Q&A: 'Bones,' 'Sleepy' stars team up for Halloween
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After digging up a headless corpse, the Bones team needs some help getting to the marrow of the matter.
Enter Sleepy Hollow's crime-solving sleuths, who step out of their supernatural realm for a two-hour crossover episode Thursday (Fox, 8 p.m. ET/PT). The Halloween-themed event matches Bones' Dr. Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and Agent Booth (David Boreanaz) with Sleepy's Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) and Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie), who team up to unspool a larger mystery. Calling from their respective sets in Los Angeles and Atlanta, Boreanaz and Mison tell USA TODAY what to expect in this week's creepy crossover:
Q: What did you make of the crossover when you first heard about it?
Boreanaz: I didn't even think of it as a possibility. My first reaction was, 'Well, there's the supernatural world of what they're doing and the only real resemblance is that they're both trying to solve things.' When I read the script, I didn't quite understand it. It wasn't until we got on set and worked in some scenes that I found it to be a better fit.
Mison: I thought it was a terrible idea. Exactly like David said, they're two very different worlds: the Sleepy Hollow world of the supernatural and the pragmatic, logical world of Bones. But I knew David was very, very excited about working with me, so I said, 'Yes, this is a great idea.' When we got on set, it suddenly made perfect sense. When you see David and Nicole together, it works really nicely and Emily and I seemed to fit very nicely, and it's surprising how well the characters work together. So it was the combination of the characters rather than the overall tone of the piece that really made it click. And David was very excited about working with me.
Boreanaz: Very. It was important to play our shows the way we play our shows and not change for Sleepy Hollow and (vice versa). So it was definitely a collision, but I thought the character relationship is what you'll find interesting and similar in a lot of ways.
Mison: I know that both our groups of writers were communicating with each other a lot, so that in each of the opposite episodes, the characters were respected and given their usual nuance. The Bones writers would write a lot of the Sleepy Hollow episode with our writers and vice versa, just to make sure the integrity of the characters remains throughout.
Boreanaz: Not to mention, Crane wears this badass long coat that I'd like to steal from him. I want to wear it on Bones.
Q: Brennan and Crane have similar personalities, as do Booth and Abbie. How would you describe their dynamics?
Mison: It was nice knowing that Brennan and Crane would not get along, but it would be fun watching them quite strongly dislike each other. They're both right all the time and think everyone else is wrong, so instantly, that's going to create a nice dramatic dynamic.
Boreanaz: Yeah, you see them try to one up each other and it was fun to see them spar. With (Booth) and Abbie, it was like feeling out a younger person who's made it in the FBI and to show her some of the ropes, and ... to reflect on his path and see something in her that was him at that time.
Q: When Crane arrives at Bones' Jeffersonian lab, no one knows what to make of him. What was most fun about shooting those scenes?
Mison: It's nice to have a change of scenery - it's like walking into Crane's dream. In fact, there's a line about the Jeffersonian Institute, how it's exactly what Thomas Jefferson wanted. And Jefferson, of course, was Crane's idol. So to see it brought to life, he was overwhelmed and loved every second of it. I'm sure, given half the chance, he would happily go back and have another crossover.
Boreanaz: Yeah, I'm going to go visit those guys.
Mison: Yeah, come to Atlanta! Come run around the tunnels.
Boreanaz: That's a fantastic idea.
Q: What was the atmosphere like on set?
Mison: Very frosty. Both teams were on either side of the set just eyeing each other up. It's like school discos, with the girls on one side and the boys on the other. I had met David before. We had met at a few Fox things and I knew he was very excited about working with me - I don't know if I've mentioned that.
Boreanaz: I told everybody I was very excited about working with you. Continue on.
Mison: All the actors and all of our crew were welcomed so nicely, it was as if we'd been working together for the entire season. The Bones group is a really good bunch. It's such a nice, easy company to slip into.
Boreanaz: We got a speech before you guys came over to be really nice to you - we were kind of on the rules there with that one. All joking aside, it was fun. I was like, 'Wow, this is great, we get to go on location to Atlanta and shoot,' and they're like, 'No, they're coming here.' I was upset about that, to be quite honest. It was fun sharing stories between takes about what you do in Atlanta and obviously Tom's life - he just had a new baby. At one point, he wanted to stop production for tea, which, on our set, is always happening. We have tea time, so we all got along great.
Q: How do you celebrate Halloween? Do you pull pranks on each other like Brennan and Booth do?
Boreanaz: There weren't really many pranks. I thought about bringing out the fart machine, but I felt, 'Maybe next time.' I don't know how they'd respond to it. I mean, Tom's got a great sense of humor, coming from across the pond. They have a different way of looking at things.
Mison: We don't really get into Halloween in quite the same way (in England). I'm looking forward to a big Atlantan Halloween.
Boreanaz: What're you going to dress up as?
Mison: I'm going to dress up as you. I stole clothes from your trailer, I'm so sorry.
Boreanaz: Just do me a favor - FedEx me those boots and that coat, and we'll be good to go.
After digging up a headless corpse, the Bones team needs some help getting to the marrow of the matter.
Enter Sleepy Hollow's crime-solving sleuths, who step out of their supernatural realm for a two-hour crossover episode Thursday (Fox, 8 p.m. ET/PT). The Halloween-themed event matches Bones' Dr. Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and Agent Booth (David Boreanaz) with Sleepy's Ichabod Crane (Tom Mison) and Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie), who team up to unspool a larger mystery. Calling from their respective sets in Los Angeles and Atlanta, Boreanaz and Mison tell USA TODAY what to expect in this week's creepy crossover:
Q: What did you make of the crossover when you first heard about it?
Boreanaz: I didn't even think of it as a possibility. My first reaction was, 'Well, there's the supernatural world of what they're doing and the only real resemblance is that they're both trying to solve things.' When I read the script, I didn't quite understand it. It wasn't until we got on set and worked in some scenes that I found it to be a better fit.
Mison: I thought it was a terrible idea. Exactly like David said, they're two very different worlds: the Sleepy Hollow world of the supernatural and the pragmatic, logical world of Bones. But I knew David was very, very excited about working with me, so I said, 'Yes, this is a great idea.' When we got on set, it suddenly made perfect sense. When you see David and Nicole together, it works really nicely and Emily and I seemed to fit very nicely, and it's surprising how well the characters work together. So it was the combination of the characters rather than the overall tone of the piece that really made it click. And David was very excited about working with me.
Boreanaz: Very. It was important to play our shows the way we play our shows and not change for Sleepy Hollow and (vice versa). So it was definitely a collision, but I thought the character relationship is what you'll find interesting and similar in a lot of ways.
Mison: I know that both our groups of writers were communicating with each other a lot, so that in each of the opposite episodes, the characters were respected and given their usual nuance. The Bones writers would write a lot of the Sleepy Hollow episode with our writers and vice versa, just to make sure the integrity of the characters remains throughout.
Boreanaz: Not to mention, Crane wears this badass long coat that I'd like to steal from him. I want to wear it on Bones.
Q: Brennan and Crane have similar personalities, as do Booth and Abbie. How would you describe their dynamics?
Mison: It was nice knowing that Brennan and Crane would not get along, but it would be fun watching them quite strongly dislike each other. They're both right all the time and think everyone else is wrong, so instantly, that's going to create a nice dramatic dynamic.
Boreanaz: Yeah, you see them try to one up each other and it was fun to see them spar. With (Booth) and Abbie, it was like feeling out a younger person who's made it in the FBI and to show her some of the ropes, and ... to reflect on his path and see something in her that was him at that time.
Q: When Crane arrives at Bones' Jeffersonian lab, no one knows what to make of him. What was most fun about shooting those scenes?
Mison: It's nice to have a change of scenery - it's like walking into Crane's dream. In fact, there's a line about the Jeffersonian Institute, how it's exactly what Thomas Jefferson wanted. And Jefferson, of course, was Crane's idol. So to see it brought to life, he was overwhelmed and loved every second of it. I'm sure, given half the chance, he would happily go back and have another crossover.
Boreanaz: Yeah, I'm going to go visit those guys.
Mison: Yeah, come to Atlanta! Come run around the tunnels.
Boreanaz: That's a fantastic idea.
Q: What was the atmosphere like on set?
Mison: Very frosty. Both teams were on either side of the set just eyeing each other up. It's like school discos, with the girls on one side and the boys on the other. I had met David before. We had met at a few Fox things and I knew he was very excited about working with me - I don't know if I've mentioned that.
Boreanaz: I told everybody I was very excited about working with you. Continue on.
Mison: All the actors and all of our crew were welcomed so nicely, it was as if we'd been working together for the entire season. The Bones group is a really good bunch. It's such a nice, easy company to slip into.
Boreanaz: We got a speech before you guys came over to be really nice to you - we were kind of on the rules there with that one. All joking aside, it was fun. I was like, 'Wow, this is great, we get to go on location to Atlanta and shoot,' and they're like, 'No, they're coming here.' I was upset about that, to be quite honest. It was fun sharing stories between takes about what you do in Atlanta and obviously Tom's life - he just had a new baby. At one point, he wanted to stop production for tea, which, on our set, is always happening. We have tea time, so we all got along great.
Q: How do you celebrate Halloween? Do you pull pranks on each other like Brennan and Booth do?
Boreanaz: There weren't really many pranks. I thought about bringing out the fart machine, but I felt, 'Maybe next time.' I don't know how they'd respond to it. I mean, Tom's got a great sense of humor, coming from across the pond. They have a different way of looking at things.
Mison: We don't really get into Halloween in quite the same way (in England). I'm looking forward to a big Atlantan Halloween.
Boreanaz: What're you going to dress up as?
Mison: I'm going to dress up as you. I stole clothes from your trailer, I'm so sorry.
Boreanaz: Just do me a favor - FedEx me those boots and that coat, and we'll be good to go.