DEAR STACY: I'm addicted to "Once Upon a Time"! Please give some background about that wonderfully wicked queen/mayor, Lana Parrilla. She looks familiar. — Elise T., Riverside, Calif.

DEAR ELISE: Brooklyn, N.Y., native Parrilla, 34, is the daughter of the late Puerto Rico-born baseball player/scout Sam Parrilla, who briefly played with the Philadelphia Phillies.

It's no wonder she looks familiar. Her past series include "Spin City," "Boomtown," "Prison Break," "Swingtown," "Miami Medical" and "Windfall." She was also aboard the fourth season of "24" as counter-terrorist unit agent Sarah Gavin. She starred in the Lifetime movie "The Double Life of Eleanor Kendall" and has a long list of episodic guest-star roles as well. Parrilla, who studied at the Beverly Hills Playhouse, is really breaking out with her dual role in the ABC hit.

DEAR STACY: I used to enjoy seeing Kevin Eubanks on "The Tonight Show." What's become of him? — Shirley R., Alpharetta, Ga.

DEAR SHIRLEY: The bandleader/guitarist recently toured Europe and plans to return there for more performing dates this summer. He has U.S. tour dates starting next month and a new album slated for August release. Eubanks, a vegetarian, is also a foodie and has a cookbook titled "Zen Food." He serves as the Artistic Director of the Jazz in the Classroom Program of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz.

DEAR STACY: Wasn't there going to be a sequel to the movie "Independence Day"? Has it been made? — George B., Cedar Rapids, Iowa

DEAR GEORGE: Nope. It's been a long road for a follow-up to "Independence Day." The first sequel expectations bloomed in 2004 — and died after producer Dean Devlin and director Roland Emmerich decided the script they'd written wasn't right, concluded the idea was unworkable, and returned the money 20th Century Fox had paid them.

But then, a few years ago, news broke that Emmerich was reconsidering and had a trilogy in mind that he'd actually dreamt up when he was a kid. Last year, Devlin confirmed that he and Emmerich had written a treatment for this proposed trilogy and were hoping that Will Smith would return to star.

At present, the proposed film(s) are not on his agenda, though, and there's talk of the sequels being made as stand-alone films. Either way, the long road to "Independence Day" Parts 2 and 3 doesn't look to be coming to an end any time soon.

DEAR STACY: I just heard that Omarosa and Michael Clarke Duncan are girlfriend and boyfriend. Whaaaat?! How in the world did those two get together? — P.B.G., Newark, N.J.

DEAR P.B.G.: The woman who rose to fame on the original "The Apprentice" and the Oscar-nominated ("The Green Mile") actor, who is currently seen in "The Finder," met in a grocery store a couple of years ago. They told BET that he approached her and said, "Aren't you the mean girl from that reality show?" — and she got offended and walked away. Duncan then caught up to her and apologized, and there began their relationship.

To find out more about Stacy Jenel Smith and read her past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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