Cinderella (The Price of Gold)

Ella, better known as Cinderella, is a recurring character in Once Upon a Time. She débuts in the fourth episode of the first season. She is played by guest star Jessy Schram, and is the fairytale counterpart of Ashley Boyd.

Cinderella is one of the best-known fairytale characters; a humble but beautiful girl who is tormented by her step-family. Because she is desperate to get out of her unfortunate situation, she ends up turning to the notorious Rumpelstiltskin for help.

Season One
Ella is first seen while she is sweeping the courtyard of her stepmother's manor as a royal ball is occuring. Once her stepfamily is gone, her Fairy Godmother appears to her. She tells her that she will be able to go to the Prince's ball and suddenly explodes into orange dust.

It was Rumpelstiltskin who destroyed her fairy godmother, saying he was doing her a favor. He manipulates her into making a deal with him. He promises to save her from her wretched life in return for an unspecified precious object later on. Desperate, Ella agrees.

Later, we see her on her wedding night, relishing in her new life and true love, surrounded by her friends, including Snow White and Prince James. Rumpelstiltskin is also in attendance, and he reveals that the precious item he wanted in return for her new life was not money or jewels, but her first-born child.

After some time, Ella is packing her bags when all of the sudden Prince Thomas walks in. She tells him that she is pregnant, and that she has promised Rumpelstiltskin their child. She is devastated, but Thomas assures her that he will fix this, and they simply need to make a new deal to undo the old deal.

Thomas, with the help of Prince James and Grumpy, plans to tempt Rumpelstiltskin with a new deal, tricking him into believing Ella is carrying twins. When he signs the contract to get the second child using a quill charmed by the Blue Fairy, he will be frozen, and they will be able to transport him to a secure prison in the dwarves' mines.

Ella is hesitant to use magic to undo magic, but they go through with the plan. Although Rumpelstiltskin doesn't buy it, he still signs the contract and is captured. However, the price of trying to break the original deal is that Prince Thomas disappears, and Ella will not be able to see him again until she fulfills her deal with Rumpelstiltskin.

Appearances

 * The Price of Gold

Trivia

 * The name Cinderella was a reference to the cinders of a fireplace where she sat when her work was done each day. The name Ashley means ash wood or ash meadow. The naming could also stem from the original Grimm fairytale, being "Ashputtel", likewise with the first syllable being "ash".
 * Ella is very similar to Snow White, regarding their childhood and teenaged years. Their mothers both died when they were young, and both of their fathers remarried a woman who treated them unfairly and cruelly after his death. However, unlike Snow, Ella married into her kingdom's royal family.
 * Ella may be her real name, since some versions of the story say that Cinderella was a mean name given to her by her stepsisters, refering to cinders.
 * Also she and Snow were pregnant at the same time, but Snow gave birth first while Ella went into labor 28 years later as Ashley, her real world alteration. Coincidentally, both babies are girls.
 * In some cultures the story is called "The Little Glass Slippers", in reference to the glass slippers Cinderella wears when she goes to the ball.
 * She is the second Walt Disney Princess to appear on the show and also the second in the lineup after her friend Snow White.