Jamie Dornan almost returned to reprise his role on the ABC hit Once Upon a Time, but a scheduling conflict curbed what would have been a satisfying reunion for his character and the show’s cast. For one short but sweet season, Dornan played Storybrooke County’s Sheriff Graham and his fairytale counterpart, the Huntsman. Despite the Dark Curse preventing the Sheriff from remembering his past life as the fairytale character, flashbacks to the timeline of the Enchanted Forest revealed Dornan to be the Huntsman to Ginnifer Goodwin’s Snow White.
Dornan quickly became a series fan-favorite for his charismatic portrayal of Sheriff Graham/the Huntsman, which culminated in his valiant refusal to kill Snow White by order of the Evil Queen. While the Huntsman’s mercy on Snow White’s life added to his noble and swoon-worthy characteristics that won over audiences, it also led to Dornan’s heartbreaking death in Once Upon a Time season 1, which saw the Evil Queen crush his heart to dust in retaliation. Executive producers Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis attempted to right his unexpected death with plans for Dornan to reprise his character in season 3, but they were, ultimately, unable to successfully orchestrate his return.
Jamie Dornan as the Huntsman in Once Upon A Time
Horowitz and Kitsis actually had a solid, well-thought-out plan for Jamie Dornan’s return to Once Upon a Time, but their timing wasn’t as calculated. By Once Upon a Time season 3, Dornan had been gone from the show for two years, and his career was headed toward new and more prominent roles. In fact, Dornan couldn’t return to Once Upon a Time because he was too busy preparing for his role as CEO and kink master Christian Grey in the film Fifty Shades of Grey.
Granted, it was probably for the better that Dornan decided to place his focus on Fifty Shades of Grey instead of returning to the set of Once Upon a Time. Although Dornan had issues with the Fifty Shades franchise retrospectively, his performance as Christian Grey shot the actor into mainstream stardom, led to his continued appearance across the billion-dollar franchise, and was a much more substantial role than what his Once Upon a Time character ever had been. His return to the fairytale TV series could have been major for fans, but it also would’ve been short-lived and way less of a contribution to his career than Fifty Shades was.
Once Upon A Time’s Cut Plan For The Huntsman’s Return
Sheriff Graham and Emma Swan in Once Upon A Time
The producer only planned to have Jamie Dornan return for one fleeting and sentimental Once Upon a Time moment. Dornan’s character would’ve made an appearance in the season 3 finale, which featured a time-travel storyline that found Once Upon a Time’s main character Emma, accompanied by Killian Jones’s Captain Hook, accidentally traveling back in time to the Enchanted Forest. Horowitz and Kitsis wished to have Emma and Sheriff Graham reunite in reference to their brief romance in Once Upon a Time season 1.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Emma would’ve seen Graham when she was locked in the Evil Queen’s castle:
“[Horowitz and Kitsis] wanted a Peggy Sue Got Married moment. He would’ve been one of the guards because it would’ve been during that period. She would’ve seen him, and it would’ve been heartbreaking for her because she would’ve wanted to reach out to him, but knowing that – because she’s on a mission – she couldn’t. It wasn’t a big plot thing, but it was an emotional moment that [they] wanted to do.”
While the moment would’ve been enough of a tease to excite Once Upon a Time fans, it failed to transpire, and Dornan never returned to the series besides in infrequent archival footage. Dornan’s return in season 3 could have been a great and satisfying surprise for the Huntsman fans but would have added little substance to the Once Upon a Time series’ narrative overall and even less to the actor’s career.
