SLEEPY HOLLOW: John Noble Previews His New Character, Henry Parrish

Since FRINGE went off the air earlier this year, John Noble has been largely MIA from our television screens (aside from a brief THE GOOD WIFE guest spot), but that will soon change: his first SLEEPY HOLLOW episode airs this Monday!

“I remember talking talking with [SLEEPY HOLLOW/FRINGE co-creators] Alex [Kurtzman] and Roberto [Orci] about [SLEEPY HOLLOW] last year: they came up [to Vancouver] for the 100th episode party for FRINGE,” Noble told reporters on a conference call earlier today. “And they actually said to me, ‘Would you come and do a guest role in the pilot?’ And we talked it through, but nothing happened. But as a result, I had an interest in the show and that they were doing it…[and when it came time for this role] I got a call through my management first, and then Alex contacted me, and we took it from there.”

In Monday’s episode, “The Sin Eater,” Noble’s character, Henry Parrish — who will appear in four episodes in the show’s first season and Noble said he expects to back for “quite a lot” of the already-ordered second season — enters the SLEEPY HOLLOW world reluctantly.

“Tom [Mison]’s character [Ichabod] has been kidnapped, and he’s about to lose his life,” Noble previewed. “Nicole [Beharie]’s character [Abbie] goes out and finds this old dude — that’s me — and she somehow works out he has special powers and he’s incredibly reluctant to speak to her and to help her find Tom.”

“It’s interesting, because the episode is called ‘The Sin Eater,'” he teased. “He is a reluctant sort of a savior. He has this ability to remove evil from a person — hence the name, the sin eater — and I’ll tease you with that much. Even though he doesn’t want to, he’s called into action, basically, to save Ichabod’s life. We establish a relationship…you can see there’s some sort of chemistry between him and Ichabod and the other [characters].”

And while Noble has only shot one episode of the freshman series so far, he hinted that what we see in “The Sin Eater” is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of Henry’s backstory.

“He’s a mystery man,” he noted. “And we’ll reveal these mysteries. And as time goes by, I think those revelations will be quite a shock to the other characters and the audience. It’s a great fun to play that sort of thing. But he’s not crazy like [FRINGE’s] Walter was.”

What he doesn’t know, yet, is how much he’ll get involved with the rest of the SLEEPY HOLLOW world outside of Ichabod and Abbie: “As time goes by, it’s highly likely there will be crossover [with other characters], but up to this point, the main work is with Nicole and Tom.”

Even if his work does keep him solely with Mison and Beharie, Noble had nothing but praise for his new costars.

“The whole experience with the company was good,” Noble gushed. “With Tom in particular, he’s a beautiful man, but he’s also a fantastic actor. We had a lot in common. We also found we had common ground and we had theater background…but really, it was the connection we had on set that was special.”

“Nicole’s such a pro,” he added. “She’s so prepared…it’s very easy to engage very quickly — and at a quality level — with actors that prepare like that. She’s gifted, that goes without saying, I think. And I’m really looking forward to doing more with her as well. I have a sense we’ll probably develop [a connection]. That’s just a guess, but my sense was we might develop some interesting chemistry, and that was based on what I’ve already done with her. I have a great respect.”

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Noble makes his SLEEPY HOLLOW debut in this Monday’s brand new episode, “The Sin Eater.” Make sure to tune in November 4th at 9 PM on Fox.

Related:

SLEEPY HOLLOW: Catch Up on the Series So Far In Five Minutes (Plus, Get a Tease of What’s to Come!)
SLEEPY HOLLOW: ‘The Sin Eater’ Photos — FRINGE’s John Noble Makes His Debut!
SLEEPY HOLLOW at New York Comic Con: Check Out Some Photos

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