link

So far I'm not happy, but we'll see in episode 14 so..

Very unhappy about this.

This is going to be the official Rapunzel on the show? She's black! How the heck could she be Rapunzel? Rapunzel is described as a blonde with white skin, everyone knows this. Her golden locks are legendary! Why would they cast a black woman to play Rapunzel? Are they trying to give some kind of Beyonce vibe to the show? It would be like if they casted Selena Gomez as Tiana! If she was playing Tiana I wouldn't mind. But Rapunzel? Come on! I hope nobody thinks I'm being racist but I mean come on!

I would like her to be blonde with straight hair xP

@KataraLover Yes, read the link.

One of the things I like about OUaT is that you can never be certain how they are going to play out all these fairy tales they include in the show - anything can happen :) So I don't mind that they decided to "change" Rapunzel in terms of appearance. If you can tern Peter Pan into a sociopath, Red Riding Hood into the wolf and let Rumble kill Cinderella's fairy godmother then why not make Rapunzel black? Seems to be one of the more insignificant changes so far.
Reason why I chose "not sure yet" is because I find i difficult to comment fully on this choice of actress when I haven't see her in action :)

I don't really know how I feel about this yet. For one reason: She's not blond.

Maja2601 Peter Pan was already a sociopath to begin with, Once Upon A Time just decided to make him a villain.

I agree with Maja2601. That is why I love this show. It is fairy tales with a twist. It makes the story so much exciting and leaves me wondering what will happen next. Plus who wants to hear the same exact story again and again. A new twist on Rapunzel is something, if they do it right, is what we need.

Maja2601 has a point. :) I will let myself be surprised. I trust Eddy and Adam enough to give this actress a chance. ^.^ She's really pretty<3 I haven't seen her in action yet too xD

I'm excited about this, even though I was expecting a more typical Rapunzel. I kind of identify with the idea of her being black because I'm black and when I was little my mom would call me Rapunzel because I have long hair. Plus my personality is pretty similar with Rapunzel in Tangled (which is my favorite Disney Princess movie). I never thought anyone would make an African American Rapunzel. I atleast hope her personality will be like in Tangled :)

It's a surprise. They've stayed pretty true to all of the other fairy tale characters. Ariel even still has red hair. So I'm certainly shocked to find that they would deviate so far from the traditional description of Rapunzel.

But I'm interested in why they decided to stray so far and how the actress will portray the character of Rapunzel. I like the twists they bring to the show, so hopefully this one won't disappoint us.

It would be interesting if they twisted it around so Rapunzel was originally black (in the OUaT world), but the description was changed over the course of time and history to favor the majority of people that happened to read the tale. Think about it, back in the early centuries, who would have bought a book about a black princess? I'm not racist, but an author looking to make a buck would change the description to favor those who held the higher social standing, which would have happened to be white people. Again, I'm not racist, but it would be interesting.

Actress is pretty, but she's not for Rapunzel. Rapunzel supposed to be white and blonde. I can't belive it.

I find it a little odd considering how faithful they have stayed appearance wise with the other princesses. Snow, Belle Mulan and Ariel were spot on (Cinderella was close enough). The exception of course is Aurora but at least she has the figure and bone structure also Aurora is not currently as popular as Punzie is right now. You'd think they would want to stick as close as possible to the hugely profitable movie character.

I don't know I'm just used to a blond Rapunzle. I don't mind the dark complexion, it's just that Punzle's hair is super significant in her story, I don't get why they would stray from that.

And this is finally the point where I seriously contemplate leaving this fandom. I don't see how it matters what colour skin of hair an actress has so long as she is a good actress and plays her part well. would all of you have preferred a terrible actress with the right skin colour? I really dislike saying that I am part of a fandom that says things like "They've ruined Rapunzel because they've cast a black woman." "Alexandra is a terrible choice because she's black!"

Now I picked 'Not Sure' because I don't know the actress and I can never be sure until I've seen her in action in the show. I don't know any of her previous roles so how can I know? I couldn't care less what colour skin or hair she has. People are saying that Rapunzel has to have blonde hair and that it's a massive part of her story ... it's not. The story would not change if she had red hair or brown hair. Her pale skin has nothing to do with the story and the story-line wouldn't change no matter what nationality she is. To the people saying 'She's pretty but...'. She is pretty but that has nothing to do with how she's cast. From the sounds of it you'd all be complaining if she was a white and blonde but not 'pretty enough' for your tastes. It's all your personal opinion that she can't so it because she's black and I think that's bullshit.

Also a point to note, if you say something like "I'm not racist but ... " chances are you are about to say something racist.

I'm not being racist, all I think is that she isn't the right choice for Rapuzel. You seriously need to calm down and stop making paragraphs out of everything/in all your comments.

I'm black and I'm having mixed feelings about this. to me it's not a race thing it's just growing up I knew Rapunzel to be white with blonde hair and yes it's good that there is another black actress on the show I just thought that maybe she would have been cast as Tiana. I'm not complaining and I just can't wait to see her in action. BTW the writers always create a twist with the show so we don't know how this will play out.

@TDDD The issue is not her race the issue that her story revolves around her hair if its not right it will affect the story. Also these are iconic characters. People see them a certain way and are going to have issues when they feel people are messing with there childhood perception. People did the same thing when we learned Aurora was not going to be blond. However once we actually saw Sarah act we promptly forgot.

One more thing to think about: If they had cast a white actor as Mulan would you still stand by that choice as long as she was a good actress?

Wow, didn't realise how many racists were in this fandom, disappointing. They've changed so many plot points on this show from the original Disney movies and the original stories but people are getting worked up over skin colour/hair? They should be ashamed.

Oh, God. Reading some of these comments just shock me. Are people really so eager to jump to conclusions over a character who hasn't even appeared on the show? Like her or hate her, it's your choice, but at least give her a chance. And I still haven't come across an argument that isn't "But Rapunzel is supposed to be white and blonde! I'm not racist, btw." Oh, yeah. You're totally not.

Have you ever wondered that maybe they have a good reason to make her a woman of colour in this specific version? This show has been known for putting twists on well-known fairy tale characters, this is just another addition to that, why does it shock so many people?

I cant stand a racist I love the colored and the queers just ask Sammy davis