Beharie told The NYT it took her five years to “undo those three years” she spent on the show.
“I’ve been putting pieces of myself back together and healing from all the antibiotics and the antiviral steroids as well as the things that happened in that environment,” she said. “I never wanted to talk about this until the resentment and bitterness was out of my system.”
“Sometimes I think that some people I was working with didn’t like that I was unwell but loved by the audience,” she continued. “I would think they’d support that. But everyone of color on that show was seen as expendable and eventually let go. I tried to get work afterwards and people were like, ‘We heard you were difficult.’ But no one can say I was late or unprofessional or negative.”
Abbie began as Sleepy Hollow‘s main character, but was slowly sidelined in season two as Ichabod’s wife, Katrina (Katia Winter) entered the picture. Abbie’s death had fans demanding that Fox cancel the show completely, switching from #RenewSleepyHollow to #CancelSleepyHollow within the span of the episode’s air time, and while it was renewed for season four, season four was the end for the series.
You can see Beharie in Miss Juneteenth now on VOD.
20th Century Fox TV had no comment.