Jefferson

"I hate Wonderland."

- Jefferson to the Evil Queen

Jefferson, also known as the Mad Hatter, is a character on ABC's Once Upon a Time. He débuts in the seventeenth episode of the first season. He is portrayed by guest star Sebastian Stan, and is the Enchanted Forest counterpart of Jefferson.

Jefferson is based on the Mad Hatter from the novel, Alice in Wonderland.

Family
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Trivia

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Etymology

 * The rock band Jefferson Airplane has a hit song called "White Rabbit". The song uses imagery from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and was written by lead singer Grace Slick. Grace is the name of Jefferson's daughter.
 * Jefferson buys his daughter a white rabbit toy at the market. In addition, the playing card Regina puts on Paige's bike plate shows a White Rabbit.
 * Jefferson is one of few characters from the first Dark Curse who is confirmed to have the same real name in Storybrooke as his Enchanted Forest counterpart.

Character Notes

 * He is one of the few characters in the Enchanted Forest to call the Evil Queen by her given name.
 * He is a former business associate of Rumplestiltskin and Victor Frankenstein. However, he left after the business cost him his wife.


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Production Notes

 * During the production of Once Upon a Time in Wonderland it was initially reported that the show would recast (something that later happened with Tom Ellis' Robin Hood and Naveen Andrews' Jafar) Sebastian Stan's Mad Hatter due to his commitment to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Edward Kitsis later revealed the next month that due to fan backlash, the character would be recast and the series would proceed without the character.
 * The casting call describes him as "late 20s to Mid 30s, a rakishly handsome, former criminal who in Fairy Tale Land has given up his life of crime and dedicated himself to his daughter, while in Storybrooke he is a dangerous and mysterious figure who knows about the curse and attempts to convince Emma that it is real."
 * Jefferson is inspired by rock star Mick Jagger in the 1960s. According to Edward Kitsis, the famous lead singer of The Rolling Stones had a "weird, sixties, sort of Edwardian feel to him". Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, who are fans of The Rolling Stones, felt that this was who the Mad Hatter should be on their show.


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Set Dressing

 * Among the many fairy tale illustrations pinned to the wall in Henry's room is "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - A Mad Tea-Party" (1907) by the famous English book illustrator Arthur Rackham. It is an illustration of a scene from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, with Alice at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party with the March Hare, the Dormouse and the Mad Hatter.
 * Another illustration, by the American illustrator Jessie Willcox Smith, can also be seen. This picture is from Nora Archibald Smith's book Boys and Girls of Bookland (1923) and features Alice surrounded by the characters of Wonderland, including the Queen of Hearts, the Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit. However, all that can be seen of the Mad Hatter on the show's illustration, is his hat in "The Price of Gold" (in "The New Neverland", the Mad Hatter has been cropped off).
 * When young Alice returns to Victorian England, she walks past a small dining table with several plush toys sitting in chairs around it. The party guests at the table include a man in a hat. Years later, Alice's daughter has the same toy.
 * During the other Alice's tea party, a black top hat is sitting on the table, a reference to the Mad Hatter and his hat.

Appearances
Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.