Why "Sleepy Hollow"'s Casper Van Dien Was Warned That Kissing Christina Ricci Would Be Like 'Kissing Your Cousin' (Exclusive)

11/19/2024 03:13 PM

The actor tells PEOPLE his family has a connection to Washington Irving's story involving the Van Tassel family that the 1999 Tim Burton movie is adapted from

On Nov. 19, 1999, Sleepy Hollow debuted in theaters, marking the first live-action adaptation of Washington Irving's famed short story about Ichabod Crane and a headless horseman since 1922. 

In the movie from director Tim Burton, Johnny Depp starred as Ichabod, now a constable dabbling in early forensic science tasked by the New York police with investigating a series of murders in an upstate Dutch town. Rounding out the cast was Christina Ricci as Katrina Anne Van Tassel; Miranda Richardson as her stepmother, Lady Mary; Michael Gambon as patriarch Baltus; Christopher Lee as a burgomaster; Christopher Walken as the headless horseman; and Casper Van Dien as the handsome Brom Van Brunt. 

While looking back on the box office hit, Van Dien, 55, tells PEOPLE his family shares a connection with Irving's short story and the Van Tassel family.

"My family came over in 1604 from Holland. We are Dutch colonialists," he says, adding that in the early 1800s, Irving "interviewed different Dutch settlers about these ghost stories that they would tell." 

Van Dien adds, "Washington Irving went around and captured some of them," including Rip Van Winkle and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which he wrote and published in 1819 and 1820, respectively. "These Dutch stories were handed down orally and I remember my grandfather telling me some of them. They were things that his grandfather told him," he continues. 

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The actor then recalls how he told his father that he landed a role as Ricci's love interest after Burton cast him, in part, because of his Dutch ancestry. "And he goes, 'Well, you know, the Van Tassels are cousins with the Van Diens in real life.' " Unaware of this connection, Van Dien says his dad then warned, "Those are your cousins. So if you have to kiss, you're kissing your cousin." 

Of course, there is no actual familial relation between Van Dien and Ricci, 44, but the actor pushed back on his dad, telling him, "I'm not quite sure that's how it works," with a chuckle, adding later that his costar "was very professional, very kind, very open." 

"I loved working with her. She was just super cool," he adds.  

For Van Dien — whose biggest roles at that point were Beverly Hills, 90210, One Life to Live, Starship Troopers and Tarzan and the Lost City — Sleepy Hollow was a chance to work with several Hollywood icons. In addition to Burton and the cast, the movie's score was composed by Danny Elfman, Emmanuel Lubezki served as the director of photography while costumes were designed by Colleen Atwood. "Every person, every department head, every person working with [Burton] was just at the top of their game," the actor says. 

Related: 'Wednesday' Costume Designer Colleen Atwood Details the Stories Behind the Characters' Iconic Looks

When it comes to Atwood's costumes, which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design, Van Dien remembers being worried about ruining them during the shoot in the U.K.

"Some of the clothes I was wearing were hundreds of years old. And I was like, 'Are you sure you want me wearing this because I'm gonna be fighting?' " he says, noting how the costumers in London had "costume houses that had been around for forever and they had access to things over there that were from Shakespeare times. So they got legit things." 

The actor adds, "It's just incredible to actually wear these clothes and know that they're authentic and real. And it makes it easier to be an actor when you get to step into something that's already there."

One of his most notable costumes was worn when Brom pretended to be the headless horseman and scared Ichabod at one point early in the movie. Van Dien's entire body and face were covered in a caped contraption to look like the upper torso riding a horse without a head. 

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Looking back on it, Van Dien says it was "nerve wracking" to shoot, revealing that "I would never do that. But for Tim Burton, yes I would. I'll say yes to things that I would never say yes to unless I was on camera." As for riding the Friesian horse while his face was covered, there was a tiny part that "I was able to see enough that I could ride," he adds.

The horse the actor was paired with was "from the original Black Beauty TV series." Noting how huge the Thoroughbred was, he says, it "was a very powerful horse and so much smarter than me." And luckily, the two worked well together, and they were able to hit the mark every time they filmed. 

They were so precise that Burton was impressed by their ability to land each take. After nailing one shot that required Van Dien to ride down a steep hill, across a covered bridge before turning to shoot a musket at a target, he recalls the director "coming out and going, 'Wow that was great. That was perfect.' And then he goes, 'Okay, well why don't we just do one more for safety.' " 

In fact, Burton even praised Van Dien on the movie's audio commentary, saying, "Thank God Casper Van Dien can really ride a horse," which left the actor delighted. "That was awesome to hear," he says now.