Manifest aired its series finale over a month ago, and while there was a lot that the series covered and answered, there were definitely still a few things missing from the show’s final season. On top of the fact that the finale opened up another 828 mystery, proving that the plane’s story will never fully be concluded, the show also almost included a Once Upon a Time reunion, and we really were robbed of what could have been.
Before Josh Dallas was Ben Stone, one of the 828 passengers and co-captain of the Lifeboat in the cast of Manifest, the actor portrayed Prince Charming/David on ABC’s beloved fairytale series Once Upon a Time. Even though the show was about a fantasy world, one fairytale actually did come to life when Dallas met and married his on-screen Snow White, Ginnifer Goodwin. The two are still going strong, and they have two kids. While they haven't appeared on screen together in a while, it turns out the actors behind Snow and Charming could have come back, albeit in a different way, on Manifest.
Back in 2019, Ginnifer Goodwin was asked if she would ever want to guest star on her husband’s show, and she was enthusiastic about the possibility, saying that she “would love to.” While it seemed like there was potential to have Goodwin guest star on Manifest during Season 2, it never came about. Flash-forward four years and two more seasons, and it unfortunately never happened. Josh Dallas told TVLine that it just wasn’t in the cards:
We tried throughout the years… We really did. We just couldn’t make it work in the end, unfortunately.
While it is a disappointment that Ginnifer Goodwin was never able to guest star on Manifest, at least they tried.
It would have been amazing if she did guest star, though. I would have loved to see her as either a passenger, colleague, or maybe a long-lost love of Ben’s that would have further complicated his relationships with Grace or Saanvi.
Just because Ginnifer Goodwin wasn’t able to appear on Manifest, it doesn’t mean she’s not a fan. Josh Dallas admitted that his wife is actually a big Manifester, which sometimes doesn’t work well when it comes to watching the Netflix series:
[She’s] one of the biggest Manifesters out there. …She’s already told me that I’m not allowed to watch with her because I make noises, talk, and mumble, and she banned me from the room. I’m not allowed to tell her anything, and she’s already set time aside to start bingeing.
It must be hard to live with someone who knows all of the secrets of a TV show and isn’t allowed to say anything, but it’s funny to know how Goodwin acts when she watches Manifest. Now that the final episodes have dropped, though, I wonder how she reacted when she got to the big Death Date twist, and what she said to Dallas after finding out about it.
Even though Josh Dallas and Ginnifer Goodwin weren’t able to reunite on-screen in Manifest, hopefully, they are able to collaborate professionally soon. Personally, I'd love to see a Once Upon a Time reunion since the series ended in 2018, and it'd be amazing to return to the world of fantastical characters. While that's a far off fantasy, the entire show is available to stream with a Disney+ subscription, so fans can still see Charming and Snow together. You can also stream all of Manifest with a Netflix subscription while you dream about what could have been between the two actors on Dallas' other hit show.
