Fans have often raised questions about actress Nicole Beharie and her abrupt exit from the television series “Sleepy Hollow.” The 38-year-old played detective Abbie Mills, but her role has been less than a walk in the park.
Details about Beharie’s time on the show reportedly are part of Maureen Ryan’s new book “Burn It Down,” which revealed she was reportedly called “crazy” and “difficult” by the powerful people behind the show.
The supernatural drama, which premiered on FOX in 2013, was loosely based on the book “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving. Beharie starred as lead, alongside her co-lead, Tom Mison, who played Ichabod Crane.
A Los Angeles Times article revealed that producers began to sideline Beharie’s character to give more screen time to Crane and his wife on the show.
Beharie said she and her white co-star were treated differently, noting an instance when they were both ill at the same time.
“My costar and I were both sick at the same time but I don’t believe that we were treated equally,” she told the outlet. “He was allowed to go back to England for a month to recover while I was given Episode 9 to shoot on my own. So I pushed through it and then by the end of that episode I was in urgent care. And all the doctors, including the doctors that the studio was sending, were all confirming, ‘Hey, she can’t work right now.’ ”
Beharie said she had to request a lawyer to seek fewer work hours. She reportedly was later diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, which she attributed to her exit in 2019. Production was shut down for two weeks after she became ill and was placed on medication.
“It was very difficult to talk about at the time because I wanted to get back to work. But I was labeled as problematic and blacklisted by some people,” she said.
According to Ryan’s book, the Julliard-trained actress was called “crazy” by showrunner actor Clifton Campbell — a claim Campbell denied, stating that Beharie was “professional, cordial and fun.”
This claim was made by writer Shernold Edwards, who alleged Campbell told her not to talk to Beharie after she suggested a one-on-one meeting with her.
She's managed to find her way but still the impact of racism on Nicole Beharie's career is real. https://t.co/6pjoVidkFc
— Amber Sims (@msberbiage) June 7, 2023During Ryan’s research, one source said they did not have “a good experience with Nicole.” Another described in their experience of working with Beharie that she was more than “pleasant.”
“When a bunch of white guys say a person of color is difficult, I tend to assume that there’s a lot more to that story,” one source told Ryan. “I found her to be pleasant, extremely talented, and an actor who was adjusting to being a lead. There are growing pains with that. In the time I was there, where the discrepancy came in was how their growing pains were viewed and handled.”
A lot of women (and esp Black women) have auto immune system disorders and the way we feel we are forced to hide it, or when we ask for accommodations are seen as difficult etc. Women are even more than 50% of the population.https://t.co/2YryOVjyEd
— Joy Hui Lin 林 慧 ปิติ 🥄 (@joyhuilin) June 6, 2023A source also told Ryan those narratives about Beharie were shared with the show’s writers and others with whom she had not worked. “It created a very us-against-her environment from day one,” that person said, while acknowledging her challenges as a “woman and a woman of color.”
The “42” star was also accused of biting a hairstylist on set who was brought in after she questioned the show’s budget on her wigs compared to Mison’s. Another co-star, actor Orlando Jones, was present during the matter but claims he never saw what happened. He did reveal that he has a photo “in which Beharie pretended to bite” him as part of a joke.
Beharie’s character was killed off in season three, prompting “Sleepy Hollow” fans to create the hashtag #AbbieDeservesBetter. The show was canceled in 2017, one season after her departure.
She initially had difficulty finding work after her departure, but went on to land roles in series such as “Black Mirror” and “Little Fires Everywhere.” She also starred in the film “Miss Juneteenth” and 2022’s “Breaking” with John Boyega.
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