I thought about the Mr. Gold thing. Especially with the limp and his alter ego being the Beast too. But I so love Robert Carlyle I wouldn't trade him, even for HL. Your right about Jimminy having a dark past and the guilty conscience.

I like Cuddy to much to make her Regina. If anything she is more like a kick-ass heroine of modern Disney fairy tales with a sense of humor. Oddly enough I sea bit of Emma in her (if Cuddy's life had been different of course) with her independent streak.