This article is about the first incarnation of the character from Once Upon a Time. For the second incarnation, see Cinderella (Magical Forest).
Cinderella, sometimes referred to as Ella, and known as Ashley Boyd following the Dark Curse, is a recurring character in ABC's fantasy series Once Upon a Time and makes a cameo appearance at the start of Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. She is one of the main characters in season one and reappears for smaller roles in later seasons, being the stepdaughter to Lady Tremaine, making her stepsister to both Clorinda and Tisbe Tremaine.
Cinderella is portrayed by Jessy Schram.
Role in the series[]
Cinderella was a maid who wished to attend the royal ball. Her fairy godmother appears to grant her wish, but Rumplestiltskin kills the fairy. Warning her that "all magic comes with a price", he offers her a contract: her wish in exchange for something she will have in the future. She signs it without reading it and goes to the ball. She meets Prince Thomas, and the two fall in love and marry. At the wedding reception, Rumplestiltskin reminds Ella of the contract and informs her that he asked for her first-born child. When she discovers she is pregnant, she tries to run away. But Thomas and Prince James devise a plan to capture Rumplestiltskin. The plan succeeds, but Thomas disappears. Rumplestiltskin vows that she will never see Thomas again until the contract is fulfilled.
In Storybrooke, she is 19-year old Ashley Boyd, a single, pregnant maid. The baby's father Sean Herman, who is really Thomas, is not allowed by his father to continue seeing Ashley. Sean's father arranges for Mr. Gold, who is Rumplestiltskin, to pay Ashley in exchange for the baby. She originally agrees to the exchange, but she later decides to keep her child. She tries to flee town but goes into labor at the city limits. Emma Swan finds her and brings her to the hospital. There, Emma agrees to do Mr. Gold a favor if Ashley is allowed to keep the baby. Mr. Gold agrees to the arrangement. Ashley gives birth to a daughter, Alexandra, and Sean visits the hospital to reconcile with Ashley and to give his daughter a pair of shoes that fit her feet perfectly (a reference to the original Cinderella story). A few months after, he proposes to Ashley and the pair is engaged.
She later begins teaching parenting classes in Storybrooke, as revealed in Season 4.
Cinderella returns in the Season 6 episode "The Other Shoe" where she discovers her stepsister Clorinda came to town and decides she must protect her from Lady Tremaine. She eventually finds an injured Clorinda hiding inside a pumpkin farm. Ashley unties her stepsister's bandage, only to discover there is no wound, and that Clorinda and Lady Tremaine have lured her into a trap. In the flashback, it was revealed that Clorinda was given a rose by Prince Thomas during the ball to congrats her for the secret marriage with Jacob. Cinderella misunderstood this as an act of love confession and felt betrayed. After Lady Tremaine mocked her, she left the ball and accidentally left the glass slippers. It turned out that she had the key to the Land of Untold Stories. Clorinda's vengeance against her stepsister comes to a halt when Ashley reveals the pumpkin farm belongs to Jacob, and that he and Clorinda can still have a chance at happiness. Lady Tremaine brings Jacob in, intending to kill him, but Ashley blocks her. After she is stabbed by Lady Tremaine, Emma manages to heal her in time. While Lady Tremaine serves her punishment under Leroy's supervision, Ashley and Clorinda make up, and the two stepsisters and their beaus later spend time together.
Ashley Boyd also makes a minor appearance in Storybrooke at the beginning of the first episode of the spin-off series Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. She and Leroy are packing away from the diner when Will Scarlet manages to steal her keys.
Gallery[]
See also[]
- Cinderella (character)
- Cinderella (1997)
- Cinderella (Magical Forest)
- Cinderella (Into the Woods)
- Ella (Cinderella 2015)
- El Morales
- Cinderella (Descendants)
