Once Upon a Time's Lana Parrilla: Why Regina Really Learned Magic

It did start from a good place.
Though we know Regina (Lana Parrilla) as the Evil Queen who tore apart the Charming family, destroyed the lives of countless fairy tale characters and is guilty of numerous other offenses, there was once hope for a young girl who fell in love with a stable boy — and maybe there could be again. In this Sunday's episode of Once Upon a Time, we'll see both how Regina learned magic and why she is currently struggling not to use magic in order to win back Henry (Jared Gilmore).

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In a fairy tale land flashback, Regina will begin her magic lessons, while hoping to stick to her promise of not turning into her mother, Cora (Barbara Hershey). "She realizes that not all magic is bad and if she can use it for good, then maybe it's OK to use it," Parrilla tells TVGuide.com. "You'll see, in this coming episode, Rumplestiltskin [Robert Carlyle] teaching her magic, but she has a secret. She has an agenda of why she wants to learn the magic. It's not to destroy anyone. It's not to destroy her mother. It's not to really hurt anyone because she doesn't want to."In truth, she wants to bring back her dearly departed stable boy Daniel (Noah Bean), whose heart was ripped out by Cora in Season 1. Regina will enlist the help of Jefferson (Sebastian Stan), whom we'll see her meet for the first time this Sunday. "He says he can help her bring the stable boy back," Parrilla says. "You'll see them teaming up to try to make this happen." (And based on this promo, it looks like another familiar face will help too!)Parrilla also teases that we may learn the reason why Regina hates Jefferson so much. "There was something that Sebastian and I talked about: Jefferson must've done something to her for her to punish him and leave him in Wonderland," she says. "What the hell did he do? I think you'll see a little bit this Sunday." She cautions that plans could change down the road, but "as of now, he's involved in something and it's quite sneaky."

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Meanwhile, in Storybrooke present, Parrilla likens Regina's struggle to quit magic to overcoming an addiction. It will cause her to have visions of Daniel that could drive her over the edge. "A part of her thinks, 'Is that a ghost? Is that him? That can't be him! What the hell is he doing in Storybrooke? I know he's dead!' She saw her mother crush his heart. The minute you crush a heart, that's it, there's no bringing him back. She's terrified. She doesn't know if she's losing her mind. It's a time when she just keeps losing everything, from Henry to magic to power to now the curse has been broken. Maybe she's just on the verge of snapping, so that scares her."Do you think Regina could ever really quit magic?