Sleepy Hollow’s Nicole Beharie was Blacklisted After She Left the Show

When Nicole Beharie of Sleepy Hollow fame got sick, she struggled to shoot for the show. However, her character was killed off and she had to bid goodbye to the show. Now she is spilling the beans and telling the real reason behind it.

Based on the short story of the same name, the show lasted four seasons.

Originally, the short story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, was written by Washington Irving. While the show is set in the present, it has some aspects based in the past as well. The story revolved around a character who travels to the present from almost two centuries and unveils a hidden mystery. Sleepy Hollow on-aired from 2013 to 2017 and received favorable reviews from around the world. Meanwhile, the cast included Tom Mison, Nicole Beharie, Orlando Jones, Nikki Reed and Lyndie Greenwood.

After Nicole Beharie could not shoot for Sleepy Hollow due to her illness, she got blacklisted.

In 2016, Sleepy Hollow’s third season ended with Nicole Beharie’s character dying. However, the news of her character’s death was met with confusion from the fans and the cast members alike. According to Tom Mison, it was one of the lead characters and a favorite of the audiences. Recently, Beharie explained why she had to leave the show and the real story behind it. She said:

“When you’re a person of color or a woman of any race, you can be labeled in a way that can change the trajectory of your life, health and career. My co-star and I both got sick at the same time with the same illness and had different treatments. He was allowed to go on leave for a month and I had to continue working.”

Despite the doctors telling the makers of Sleepy Hollow about Nicole Beharie’s health, they kept pushing her to continue working. Furthermore, she said:

“I feel like it’s taken me the last few years to really see clearly that it wasn’t personal, it’s about the way that these structures are set up. 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.”

Since then, Beharie has moved on and is promoting her upcoming film, Miss Juneteenth, these days.