Rya Kihlstedt To Guest on "Once Upon a Time"

[JamesG]

"Once Upon a Time" Casts "Heroes Reborn" Baddie as Emma's Badass Mentor
by Matt Webb Mitovich
February 23, 2016


ABC’s "Once Upon a Time" will flash back an uncharted period in Emma Swan’s past, with the help of "Heroes Reborn" actress Rya Kihlstedt.

TVLine has learned exclusively that Kihlstedt will guest-star in Season 5, Episode 20 — titled 'Firebird' and written by Jane Espenson — as Cleo, a bail bondsperson and no-nonsense woman who has pulled herself out of a rough early life and trusts her instincts above all else.



The character is described as having “a tough exterior hides a strong nurturing side that isn’t often given a chance to come out.”

If that sounds a lot like a certain Savior when we first met her, that is because Cleo was a mentor of sorts to pre-Storybrooke Emma and thus embodies what she might have been had a storybook-toting tyke named Henry not come knocking.



ABC’s "Once Upon a Time" resumes Season 5 on Sunday, March 6.

http://tvline.com/2016/02/23/once-up...rya-kihlstedt/