Henry is a precocious 10 year-old boy who believes the inhabitants of Storybrooke are characters from his fairy tale book trapped in the real world by the Evil Queen’s curse. Turns out, he also believes that his adoptive mother Regina is actually that same Evil Queen. Given-up for adoption at birth, Henry has no idea who his biological parents are until, in an effort to break the curse, he tracks down his birth mother, Emma, in Boston and brings her back to Storybrooke, explaining that she is their only hope to restore things to the way they were.
Imaginative and strong-willed, he is prone to ignoring the counsel of the grownups around him. Despite Emma’s skepticism, Henry’s belief in the curse is unwavering. Although he can be a bit stubborn, Henry truly is warm and considerate. He doesn’t want Emma to feel guilty about having given him up for adoption—he knows that she wanted him to have a better life than she had growing up—but now he’s asking her to stay.
Jared Gilmore on playing Henry:
"I feel that Henry's innocent imagination is the 'key' that unlocks the door between the two worlds. Reality and Fairytale. The book is just a another story to anyone else who reads it, but Henry believes it.
I relate to Henry because I'm 11 and also have a very good imagination. I enjoy making up and playing games in worlds with alternate realities myself."
"One gift the fairies gave me: (three They commonly bestowed of yore) The love of books, the golden key That opens the enchanted door."