Paul Reubens To Voice The White Rabbit In ABC’s Wonderland-Themed ‘Once Upon A Time’ Spinoff, Ralph Hemecker To Direct
EXCLUSIVE UPDATED: One of Alice In Wonderland‘s signature characters, The White Rabbit, is hopping to ABC’s Once Upon A Time In Wonderland, and it will be voiced by Paul Reubens. Reubens, best known for his alter ego of Pee-Wee Herman, has joined the cast of the Once Upon A Time spinoff presentation, which will be directed by frequent Once director Ralph Hemecker. The project, from Once Upon A Time creators Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, is set in pre-curse Wonderland. The story is told through the point of view of Alice (Sophie Lowe) who has a generous heart but carries the scars of a long hard life. She is joined by Cyrus (Peter Gadiot), Alice’s love interest, and the Knave of Hearts (Michael Socha), a sardonic adventurer. The White Rabbit will be a CG character voiced by Reubens. Michael Sheen provided the voice for the White Rabbit in the 2010 Tim Burton movie. Also co-starring in the ABC presentation is Emma Rigby as the Red Queen. If the project goes to series, Barbara Hershey’s Cora, who played Wonderland’s Queen Of Hearts on Once, could appear in flashbacks. Also likely to be on the spinoff if it is picked up to series are the characters of Mad Hatter (played by Sebastian Stan on Once) and Cheshire Cat. The choice of Hemecker as director is not surprising as he helmed the two Once episodes that prominently featured Wonderland, last season’s Hat Trick and this season’s Queen of Heart, which introduced Cora as the Queen. Hemecker has directed a total of 7 Once episodes, including the second season premiere. The four-scene Once Upon A Time In Wonderland presentation is slated to begin filming later this week in Vancouver, immediately following the wrap of Once‘s Season 2 there. Once EPs Kitsis, Horowitz and Steve Pearlman executive produce, with Zack Estrin and Once consulting producer Jane Espenson also involved.
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