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Mekia Cox interview: From Chicago Med to Once Upon A Time

By Brittany Frederick

ONCE UPON A TIME - "The Garden of Forking Paths" - When Cinderella finds herself staring danger in the eye, she receives help from an unlikely source. Her rescue leads to an alliance that could aid in the defeat of Lady Tremaine's rule and reveals a dark secret from Cinderella's past. In Hyperion Heights, Jacinda goes to extreme measures to stop Victoria Belfrey from destroying Lucy's beloved community garden, while Lucy tries to convince Henry that Victoria is after more than just a plot of land. Meanwhile, Victoria makes a discovery that could alter everyone's fate, on "Once Upon a Time," FRIDAY, OCT. 20 (8:00-9:00 p.m. EDT), on The ABC Television Network. (ABC/Jack Rowand)MEKIA COX
ONCE UPON A TIME - "The Garden of Forking Paths" - When Cinderella finds herself staring danger in the eye, she receives help from an unlikely source. Her rescue leads to an alliance that could aid in the defeat of Lady Tremaine's rule and reveals a dark secret from Cinderella's past. In Hyperion Heights, Jacinda goes to extreme measures to stop Victoria Belfrey from destroying Lucy's beloved community garden, while Lucy tries to convince Henry that Victoria is after more than just a plot of land. Meanwhile, Victoria makes a discovery that could alter everyone's fate, on "Once Upon a Time," FRIDAY, OCT. 20 (8:00-9:00 p.m. EDT), on The ABC Television Network. (ABC/Jack Rowand)MEKIA COX /
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Mekia Cox has left Chicago Med, but she’s now starring in ABC’s Once Upon A Time as Tiana and spoke to One Chicago Center about her new adventure.

Mekia Cox may have checked out of Chicago Med, but she’s still on our TV screens. She stars as Tiana in ABC‘s Once Upon A Time, which couldn’t be a more different role from Dr. Robin Charles.

One Chicago Center caught up with Mekia before Once Upon A Time‘s return tonight to talk about her new role, the transition between Chicago Med and OUAT, and if she was able to take anything from Robin into playing Tiana.

Joining the cast of Once Upon A Time is something of a full-circle moment for Mekia Cox, whose first-ever professional gig was dancing at Walt Disney World when she was just seven years old.

“Disney has always been a really big part of my life,” she told us. “And as soon as I heard who I would actually be playing, I jumped at the role.

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“I was really excited when the movie The Princess and the Frog came out, because I was happy to see there was now a Disney princess who looked like me and I was excited for all the little girls who dreamed of becoming a Disney princess and now there was actually one they could see [that looked like them]. That was my draw to the role.”

“At the time when I auditioned for the role, I did not know who I was auditioning for,” she revealed. “I wasn’t told till I got into the room, and that made me super-excited.”

Mekia’s addition to Once Upon A Time came as part of a transition period, where the show brought in several new characters to tell a new story. So knowing that she was part of a new chapter in the fairy tale saga, did she approach Tiana as a clean slate, or did she brush up on those six previous seasons of history?

“I went back and I watched the movie again just so I could get more familiar with the role,” she told us. “But as I talked to [executive producers] Eddy [Kitsis] and Adam [Horowitz], they were taking bits and pieces from the [movie] and then just in general the fairy tale story of Princess and the Frog, and then putting their own spin on things as they normally do.

“Normally I do a little more preparation on my own, to sort of discover for myself what the character’s backstory would be, but this time they had so much already there that I didn’t exactly have to do that,” Mekia continued. “For me the preparation was moreso allowing myself not to do my normal preparation, and knowing these guys have been working on this show for six years now. They’ve got me and they’ve got this character, and I just have to trust them.”

As Once Upon A Time season 7 starts up this week, there’s a big episode for Mekia Cox coming next week as well, as Tiana/Sabine has a major story in Episode 12, called “A Taste of the Heights.”

“That’s my next big episode,” Mekia revealed. “It’s got a lot to do with the food truck. You get to see her back in action with her cooking, which is a passion in her life. I also liked Episode 5 [“Greenbacks”]. That was my other big episode; that was the first time you got to understand a little bit more about where Tiana came from, and understand why she’s the way she is.”

“Some characters you’ve seen come back,” she told us of what’s in store in the remainder of the season. “There’s a new character coming in who may be a possible love interest for me, who’s also a familiar face from the Princess and the Frog movie.”

While she’s got a potential love story brewing in Once Upon A Time, things didn’t go so well for her on Chicago Med, where Robin packed her bags and left Chicago as well as her boyfriend Dr. Connor Rhodes (Colin Donnell). How was Mekia’s transition from one role to the other, especially as she was being seen on both shows simultaneously for a while?

“It was a lot for me,” she told us, “because at the beginning of the week, I’d be in Vancouver and then half the week I’d have to fly to Chicago. It was a lot of back and forth for me, so eventually it does sort of start to wear on you. Just the fact that I get to do my passion is what keeps me going. You’re doing it on two separate shows.

“I was excited for it for sure,” Mekia added, “but I did realize there were certain times, for example one of the directors on Med asked me to lower my register, and I realized I had jumped into being Tiana. Sabine’s a little higher in register than Robin is. Little things like that I had to remind myself of when going back and forth.”

Did she take anything from Robin Charles into Tiana, especially considering the outstanding work and complex storyline that she was able to put together in Chicago Med season 2? Although both are strong women, there’s not much else common between them.

“I would say they’re completely separate,” Mekia explained. “Robin is very near and dear to me, and what I went through was somewhat traumatic going through all the scenes on the balcony and it’s like, you know you’re acting but your body doesn’t. It almost thinks it’s real life so going through all those emotions and all that made me have to channel a little more about what it’s like to have this illness.

“I have not experienced anything like that with Tiana. What’s fun about Tiana is she’s sort of a leader and a warrior so I get to play this swords and things like that. I don’t put them in the same category at all.”

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While we certainly miss her on Chicago Med and still think about how Robin is doing now, it’s more than well deserved to see Mekia Cox in a starring role on Once Upon A Time. She proved last year, as she put on one of the best performances in the whole One Chicago season, how talented she is and how deep she can dig to bring to life a very important and moving story.

But now she’s showing off her versatility, taking on an entirely different opportunity that isn’t so serious and so weighty, but still creating a great character that we want to follow and root for. It’s been a pleasure watching her as a regular on another TV show, and she told us that she wants to keep seeing how much further she can go. Mekia Cox is a true talent and she’s still looking for yet another level.

“I would like to do something a little more dangerous. Something that can challenge me as a actor. Something that’s really outside of who I am so I push myself more as an actor,” she reflected. “The role I’m doing right now, it’s very close to who I am. So it’s fun and a great time, but in the future I’d like to try something that’s not like me and just see what that does and how that changes me and my abilities as an actor.”

Next: Meet Chicago Med's other Disney princess

Catch Mekia Cox as Tiana when Once Upon A Time returns tonight at 8 p.m. on ABC. You can also watch her Chicago Med season 3 episodes on iTunes.

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