to the story, I’d rather they go. Guest appearances would be wonderful, but for me, anything more than that would be intolerable.
Like yourself, I love this show. But over the past 2 years I feel that they’ve done alot of story recycling. This new season seems like it’s at least going to be a little different. And I dig that. I’m going to give it a shot.
How and who do I tell how much it SUCKS that Jennifer, Jennifer ,& josh are not returning for Once Upon A Time!!!!😡 I feel abandoned by those characters!!😡 I’m actually in the “movie” biz and have NEVER BEFORE WRITTEN TO A STAR OR SHOW…. so for me this is HUGE. I get they have lives and families and careers to deal with… but OUAT literally made them famous….not to mention bringing together josh & Jennifer…I feel they owe it to their fans to stick it out until the end of the show…which may be only one more year!!! I hope that some how they will rethink their decisions and make more than just a few appearances in season 7. I’m also a major stockholder in both ABC & DISNEY….so PLEASE DO SOMETHING TO GET IT TOGETHER!!!!! HOPEFULLY ANTICIPATING.👍
Lol! Are you joking? You’re funning us, yeah? Not sure what you mean when you write that you’re in the “movie” biz, but anyone even working peripherally in the entertainment industry would know that Jennifer & Ginnifer were both generally well known prior to joining OUAT.
And you’re wrong, they don’t owe the fans anything – save maybe a gracious exit, which was supplied. Working on OUAT was their job.
Lol, I still get the feeling you’re pulling our leg. Haha! You write that you’ve never written to a star or show…..You still haven’t. You posted a comment to an article about a show. You’re a major ABC & Disney stockholder?! Even if this were true, what would that have to do with any of this? Haha! Thanks for the laughs! That’s good stuff!
I have mixed feelings about this. I love Bex but Zelena should have stayed dead after s3 she became my lest favorite character. plus I am ‘trying’ to get excited about these new characters so far only Tiana has interested me and maybe this new Alice cause the pics are super creepy… but have they already run out of ideas for them that they have to pull back old ones for multiple episodes ….?
I agree, she was my second least favorite character (Belle being #1). I was on board with the reboot but now it looks like they’re hiring back regulars so we’ll get the same old same old.
So they’ve recast a bunch of minor characters we mostly hadn’t seen in years anyway, aged up Henry, but are essentially repeating the curse storyline and also bringing back the characters they’ve written out in dribs and drabs. I do like the show, but how exactly is this a reboot?
I feel like all these returns is only gonna make Emma’s absence that much more felt.. Especially since she’s the only one who said she is only doing one episode and that’s that. I still feel like she’ll return for the series finale, and hopefully Adam & Eddy are planning ahead. So Jared is returning for the first and second episodes, Jennifer will also be in the second episode for her “Swan song”, and we’ll catch up with Belle and Gideon in episode four. But Rebecca Mader is the only one confirmed for multiple episodes? Aside from Henry, of course, who will have to appear as needed to bridge the enormous time jump in Henry’s backstory.
Your assessment about Emma may be correct, but depending on the circumstances maybe not. I am not a fan of Emma. The only reason I’m continuing with the show is because she’s only going to be in one episode. I hope they stick to this plan for the Emma character. In truth, I would feel duped and disgusted if they brought her back for more than the one episode. Also, I thought they confirmed Jared Gilmore was only going to be in the first episode, but you mentioned that he’ll be appearing “as needed”. what’s your source for this information? Thanks!
I love Zelena and Rebecca Mader so this makes me want to watch this season in which I was becoming more indifferent to it. (Once producers: Fans still want that “lost stories” episode detailing what happened to Malificent and Lily, and Will Scarlett and the Queen, and other missing characters, etc)
I love Rebecca, but I really hope Zelena is DONE;
I mean, this is the woman who manipulated Neal into suicide and raped Robin, so why don’t Rumple and Regina (who have also been turned into Villain Sues by this point, but I guess that’s a losing battle now) want to incinerate on sight in seasons 3-6?
And whenever she has something bad happen to her, the only thing I want to do is play the world’s smallest violin.
Um, I would have thought the reasons for Gold and Reg not killing her were obvious by now. He made a deal not to kill her after she saved his life. And she and Regina reconciled. And I’m sorry. But bringing up the “rape” of Robin? As if Regina is any better after what she did to Graham.
That still doesn’t make her any less guilty of rape. And abut the Graham thing… I know, but after years of the showrunners’ denial I guess I just admitted defeat to insanity.
sigh to be honest I do I admit I would have missed Zelena after awhile
Awesome. Something to look forward to.
I loved her as the Wicked Witch!! Not many people can pull off that green make-up but she looked amazing! She did a fantastic job! Don’t think they had enough of an interesting storyline for her last season, though. She became a little boring. Liked her better as the Wicked sister. Happy to hear she’s returning, though. Hopefully they give her a good storyline.
I didn’t like the character Zelena, but I loved the Wicked Witch! Bex was great as both. Welcome back!!
I didn’t like the character Zelena, but I loved the Wicked Witch! Bex was great as both. Welcome back!!
I ADORE Bex & will be happy to see her again, but I hope she isn’t Zelena — or at least not season 5-6 Zelena. Her arc played out, and her reconciliation with Regina was forced and illogical.
Season 7 is either going to be a fresh start or the end of the line. Primeval had a great five seasons run with great characters, all set in England. Then the showrunners rebooted it to be in Canada with new characters as Primeval New World. The showrunners kept the same story line right down to the first season and series finale matching the original series first season. That was the end of Primeval. I hope the same thing does not happen to OUAT.
Once upon a time is my getaway I have Crohn’s disease and a lot of complications from it I watch this series to escape everyday life whether I’m in the hospital going for surgery or at home Once Upon a time is a magical series that you can get lost in and it makes me sad that not everybody is returning
Im so glad that Once Upon A Time is coming back for another season. I really like that show. I havent missed one episode.
How and who do I tell how much it SUCKS that Jennifer, Jennifer ,& josh are not returning for Once Upon A Time!!!!😡 I feel abandoned by those characters!!😡 I’m actually in the “movie” biz and have NEVER BEFORE WRITTEN TO A STAR OR SHOW…. so for me this is HUGE. I get they have lives and families and careers to deal with… but OUAT literally made them famous….not to mention bringing together josh & Jennifer…I feel they owe it to their fans to stick it out until the end of the show…which may be only one more year!!! I hope that some how they will rethink their decisions and make more than just a few appearances in season 7. I’m also a major stockholder in both ABC & DISNEY….so PLEASE DO SOMETHING TO GET IT TOGETHER!!!!! HOPEFULLY ANTICIPATING.👍
Did not like the Zelena character, I agree she should have remained dead. Maybe Bex will play a different character in season 7.
Tried to watch season 7 but it totally sucked. Did not finish episode 2. The worst season ever. Good thing it was cancelled after this season 7 farce.