Just hours after it was announced that Orlando Jones has joined the cast of the Fox TV's contemporary take on the legend of Sleepy Hollow, comes news that Nicole Beharie has been tapped to play the female lead in the pilot adaptation.

Beharie will play Detective Abbie Archer, described as "a smart and tough detective in small town Sleepy Hollow. Poised to leave the town in a week for the FBI Academy, she has an unspoken reluctance about her decision. Her troubling past causes her to doubt her perceptive abilities and she's horrified as she witnesses the gory slaying of her partner and mentor, Sheriff August Grey. Barely able to speak about what she saw, only one person can corroborate her story — Ichabod Crane, an unwilling fugitive from the past who claims to be a soldier in the Revolutionary War."

Beharie joins Orlando Jones and Katia Winter, in a pilot that will see Ichabod Crane – a tested captain in the Revolutionary War – transported to present day Sleepy Holly, where he's charged with the murder of a police officer and has to prove his innocence, as well as convince a wary detective believe he's from the 18th century. 

Orlando Jones will play Lt. Frank Williams, the above prudent detective.

Alex Kurtzman (Fringe) and Bob Orci will pen the pilot script as well as executive produce, with Phil Iscove also on board to write and serve as a supervising producer. Heather Kadin will exec produce while Len Wiseman will direct the pilot. 

So given the casting so far, ith Beharie and Jones in leading roles, this should be a pilot that black audiences will have their eyes on.

Let's hope the pilot is strong and the show makes it to series. This could be Nicole's most important casting yet.