Lana Parrilla: The TV Villain We Love to Hate

She’s an acclaimed actress with multiple awards and dozens of TV credits, but Lana Parrilla, the famed “evil queen” from the hot show Once Upon a Time, recently revealed she hasn’t always led such a charmed life.

The 46-year-old raven-haired beauty shared that she was once a homeless, struggling actress living out of her car, admitting she remains fearful of the same thing happening again, which motivates her to continue working so hard nearly three decades into her career.

The early years of the actress

Lana Maria Parrilla was born in Brooklyn, New York, on July 15, 1977, into a family with rich cultural backgrounds. Her father, Sam, was a major league baseball player from Puerto Rico, and her mother, Dolores Dee Azzara, has Sicilian-American roots. Lana's diverse heritage played a significant role in shaping her eclectic approach to her craft.

Growing up in Brooklyn, Parrilla was exposed to a vibrant mix of cultures and experiences that would later influence her work. Early on, she displayed a passion for the arts, participating in school plays and local theater productions. Determined to pursue a career in acting, she headed across the country and enrolled in the Beverly Hills Playhouse in Los Angeles, where she cut her acting chops before moving on to roles on the small screen.

Lana Parrilla becomes a successful television performer

While the ABC fantasy series Once Upon a Time may have put her on the map, Parrilla was a regular on-screen presence on a slew of hit TV shows before landing the role of Queen Regina Mills in 2011.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the twenty-something appeared in several TV programs back-to-back, starting with the fifth season of the hit Michael J. Fox sitcom Spin City in 1996. A year later, she starred in Boomtown with Donnie Wahlberg, earning an Imagen Award for Best Supporting Actress despite the show being canceled in its second season. Stints on other short-lived series, including Windfall, Swingtown and medical drama Miami Medical, followed. She also had reoccurring guest starring roles on the long-running Fox series 24, Lost, and NYPD Blue.

While it shaped up to be somewhat of a flop, it was Swingtown that allowed viewers to finally started noticing Parrilla’s talent. Set in the 1970s, the show explored the lives of suburban couples experimenting with open marriages and social change. Parrilla's portrayal of Trina was captivating and complex, earning her critical acclaim and a loyal fan base.

It seemed Parrilla’s career was shaping up to be an always-a-bridesmaid, never-a-bride situation, but that all changed when she was cast for an ABC pilot about a young woman with a troubled past who’s drawn to a small town in Maine where it appears fairy tales are real.

According to IMDB, the pilot episode “was watched by 12.93 million viewers and achieved an adult 18-49 rating/share of 4.0/10 during the first season, receiving generally favorable reviews from critics.” It was safe to say she was finally a bride after all those years.

In 2012, ??she won the TV Guide Award for Favorite Villain and the ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for her work on Once Upon a Time. The show ran for seven seasons and 156 episodes from October 23, 2011, to May 18, 2018. Her ability to portray Regina’s evolution from a vengeful villain to a redeemed hero showcased her depth as an actress.

Two years later, at the height of her success, Parrilla married software executive and media commentator Fred Di Blasio. However, their relationship turned out to be anything but a fairy tale romance, as the couple divorced just four years later.

Life after 'Once Upon a Time'

Since Once Upon a Time wrapped in 2018, Parrilla has continued to explore diverse roles, though admittedly nothing has put her in the spotlight like Once did. Her fans seem to think she’s underrated, with a Reddit thread even dedicated to exploring “why hasn’t Lana Parrilla been in more things?”

In 2019, she shared a personal and poignant post on social media with fans, stating that she’s “currently on [her] new life path.”

“[I am] rediscovering who I am after living Regina’s story for 7yrs, after being a wife, after living in a country that wasn’t mine. There was very little room for me during that time in my life,” she penned in the post. “I made many sacrifices for many yrs & now here I am at 41, learning how to live again in a world that is, surprisingly, not familiar & in a life I wasn’t expecting to live. The life I thought I was going to live is over. I’m no longer married. No longer a stepmother. No longer The Queen. I’ve started over. I can’t sit here & say any of this is easy. It’s not. It’s hard as hell. It hurts like f*#k & yet what I’m left with is ME."

“Life throws u curve balls & it’s all about how u choose to approach it. Well, I can tell u, I’m not running away. I’m choosing to run towards my destiny. Uncertain of what is to come & yet, I remain open. Don’t know what my future holds, but while I’m on this journey, I’m going to luv myself through it like I’ve never loved b4. I’m my best companion, my greatest love. Stripped naked. Raw as hell whilst sharing my heart’s truth w/ u all.”

The actress branched out from acting in 2020 with her clothing collection Keep it Regal, inspired by her role in Once Upon a Time. In 2021, she starred in the Netflix series Why Women Kill, playing the glamorous and manipulative socialite Rita Castillo. This role again showcased her ability to bring complexity and depth to her characters.

Now, you can catch Parrilla alongside Jennifer Lopez in the new Netflix sci-fi action flick Atlas. She has 1.5 million followers on Instagram (her fans are known as the “Evil Regals”), where she posts pictures of her pets, Lola and Lenny, and even has a new dance song called "You." The multi-talented star shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon and we wouldn't want it any other way. Long live the Queen!