Tom Mison talks ‘Sleepy Hollow’ season 4, losing Nicole Beharie
Sleepy Hollow marches on to a fourth season on Fox and the upcoming episodes will be without Abbie Mills, played by Nicole Beharie, who sacrificed her life in the show’s season 4 finale. Co-star Tom Mison talked about the departure of Beharie and how meaningful that is for fans and “the whole of America.”
The Realistic Optimist caught up with Mison at last weekend’s MCM London Comic-Con, where he revealed how Abbie was more than just another character on the supernatual show.
“When you have a woman of color in the lead role, it’s not just a woman of color in the lead role. It immediately means so much more than that, across the whole of America. There’s a woman of color in a position that not very long ago she wouldn’t have been, and it comes to symbolize so much more. So when something like this happens, when they kill off said character, of course it’s going to mean an awful lot more, consequently.”
“It wasn’t an easy decision for them to make. I know that. The writers… they like writing Abbie Mills and I like acting with Nicole, but it was a decision that had to be made and I don’t know the machinations of the politics behind it, but there you go.”
So now Mison’s Ichabod Crane carries on without Abbie.
“I always thought of Ichabod as the sidekick,” he said. “Abbie is the one the audience can relate to so when you’re entering this insane world of Sleepy Hollow, you go with Abbie. She’s been the guide and Ichabod is this insane man in the periphery.”
He continued, “I never really was, funnily enough, interested in Ichabod’s backstory in the beginning…that changed a lot in season two when they then did start to explore Ichabod’s backstory and family and things, so it’ll be interesting to be where they go without that crutch because I still think Abbie was grounding that as well. I’ll be very curious to see whether they decide to find another way to ground Ichabod in reality or whether they think he’s an inhabitant of the modern era enough that he can do it on his own. I don’t know what they’re planning, but I don’t envy them having to make that decision!”
Check out a video clip and a bit more at their site HERE
Beharie landed a role in the Jacob’s Ladder remake with Jesse Williams, so don’t expect her back soon with a weird supernatural twist. That said, don’t be surprised if Abbie returns in a mid-season tease or appearance.
