'Once Upon a Time' Season 7 Casting News: Jeff Pierre Signs To Play Prince Naveen
Princess Tiana (Mekia Cox) finally found her prince.
Deadline revealed that ABC tapped "Beyond" star Jeff Pierre to portray the role of Prince Naveen in "Once Upon a Time" season 7.
According to the report, Naveen will be introduced in episode 12 titled "A Taste of the Heights" that will air on Friday, March 9.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The report mentioned that Prince Naveen is a "fun loving, freewheeling adventurer who cares little about the dangers of the world." But despite his seemingly happy persona, Naveen is secretly struggling from his tragic past which he is willing to do everything to make amends for. This means that he is willing to sacrifice everything, even those that have a special place in his heart.
Naveen's character, together with Princess Tiana, has been inspired by Disney's animated fairytale film "The Princess and the Frog."
Aside from Pierre, the second half of "Once Upon a Time" season 7 will also introduce the man who fell in love with the Wicked Witch's alter-ego Kelly (Rebecca Mader).
According to Entertainment Weekly, "Runways" alum Kip Pardue signed up to appear as a guest star in the 150th episode of "Once Upon a Time" as Kelly's fiancé named Chad. The report described the character as someone who is very patient and compassionate even if things seemed to be working against him.
Pardue's appearance will happen in the episode titled "Chosen," which will be directed by "Once Upon a Time" star Lana Parrilla.
The seventh season of the long-running fairytale drama series is currently on a winter break, but is scheduled to return to ABC on Friday, March 2. But the network has yet to announce the show's fate for season 8.
During the Television Critics Association's winter press tour in January, ABC's entertainment president Channing Dungey mentioned that despite the drop in the show's ratings when the series was moved from its previous Sunday night timeslot to its new Friday spot, its delayed viewership had a 55 percent increase.
She also said that the possibility of having an eighth season also relies on what the show's producers can present regarding its story.
"Eddy [Kitsis] and Adam [Horowitz] are going to be coming in shortly to talk with us about what they would want to be doing if they had another season, so I can't really say until we've had that conversation," Dungey also stated.
