‘Once Upon A Time’ Stars Jump Ship After Jennifer Morrison Announces Departure

Earlier in the week, Once Upon a Time fans were devastated to learn that series lead, Jennifer Morrison, has decided to depart from the ABC series in the hopes of stretching her acting legs. While Morrison has agreed to do just one more Once Upon a Time episode in the new season, she’s essentially done with the show and prepared to move onto the next stage in her career. As some have feared, Jennifer’s announcement opened a floodgate with several other Once Upon a Time stars declaring their intentions to quit the series as well.

Once Upon a Time Loses its Belle as Emilie de Ravin Looks Beyond Storybrooke

As TV Line reports, Emilie de Ravin will be among those Once Upon a Time stars to depart as Season 7 revamps the show and takes the series in an entirely new direction. With Jennifer Morrison’s departure, the series showrunners Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis have announced that the fairy tale based series will launch a new direction that will refocus the show on the characters played by Robert Carlyle, Lana Parrilla, and Colin O’Donoghue.

In light of the way in which the Once Upon a Time bosses have decided to mix things up, Emilie has chosen to take the opportunity to depart in advance of Season 7.

“While I would have loved to continue exploring Belle’s journey, the show has decided to move in a different creative direction,” writes de Ravin in an Instagram post.

Instead of going into her reasons more specifically, Emilie chose to simply wish the best for her Once Upon a Time co-stars in the farewell to her fans.

“Massive thank you to all the fans for your incredible love & support towards me & this character over the past 6 yrs. It’s been an honor & a privilege to bring Belle to life ? Congrats to Adam & Eddy & the returning cast & crew!! I wish you all a wonderful 7th Season!! Much love,” wrote Ms. de Ravin.

Once Upon a Time Will No Longer Be a Charming Affair

It seems Emma Swan isn’t leaving Storybrooke on her own. As Entertainment Weekly reports, the entire Charming family is to be written out of the show with Ginnifer Goodwin (Mary Margaret Blanchard/Snow White), Josh Dallas (David Nolan/Prince Charming), and Jared Gilmore (Henry Mills) all departing as well. Goodwin, Dallas, and Gilmore have been with Once Upon a Time since the very beginning, so news of their departures have affected fans as keenly as Morrison’s resignation.

Horowitz and Kitsis have released a joint statement, sharing their remorse at losing a pool of very talented actors, who have also helped to shape Once Upon a Time from behind the scenes. The showrunners indicated that each of the actors offered insight and story ideas that helped the series stay fresh and exciting. The Once Upon a Time bosses added that the show stars have given life to the characters of Snow White, Prince Charming, and Belle French in a way that has distinguished the characters from their fairy tale inspirations.

“We can’t thank them enough for the hard work, dedication, and passion they delivered day in and day out. Without them there would be no Once Upon a Time.”

Looking forward the series bosses indicated that the door would be left open should any of the actors wish to return, either in a guest spot or a recurring role. There’s no indication, however, that anyone else has volunteered to return for an additional Season 7 episode, as Jennifer Morrison has offered.

“As Once continues, this group will always be the beating heart of the show. And even though we won’t be with them every week, in a show about magic and hope, we fervently believe it won’t be the last we see of them,” the statement added.

Once Upon a Time airs Sundays on ABC.

[Featured Image by ABC]