The Paley Center for Media’s Paley Fest continues, and brought a panel with the cast and producers of the returning Sleepy Hollow.
Chronicling the heart pounding adventures of Ichabod Crane portrayed by Tom Misonas he finds himself resurrected from the dead centuries after with a mission of fighting off the apocalypse. Set in modern day, Crane awakens after being killed in the Revolutionary War. He must adjust to the new time period, battle the headless horseman and eventually save the world from unprecedented evil with the help of police Lt. Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie). He’s also trying to reunite with his wife, Katrina.
Together with costar Nicole Beharie, they tell ET Canada, things are going to get even wilder now that the show is back for season two. Beharie says Sleepy Hollow will be more character-driven this season.
“This year it’s a lot more personal, and there are a lot of questions about (whether Ichabod and Abbie) can remain loyal to one another and to their cause,” she says.
“When you leave the season at the point we did,” Mison claimed, “and that’s the starting point for this season, you have to go at it guns-a-blazing.” Mison affirms, “You can’t do more of the same,we got to keep inventing.”
“Last season people were … expecting us to be terrible,” Mison says of the Fox mythical drama, which airs Monday nights (9 p.m. EDT). “Let’s be honest … (the show’s premise is) quite a bold idea. Last season: low expectations. This season: high.”
On teaming up with America’s Founding Fathers to defeat evil
“Washington, Jefferson, Adams and me,” quips Mison. “We’ve become The Avengers, Sleepy Hollow Avengers!” teased Mison.
When the season finale aired 2 months ago, somehow the show managed to get us all in a state of limbo through all the cliffhangers, now how do we go from there?
During the Q&A session, exec producer Mark Goffman revealed that Henry Parrish (Fringe’s John Noble) is “going to be a major presence in season two,” adding the show’s second season is “about war, it’s a season about redemption. What do you do when your son becomes the Horseman of War in the apocalypse? Ichabod is going to have to contemplate, assuming he gets out of the pine box he’s in.”
Exec producer Roberto Orci also hinted at some new villains who’ll be finding their way to Sleepy Hollow next season, although he didn’t share any details. “War doesn’t work by itself,” said Orci. “There are a lot of amazing foot soldiers coming, familiar and also original.”
One of these foes, adds exec producer Len Wiseman, will be the nemesis of the fearsome Headless Horseman, who possesses something that belongs to Headless: “His head,” reveals Wiseman.
Just for kicks, the panelists also revealed their dream Sleepy Hollow crossovers. For Orlando Jones, who plays Capt. Frank Irving, he’d like to see his character cross over to Supernatural, while star Tom Mison would like to see Ichabod Crane on The Walking Dead. The crossover choice of John Cho, who plays local cop Andy Brooks: The Love Boat.
Do we see a romance in the bud?
Some fans are rooting for a romantic link to develop between Ichabod and Abbie. “He’s a guy, I’m a girl, and they’re like, ‘There should be kissing involved,'” Beharie said with a laugh. “I didn’t see that happening. Not at all. … That happens in some shows, but they’re sort of focused on saving the world and the apocalypse, so I don’t see Abbie wanting to fight over the same romantic guy in any way.”
Beharie would like a pop-up themed episode, where various behind-the-scenes facts about filming appear on the screen during different scenes.
On filming the show
“Sleepy Hollow” is filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina, which Mison says can be “very close to unbearable” when the weather is very humid.
“The noises that I make when the wig comes off and that coat comes off,” he joked. “I’ve never experienced joy like it.”