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Fox’s Sleepy Hollow isn’t showing signs of slowing down anytime soon.
The hourlong drama was quickly renewed for a second season Oct. 3, making it the first freshman broadcast offering to receive an early pickup. Actress Lyndie Greenwood, who plays Jenny Mills in the modern-day update, was alerted of the news via Twitter through one of her biggest fans.
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With the future of the show firmly established, at the end of last week’s episode Jenny escaped from Sleepy Hollow’s psychiatric hospital following a contentious confrontation with her estranged sister, Abbie (Nicole Beharie). During Monday’s hour, Abbie and her partner in crime, Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison), go on a quest to find Jenny.
In a chat with THR, Greenwood discusses playing Jenny, if the Mills sisters can ever reconcile, and the craziest thing she’s seen on the set.
When we were first introduced to Jenny, she was quite mysterious — and still is. How did the producers describe her to you, and what was your first impression of her?
Hmm, I’m trying to remember, now that you ask that. She certainly has changed a lot. I would say that they did mention a Sarah Connor type. I think that was pretty much the thing, and I think a lot of fans picked up on that. When we first see Jenny she’s doing chin-ups and push-ups. That screams Sarah Connor, especially when it’s in a psych ward.
What can you say about where the Abbie and Jenny relationship is headed?
They saw something in the woods when they were young, and Abbie decided she didn’t want to be ostracized from society by saying what she saw. Jenny didn’t keep her mouth shut, and that tore them apart, physically and emotionally, because the trust was gone. The sisters’ relationship is pretty much ruined. We’re all wondering if they’ll be able to salvage it, if they’ll be able to help each other, because they are both a part of this thing that is much bigger than themselves. Hopefully they’ll be able to reconcile.
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Last we saw, Jenny had escaped from the psych ward. Can you offer any hints on how Abbie finds her sister and her possible location?
I can’t tell you too much about that, but I can say that you’ll find out a lot more. Those questions are all addressed in the episode.
Is there a chance we could see the younger forms of the Mills sisters again?
Mostly the show uses flashbacks to go back to Ichabod’s day, because you get to see a different time, but I don’t know. They might revisit the relationship in flashbacks, but I think that the sisters — if they do interact with each other in present day — it will be more interesting than revisiting the story that we already know happened.
What do you think their interactions would be like if they were in the same room for an extended period of time?
Just knowing that Jenny flat out refused to see Abbie when she was in the psych ward speaks to that quite a bit. Jenny is not into talking to her sister, so we’ll have to see how that goes. Maybe Abbie will convince Jenny to talk to her. Maybe Abbie will decide she’s had enough of Jenny’s [crap]. You know how sisters can be. It’s very emotional, so we’ll have to watch to see how it goes.
Are there aspects of her old self prior to being sent away that start to come back?
I don’t think Jenny ever left. She never hid anything, so she’s the one who’s remained consistent. The part that you see of her in flashback is still Jenny. She tells the truth, she means what she says, and she knows her place in this crazy, messed-up world with demons and a headless person. Really, Abbie is the one who has to come to terms. Jenny is the consistent one.
It’s early in the season, but Sleepy Hollow has already gotten a reputation for being a little crazy. What has been the most shocking thing you’ve seen so far on set?
When we were shooting the scene where you first see Jenny in the psych ward and she’s doing those chin-ups and push-ups, when we finally bring the demon in behind Jenny, there’s actually a man in an amazing suit who has to sit behind me in this room and nobody else. All the cameras are outside of this room. I’m doing my chin-ups, I turn around and I was completely terrified by this awful-looking demon. It just felt so real.
Is there an aspect to your character you weren’t quite expecting to play such a big part?
Maybe I wasn’t not expecting, but I do like her well-roundedness. She’s been locked away for so long — she could be one-sided and bitter and angry at the world, but the writers didn’t make her that way. She’s still got a sense of humor, and she uses that a lot in conversation. That’s a really important part about Jenny. You have sympathy for her.
Is there a scene you’ve shot that stood out?
One thing that was really fun for me working on this episode airing Monday was working with all the weaponry. On my last show [The CW’s Nikita], I played a computer nerd, so I think I used a gun once. This has been really exciting for me, especially since I have a martial arts background. There was a bit of fighting that goes on, and I remember Paul Edwards, who directed this episode, said, “Lyndie, you’re amazing at this, but can you stop, because we’ll need you to do 20 takes of this.” I realized I should probably stop.
Sleepy Hollow airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on Fox.
E-mail: Philiana.Ng@THR.com
Twitter: @insidethetube
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