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

Mar. 15, 2025

From Left: Casper Van Dien and Christina Ricci in 1999’s ‘Sleepy Hollow’.Photo:Paramount Pictures; Paramount/Everett

Paramount Pictures; Paramount/Everett

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

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,” includingRip Van Winkleand theLegend 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.

From Left: Johnny Depp, Casper Van Dien and Christina Ricci in 1999’s ‘Sleepy Hollow’.Paramount Pictures/Corbis via Getty

Paramount Pictures/Corbis via Getty

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.

From Left: Tim Burton, Christina Ricci, Johnny Depp and Casper Van Dien at the ‘Sleepy Hollow’ premiere in November 1999.LUCY NICHOLSON/AFP via Getty

LUCY NICHOLSON/AFP via Getty

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.

Casper Van Dien in ‘Sleepy Hollow’ in 1999.Paramount/Everett

Paramount/Everett

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

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.

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.

source: people.com