Emilie de Ravin gives HollywoodLife.com the scoop on tonight’s ‘Once Upon A Time.’

Rumpelstiltskin… in love? You’ll have to see the Feb. 12 episode of Once Upon A Time to believe it, as Beauty and the Beast finally gets the Storybrooke treatment. Emilie de Ravin, who plays the Belle to Robert Carlyle‘s “Beast” tells HollywoodLife.com to expect a “beautiful, surprising” story — but definitely not to expect any singing, dancing silverware.

“Part of the story is still very relevant, as [Belle] is still this woman dreams of seeing the world and being brave — almost like being some kind of warrior,” Emilie tells us. “But she deals with that in a much stronger, more mature way on the show.”

Emilie admits to seeing the 1991 animated version for the first time after filming her first episode of Once, but that she did so intentionally.

“I knew the story, as most people do, but that’s not the kind of thing I watched as a kid,” she says. “I was more into Hitchcock and Agatha Christie stuff. In my immediate conversation with [creators Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis], they told me she wasn’t exactly the same. She is quite ballsy, and she really stands up for herself, but she’s not as much as a feminine pushover.”

We’ll also see Rumpelstiltskin “in a new new light,” Emilie says. “For the first time since [Rumpelstiltskin became a beast], he starts to feel life and happiness again. It’s beautiful, but it’s also quite confusing for him.”

Beautiful? Confusing? Sounds like Once Upon A Time to me!

— Andy Swift

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