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

On November 19, 1999, Sleepy Hollow made its theatrical debut, marking the first live-action adaptation of Washington Irving’s famous short story about Ichabod Crane and a Headless Horseman since 1922.

In the director’s film Tim Burton, Johnny Depp starred as Ichabod, now a police officer interested in the beginnings of forensics and assigned by the New York Police Department to investigate a series of murders in an upstate Dutch town. To complete the cast, Christine Ricci as Katrina Anne Van Tassel; Miranda Richardson as her mother-in-law, Lady Mary; Michael Gambon as Patriarch Baltus; Christopher Lee as mayor; Christopher Walken like the headless horseman; and Casper Van Dien as the handsome Brom Van Brunt.

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

“My family came from Holland in 1604. We are Dutch colonialists,” he says, adding that in the early 1800s, Irving “interviewed different Dutch settlers about the ghost stories they told.”

Van Dien adds, “Washington Irving went around and captured some of them,” including Rip Van Winkle and the Legend of Sleepy Hollowwhich he wrote and published in 1819 and 1820 respectively. “These Dutch stories were transmitted orally and I remember my grandfather telling me some of them. These were things his grandfather told him”, continues -he.

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The actor then recalls how he told his father that he landed the role of Ricci’s love interest after Burton cast him, in part because of his Dutch ancestry. “And he says, ‘Well, you know, the Van Tassels are cousins ​​with the Van Diens in real life.’ ” Unaware of the connection, Van Dien says his father warned him: “They’re your cousins. So if you have to kiss, you kiss your cousin.

Of course, there’s no real familial relationship between Van Dien and Ricci, 44, but the actor pushed back on his father, telling him, “I’m not sure that’s how it works.” , with a chuckle, later adding that her costar “was very professional, very nice, very open.”

“I loved working with her. She was just super cool,” he adds.

For Van Dien – whose most important roles at that time were Beverly Hills, 90210, A life to live, Space Soldiers And Tarzan and the Lost City — Sleepy hollow was the opportunity to work with several Hollywood icons. In addition to Burton and the cast, the film’s music was composed by Danny Elfman, Emmanuel Lubezki served as the cinematographer while the costumes were designed by Colleen Atwood. “Every person, every department head, every person working with (Burton) was just at the top of their game,” the actor said.

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As for Atwood’s costumes, which earned her an Oscar nomination for best costume design, Van Dien remembers being afraid of ruining them while filming in the UK.

“Some of the clothes I wore were hundreds of years old. And I was like, ‘Are you sure you want me to wear that because I’m going to fight?’ ” he says, pointing out that London’s costume designers had “costume houses that had been around forever and they had access to things there that dated back to Shakespeare’s time, so they had legitimate things.” .

The actor adds, “It’s just amazing to wear these clothes and know that they’re authentic and real. And it makes being an actor easier when you can step into something that already exists.”

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 cape to resemble his upper torso riding a headless horse.

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Looking back, Van Dien says it was “nervous” to film, revealing that “I would never do that. But for Tim Burton, yes, I would. I’ll say yes to things I would never say yes to unless I was on camera.” As for riding the Friesian horse with my face covered, there was a tiny part that “I could see enough to be able to ride.” , he adds.

The horse the actor was paired with was “from the original horse Black beauty TV series. Noting how huge the thoroughbred was, he said, it was “a very powerful horse and much smarter than me. “And fortunately, the two worked well together, and they managed to achieve their goal every time they filmed.

They were so precise that Burton was impressed by their ability to nail every shot. After making a shot that required Van Dien to descend a steep hill, cross a covered bridge before turning to fire a musket at a target, he remembers the director “coming out and saying, ‘Wow, that was great. It was perfect.’ And then he says, “Okay, why don’t we do one more for safety reasons.”

In fact, Burton even praised Van Dien in the film’s audio commentary, saying, “Thank God Casper Van Dien can really ride a horse,” which delighted the actor. “That was great to hear,” he says now.