Allen and Askin Discuss Making 'A Good Marriage' in Sleepy Hollow

Are Stephen King and Sleepy Hollow a good marriage?

How did they end shooting a Stephen King film here?

Though the village of Sleepy Hollow might like to think these questions are related, Peter Askin, director of A Good Marriage -- which recently wrapped its filming at a house on Bellwood Avenue -- spoke of some "kismet" between the legendarily creepy village and the king of horror but mostly just the perfect house.

Askin and his film's star Joan Allen, lead by questions from Tarrytown author Joe Queenan, spoke Wednesday evening in the Old Dutch Church to a receptive crowd of residents on the movie, their crafts, and location location location.

It was more of a budget and proximity-to-NYC thing than Sleepy Hollow's legend, said Askin, of what brought them to scout out a house in lower Westchester. They found this house on the Philipsburg Manor property that was just perfect for their psychological thriller, save for a master bedroom that wasn't quite big enough for a 25-year 'Good Marriage' to fall apart in (when the wife [Allen] finds out her soft-spoken husband [Anthony LaPaglia] is a serial killer).

King couldn't make it to the set for a cameo in the film or a forum with the public, as many had hoped, but Askin said the famously prolific/busy author was  "thrilled with the kismet" of some stills he saw from the crew's one day of shooting at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

The crew spent five weeks in Westchester, three at the house on Bellwood, racking up a few minor complaints from neighbors that surfaced in the police blotters, but mostly just generating excitement and support. Both the audience on Wednesday and the major players expressed gratitude for each other. 

The crew spent one day shooting at the Eldorado West Diner, for flashback scenes when the marriage began, and they spent some time in a neighbor's (bigger) master bedroom in the Manor.

Are you the doctor in the house Askin talks about in this video clip? Share here!

Check back with Patch soon for more from Joan Allen and Peter Askin's Q&A with the public.