Janina Gavankar opens up about her new ‘Sleepy Hollow’ character

NEW YORK, Jan. 16 (UPI) — Janina Gavankar says Diana Thomas, the Department of Homeland Security agent she plays on Sleepy Hollow, is no “shrinking violet.”

Speaking to reporters recently at New York Comic Con, the actress praised the history-spinning, supernatural show’s writing-producing team for its record of empowering its female characters.

“Our writers are feminists and I think that is pretty apparent,” she said. “When I took my first meeting with them, they were speaking my language. They were never trying to write a shrinking violet. This is a Marine and she has done two tours and it takes a really solid career to become an agent at the DHS and they take that seriously.”

Gavankar didn’t want to give too much away about her character, but she did reveal one other, important facet of this multi-dimensional woman.

“She is also a mother and — like any mother — her priority in this lifetime is to keep her daughter safe and turn her into a feminist bad-ass,” the 36-year-old Illinois native said.

Co-starring Tom Mison and Lyndie Greenwood, Sleepy Hollow airs Friday nights on Fox. Gavankar joined the show in its current, fourth season after the departure of original cast member Nicole Beharie, who played the demon-battling police detective Abbie Mills.