Former ‘X-Files’ actress will play a shapeshifter in the ABC series

by MICHAEL HINMAN, posted Sep-26-2012

Source: Entertainment Weekly

It’s been a couple years since we’ve seen Annabeth Gish in genre television, but she’s back this season playing the leader of a tribe of shapeshifting wolves in ABC’s “Once Upon a Time.”

Gish, who fans would probably best recognize from her 23-episode run on “The X-Files” in 2001 and 2002, will take on the role of Anita, a human who can turn into a wolf similar to Meghan Ory’s Red in the series, according to Entertainment Weekly. Gish is joining an already long list of guest actors who have joined “Once” in its second season including Sarah Bolger, Jamie Chung, Jorge Garcia, Julian Morris, Colin O’Donoghue and Sinqua Walls.

“Once” premiered last season with a 5.7 rating/9 share average, according to Fast National overnight ratings from The Nielsen Co. It was ABC’s top-rated new show, finishing sixth on its schedule and No. 31 overall. It was a highlight of ABC’s schedule that had a lot of returning shows in double-digit audience losses, and not very strong openings for new ones.

The series returns this Sunday with all new episodes, picking up just after the curse of Storybrooke was broken. “Once” carries a premise that storybook characters are real, and thanks to the evil witch (Lana Parrilla) they have been banished to the real world, with their memories mostly erased. (Get details of the season premiere by clicking here.

Since her work on “The X-Files,” Gish appeared in six episodes of “The West Wing” and was a regular in “Brotherhood” between 2006 and 2008. In 2010, she had a three-episode stint on the short-lived ABC series “FlashForward,” and most recently did a seven-episode run in “Pretty Little Liars.” She recently completed a television movie, “A Mother’s Night,” according to Internet Movie Database.

She was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award in 1996 for her part in the film “Nixon.”

“Once Upon a Time” airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.