ONTD

3:31 pm - 10/22/2012

'Once Upon a Time': How Robert Carlyle created Rumpelstiltskin



Once Upon a Time‘s Rumpelstiltskin is arguably broadcast TV’s most extreme character, a devilish, vindictive, childish wizard who offers to fulfill desperate wishes “for a price.” Actor Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting, 28 Weeks Later) plays fairy tale land’s Rumple and his sober Storybrooke alter ego Mr. Gold, and put plenty of thought into the creation of both characters. Here’s some secrets about both, and be sure to check out this last Sunday’s episode, which features a key Rumple storyline. 

Origins: “I knew Rumpelstiltskin’s name but I didn’t know anything else about him,” Carlyle says. “Everyone thinks they know Rumpelstiltskin but they don’t really. The lines I was given to perform seemed to be begging to be taken as far from normality as possible. I thought, ‘The braver the [performance] better.’”

The voice: “There’s no way I could speak in my normal voice while looking so extraordinary and while having this bizarre stuff to say,” the actor reasoned. “I tried many different types of voices and the thing that I landed on was completely by chance, really, thanks to my son. He was wandering though the house making these high-pitched voices and sounds I thought, ‘Rumpelstiltskin has a child-like quality to him, he kind of enjoys gleefully tricking people.’”

The reasoning: “He’s 300 years old. He’s met so many people over the years that he’s been impressed and unimpressed by, he’s taken on their voices, he’s taken on their accents and their mannerisms. He’s layered so much he’s lost himself.” Once Upon showrunners Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis point out that every time we meet Rumple in fairy tale land he’s in a slightly different time period and so therefore Carlyle actually uses a slightly different voice every single time to show this gradual layering effect.

Less is more: “One of the things I spoke about with [Horowitz and Kitsis] is that we shouldn’t over-use this character. If you overuse something like Rumple, you begin to see how it works and it becomes less attractive. He’s the kind of character the audience should look forward to seeing, rather than hitting you with it week after week, I don’t think that would work.”

Mr. Gold: “I try to keep him absolutely neutral,” he says. “I almost do [Mr. Gold] in slow motion. It’s the exact opposite of what I’m doing with Rumpelstiltskin. He resonates calm. There’s not many times as an actor you get to play the opposite ends of the scale.”

Source
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superdogbiter 22nd-Oct-2012 07:43 pm (UTC)
i find him sexier with short hair
chrislola 22nd-Oct-2012 09:16 pm (UTC)
of course you do.
clairelittleton 22nd-Oct-2012 07:44 pm (UTC)
best actor on the show tbh.
cyberghostface 22nd-Oct-2012 07:45 pm (UTC)
Without a doubt.
autophanous 22nd-Oct-2012 07:46 pm (UTC)
real talk
anchors_oceans 22nd-Oct-2012 07:55 pm (UTC)
lol @ this plus the comment below yours.

your comment is definitely the accurate one.

clairelittleton 22nd-Oct-2012 08:07 pm (UTC)
lol yeah i saw that and thought...oh.
acharmedlife 22nd-Oct-2012 10:10 pm (UTC)
I... kind of want to hit that.
minyquai 22nd-Oct-2012 07:55 pm (UTC)
chrislola 22nd-Oct-2012 07:57 pm (UTC)
truth
grotesque_xxx 22nd-Oct-2012 07:58 pm (UTC)
Agreed.
zoaster_toaster 22nd-Oct-2012 08:03 pm (UTC)
THIS
bodyline 22nd-Oct-2012 08:09 pm (UTC)
You always post such truths
gogeta1 22nd-Oct-2012 08:19 pm (UTC)
definitely
_______awshucks 22nd-Oct-2012 08:33 pm (UTC)
truth
babblinjoe 22nd-Oct-2012 09:22 pm (UTC)
truth, i only watch the show for rumple and Regina's cleavage.
kaypie 22nd-Oct-2012 10:26 pm (UTC)
absolutely.
xcollsangelx 22nd-Oct-2012 11:10 pm (UTC)
Yep
chrisgold 23rd-Oct-2012 12:49 am (UTC)
He's definitely my favourite character and his and Belle's story the most I'm interested in following. Was pissed that the first 2 episodes didn't focus on them at all.
carryyourheart 22nd-Oct-2012 07:44 pm (UTC)
He sucks, he's one of the most annoying characters tbh
queen_norleans 22nd-Oct-2012 09:51 pm (UTC)
Edgy.
angi_is_altered 22nd-Oct-2012 07:44 pm (UTC)
His story last night was AMAZING!!! I can't wait to see where the character goes from here!
scriptedending 22nd-Oct-2012 07:44 pm (UTC)
I don't watch this, but he was BRILLIANT on SGU. Miss that show so much. :(
grande_latte 22nd-Oct-2012 07:45 pm (UTC)
let's talk about how i need to get on Captain Hook's ship
jarlisle 22nd-Oct-2012 07:50 pm (UTC)
you think about getting on his ship while i think about how i need to get on his dick
grotesque_xxx 22nd-Oct-2012 08:06 pm (UTC)
Haha :P
grande_latte 22nd-Oct-2012 08:15 pm (UTC)
His ship is his dick
ladysherlock 22nd-Oct-2012 07:57 pm (UTC)
The line for this is impossibly long by now
zoaster_toaster 22nd-Oct-2012 08:04 pm (UTC)
More like Captain UNF
grotesque_xxx 22nd-Oct-2012 07:45 pm (UTC)
He's amazing :D

Aldo i love last OUAT episode
grande_latte 22nd-Oct-2012 07:46 pm (UTC)
where did you get your icon?
grotesque_xxx 22nd-Oct-2012 07:51 pm (UTC)
Made it :)
grotesque_xxx 22nd-Oct-2012 08:02 pm (UTC)
If you want , i van send you some icons with nim , but first i need to back home.
episky_x 22nd-Oct-2012 07:46 pm (UTC)
I like his Rumple hair a lot more than his Mr. Gold hair, tbh.
bodyline 22nd-Oct-2012 08:10 pm (UTC)
IAWTC, it's so nice and wavy
episky_x 23rd-Oct-2012 12:39 am (UTC)
Yes! And the length works better I think.
grande_latte 22nd-Oct-2012 07:46 pm (UTC)
also i think Rumples son will be henry's dad

but i kinda want it to be hook but that's not happenign is it
trinimacphisto 22nd-Oct-2012 08:44 pm (UTC)
Bae was still in fairytale land when his mom ran away with Hook, so it's kind of impossible and too incestuous lol
mattthew 22nd-Oct-2012 09:12 pm (UTC)
it cant be hook... because bae's mom was hitting that and that's too far over the line for abc lol
jeffreyuno_1 22nd-Oct-2012 10:26 pm (UTC)
I don't understand how Bae is still alive if Rumple is 300 years old according to this article. Age and time are so confusing on this show.
lanavis 22nd-Oct-2012 10:52 pm (UTC)
How is Hook still alive? Unless he is only shown via flashbacks.

Edited at 2012-10-22 10:53 pm (UTC)
gogeta1 23rd-Oct-2012 04:19 am (UTC)
Rumple said last season that Bae went through time and space.
autophanous 22nd-Oct-2012 07:47 pm (UTC)
I love carlyle SO MUCH but rn I am so pissed at goldmember it is dampening my love. he was such a twat in last night's episode.
_dennis_csi_ 22nd-Oct-2012 07:47 pm (UTC)
I watched 2x04 today and OMG HOOK IS THE HOTTEST THING EVER
fallenroses07 22nd-Oct-2012 07:49 pm (UTC)
I'M OBSESSED WITH HIM. Lmaooo my Tumblr's been taken over by pics of him and I've lost some followers from it hahaha. SORRY YOU CAN'T HANDLE SEXY MEN.
_dennis_csi_ 22nd-Oct-2012 07:51 pm (UTC)
why wouldn't people don't want to see his sexy face on their dash?

rme
watchsnowfall 22nd-Oct-2012 08:12 pm (UTC)
bahahaha my last three straight journal posts have featured him
jarlisle 22nd-Oct-2012 08:28 pm (UTC)
What's your tumblr? Feel the need to follow you :D
grotesque_xxx 22nd-Oct-2012 07:52 pm (UTC)
Good choice , bb , good choice
zoaster_toaster 22nd-Oct-2012 08:04 pm (UTC)
IKR? GODDAMN
false_hate 22nd-Oct-2012 08:25 pm (UTC)
I want to send the casting department a fruit basket for their part in getting him on my television.
fallenroses07 22nd-Oct-2012 07:48 pm (UTC)
Can someone explain how Bae would still be alive if Rumple's 300 years old? I've thought about that a million times. Like unless Rumple put a spell on him that like slowed Bae's aging, I don't see how he'd still be around? Idkk
mingemonster 22nd-Oct-2012 07:51 pm (UTC)
Maybe there weren't 300 years in "our" time, or he could have been sent to a later date
fallenroses07 22nd-Oct-2012 07:58 pm (UTC)
Yeah I can see that happening! It all just makes me wonder why Rumplestiltskin would still think he's alive tho :/
wicked_jade 22nd-Oct-2012 07:53 pm (UTC)
Maybe Bae didn't end up where he was supposed to? Like, maybe the Blue Fairy screwed up, and Bae accidently wound up in Neverland. If he say, wound up being Peter Pan? Might explain why Hook hates the kid so much, and how he'd still be alive. Then when the curse hit, he could have been dropped in the non-magical world where he was supposed to end up in the first place. *shrug*
bodyline 22nd-Oct-2012 08:11 pm (UTC)
HE'S PETER PAN
iodine_sky 22nd-Oct-2012 08:15 pm (UTC)
~Magic
irinafan 22nd-Oct-2012 10:03 pm (UTC)
I don't think Rumple is 300 years old at all...that doesn't work at all. I'm thinking The Fairytale land is 300 years old in our time, but the characters jump in time from there to Storybrooke at their actual age. So Rumple would be whatever age he looks like + the 28 years he hasn't aged. So maybe, hm, 68?
rutalking2me 23rd-Oct-2012 12:30 am (UTC)
lol maybe the time is like Narnia.
gogeta1 23rd-Oct-2012 04:33 am (UTC)
Rumple said Bae when through time and space when he went through the vortex. Maybe the show is getting bendy with time.
wicked_jade 22nd-Oct-2012 07:49 pm (UTC)
So if Rumple's 300 years old, that means Hook is too, right? He's just really well preserved, since he's been in Neverland all that time.
advo 22nd-Oct-2012 11:25 pm (UTC)
Correct
lilo146 22nd-Oct-2012 07:50 pm (UTC)
i dont understand why people hate him. he is so fun to watch. sometimes people take this show to seriously
clairelittleton 22nd-Oct-2012 07:52 pm (UTC)
logic, you speak it.
chrislola 22nd-Oct-2012 07:59 pm (UTC)
for real!
gogeta1 22nd-Oct-2012 08:21 pm (UTC)
ikr
ahkna 22nd-Oct-2012 08:24 pm (UTC)
Same reason why people go insane with hatred for Regina.
goofusgallant 22nd-Oct-2012 10:22 pm (UTC)
iawtc
xcollsangelx 22nd-Oct-2012 11:11 pm (UTC)
Agreed

klmnumbers 22nd-Oct-2012 07:51 pm (UTC)
He will always be Begbie or Gaz to me.
mrflibbleseyes 22nd-Oct-2012 08:05 pm (UTC)
Hamish MacBath - never forget.
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