Zach: How did you hear about Once Upon a Time and what was your reaction to the premise?
Raphael: I
heard that there was going to be a new show and there’s this part of
Jiminy Cricket. I didn’t know what they wanted. Personal story: My
girlfriend, who I dated her over twenty-five years ago, is now back in
my life. She had these glasses that we had purchased then. I told her,
“I’m going out for this part, Jiminy Cricket. Do you have any
glasses?” She said, “That’s so weird because I happened to come by
these.” She’s a therapist! So those are the glasses that I walked into
the audition with, and those are the glasses that I wear on the show.
Normally they don’t let you do that because they want to double things
up so if something breaks then they have a backup.
But those glasses, because they’re twenty-five years old, they can’t
match them. It’s a weird magical story about me and the therapist.
Anyways, I went in and met them. The scene [in the audition] was me and
Henry on the street. And then I left. I walked out and they literally
chased me down and brought me back: “Would you do it again? The
director’s up in Vancouver.” So it began. I got called into the meeting
and I guess they told me later they that had a lot of people come in
and there were certain qualities they had imagined for the part. I’m a
Dad and that was helpful since the relationship with Henry was a key
component.
Sam: Henry needs a male figure in his life.
Zach: What’s been your favorite episode so far?
Raphael: Oh gosh, I mean it sounds self-serving, but I guess it’s most interesting when you get your back-story.
Zach: “A Still Small Voice.”
Sam:
I think that was the first episode that hit so hard. When you see the
puppets at the end and we feel Archie’s horror at what he’s done . . .
that was the first time where I was really sucked in.
Zach: It reminded me about something more than just fairy tale characters.
Raphael:
When you talk about the premise of the show, to explain the show to
people before it aired, “There is this town and it’s Storybrooke, and
it’s got Prince Charming, and the Evil Queen and Snow White are real
characters . . .” you could see people’s eyes glaze over. In lesser
hands it could have been done so poorly and saccharine. What they did
was, they were willing to tell stories that are tough. This story about
Jiminy’s conscience . . . he didn’t do the right thing because he
learned it or because he was supposed to. He actually did the wrong
thing so long that it forced him somehow to know the difference. I
remember reading this story. I loved the journey. I love when he stood
up to the Evil Queen. That whole first season was really magical where
they got to really go through these backstories and give us more time
with people to explore what that was. So I am really a big fan of the
first season.
Zach: Your work with Tony Amendola. . .
Raphael:
Tony and I have known each other for years. We had done some theater
work together. He’s one of the dearest, sweetest guys. When he got
cast as Gepetto, I was so happy. He’s just a wonderful man and a great
actor. We have a natural affinity for each other.
Zach: Will we see more Pinocchio?
Raphael:
I don’t know about that. We do know that there are a ton of
characters. There are a lot of storylines to manage. I don’t envy the
writers their job of trying to sort them all out.
Zach: You’re also the founder of Green Wish.
Raphael:
Green Wish raises money for non-profits that are green. The way it
works is that people can set up chapters and we give them the
infrastructure to create all the elements of a non-profit set-up for
community-based work. They put 90 cents of the dollar back into the
community. There’s so much going on with the environment, and we’re
opening up chapters all over the country. It’s like being a parent; you
get so overwhelmed by how much need there is you can’t write a check
every day. So this is a way to give back.
OUAF would like to thank Mr. Sbarge for sharing his time and insight.
