Why “Sleepy Hollow”’s Casper Van Dien Was Warned That Kissing Christina Ricci Would Be Like ‘Kissing Your Cousin’ (Exclusive)

The actor tells PEOPLE that his family has a connection to Washington Irving’s story involving the Van Tassel family, from which the 1999 Tim Burton film was adapted.

On November 19, 1999, Sleepy Hollow It was released in theaters as the first live-action adaptation since 1922 of Washington Irving’s famous short story about Ichabod Crane and a headless horseman.

In the director’s movie Tim Burton, Johnny Depp He stars as Ichabod, a police officer dabbling in early forensic science who is currently assigned by the New York police to investigate a series of murders in a northern Dutch town. The cast is completed Christina Ricci Katrina as Anne Van Tassel; Miranda Richardson as his stepmother, Lady Mary; Michael Gambon as Patriarch Baltus; Christopher Lee as mayor; Christopher Walken as a headless horseman; and Casper Van Dien as the handsome Brom Van Brunt.

Looking back on the blockbuster, Van Dien, 55, tells PEOPLE that his family shares a bond with Irving’s short story and the Van Tassel family.

“My family came from the Netherlands in 1604. We are Dutch colonists,” he says, adding that in the early 1800s, Irving “interviewed different Dutch settlers about these ghost stories they would tell.”

“Washington Irving went around and caught some,” adds Van Dien. Rip Van Winkle And The Legend of Sleepy HollowHe wrote and published it in 1819 and 1820 respectively. “These Dutch stories were passed down orally, and I remember my grandfather telling me some of them. These were things his grandfather told him,” he continues.

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The actor recalls later telling his father that he took on the role of Ricci’s love interest after Burton cast Ricci partly because of her Dutch ancestry. “And he said: ‘You know, the Van Tassels are cousins ​​of the Van Diens in real life.’ Unaware of this connection, Van Dien said his father later warned: “These are your cousins. So if you have to kiss, kiss your cousin.”

Of course, there’s no real family relationship between Van Dien and Ricci, 44, but the actor stood up to his father and told him with a chuckle, “I’m not so sure it works that way.” Costar was “very professional, very kind, very straightforward.”

“I loved working with him. He was very cool,” he adds.

For Van Dien, who had his biggest roles at that point Beverly Hills, 90210, A Life to Live, Starship Troopers And Tarzan and the Lost City — Sleepy Hollow I had the chance to work with many Hollywood icons. In addition to Burton and the cast, the film’s music was composed by Danny Elfman, the director of photography was Emmanuel Lubezki, and the costumes were designed by Colleen Atwood. “Every single person, every department head, every person who worked with (Burton), was at the top of their game,” the actor says.

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As for Atwood’s costumes, which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design, Van Dien recalls worrying about ruining them during filming in the United Kingdom.

“Some of the clothes I was wearing were hundreds of years old. I said, ‘Are you sure you want me to wear this because I’m going to fight?’ “I thought,” he says, noting that customers in London “had costume houses that had been around for a long time, and they had access to stuff from Shakespeare’s time, so they were buying legit stuff.”

“It’s really incredible to wear these clothes and know that they’re authentic and real. It also makes it easier to be an actor when you step into something that’s already there,” the actor adds.

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 film. Van Dien’s entire body and face were covered with a cloaked contraption to resemble the upper torso riding a headless horse.

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Looking back, Van Dien says shooting was “nerve-wracking”, noting: “I would never do it. But for Tim Burton, yes I would. I’ll say yes to things I would never say yes to otherwise.” I was on camera.” As for riding the Friesian horse with her face covered, there was a small part where “I could see enough to ride,” she adds.

The horse the actor is paired with is “from the original” black beauty TV series.” Noting how huge the thoroughbred was, he said, “he was a very strong horse and a lot smarter than me.” Luckily, the two worked well together and were able to hit the mark with every take.

They were so precise that Burton was impressed by their ability to nail every shot. After executing a shot that required Van Dien to go down a steep hill, across a covered bridge, and then fire a rifle at the target, he recalls the director “walking out and saying, ‘Wow, that was great. That was perfect.'” And then he said, “Okay, why for security?” aren’t we making another one?’ he said.

Burton even praised Van Dien in the audio commentary of the film and said, “Thank God Casper Van Dien can actually ride a horse,” which made the actor happy. “That was amazing to hear,” he says now.