Greetings from Texas...
Andrew Bryniarski, the new Leatherface from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre has become the next Horror icon and has taken over
the role of the infamous chainsaw-toting madman from Tobe Hooper’s original 1974 classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The
remake was well received, with some very minor to major changes in the script, the characters, and the direction. Andrew
Bryniarski is one of those major changes. Taking over the role once so famously portrayed by Gunnar Hanson, he has
transformed Leatherface from a bumbling, retarded, yet frightening lunatic, to a much more imposing, more frightening, larger
than life, and nearly supernatural serial killer. "I scare myself in this movie," says Andrew. As I sat next to Andrew while
he enthusiastically signed autographs for his adoring fans, I got to ask him about the changes in the interpretation of the
Horror Classic.
Andrew was chosen for the role of Leatherface, and he was all to eager to play the part. In fact, he had auditioned for the
part with a great deal of enthusiasm. Why did he want to play the part so badly?
A: "I have always been fascinated by Leatherface, he’s a very iconic figure. He has a niche, he’s the
guy with the saw, and the saw is very powerful. The saw wields great influence.
Few things are as intimidating and infamous as the roaring power tool with sharp teeth. I mean, you know, it cuts through
trees like they were butter, and it will cut through limbs like butter that’s already melted. It’s a horrifying prospect to
be chased by an insane, towering brute with a chainsaw, who is not afraid to use it. And that’s why I dig it."
And towering he is. Brute? Perhaps on occasion, but he was quite charming and well spoken during this interview, for someone
so physically intimidating. Andrew is 6’5, and built like a wrestler. His voice is thundering. In short, don’t get in a fight
with Andrew. Unless you’re the Rock, ‘cause that’s the only way you’ll have a chance.
He seems pretty passionate about playing the role, and what the character stands for.
A: "I am passionate about everything I do. I need to be inspired…I am a vehicle for translation in this
cool story. Things that I dig and that inspire me, I give it back to you."
Andrew takes the time to talk to each person that comes to his table for an autograph, a picture, and a chance to tell him ho
much they love him. His enthusiasm is deafening to the soul. He seems truly delighted and interested to meet each person.
I have to know if he played High School football.
H: "Did you play High school football?"
A: "I did. I played high school football at Northplant high school. Champions they are, this
year."
What I wanted to know was if Andrew, who had never carried an entire film by himself before, had been wary of playing the
role of Leatherface, because it had been done before, and quite well.
H: "Were you intimidated by past performances of Leatherface?"
A: "There is really only one performance worth mentioning; Gunnar Hanson. I raised the bar, which I am
totally capable of doing because I am very intense, very professional, and very accurate individual, with my manipulation of
the medium and my ability to tell the story. Once I decide that that’s what I am going to do, with passion and conviction,
then I can arise to that challenge and supercede everyone’s expectations, and make my own which is the beauty of
collaboration with fine artists that I’ve worked with, people at the top of their game, in filmmaking, who I really respect.
That motivates me greatly, to do a great job. I know Gunnar (Hanson), and I know Tobe (Hooper) is very happy with the
result…There was a lot that I had to prove in this movie, and high expectations. A lot of people were looking to me to
deliver this performance because, really, it’s the key to delivering this franchise back to its rightful spot on top of the
horror food chain."
So confident and secure!
But I noticed that there were many changes in his version of Leatherface than Gunnar Hanson’s...I was actually more terrified
of Andrew’s portrayal of Leatherface than Gunnar Hanson’s, but Gunnar Hanson’s Leatherface had seemed more like a real
possibility…an insane, real human being with no conscience and a lack of intelligence. Andrew’s Leatherface is bigger and
badder in all ways. Did Andrew come up with that?
H: "So your Leatherface, to me, and to a lot of people, seemed a little bit bigger,"
A: "A lot bigger" Andrew assures me
H: "… A lot scarier, and kind of supernatural, the strength was greater. Probably a combination of the way it was filmed and
your portrayal of him. What went into making those changes on your part?"
A: "I just look at the psychology of the character. I’m not squealing like a pig, I’m not retarded, I’m
insane. And I’m a murderer. And I’m evil. And I kill to hunt. And Eat. And provide for my family because the job as the head
skinner at the meatpacking plant must have fallen through. That left me very very disturbed, and deranged. Since my accident,
it’s a lot harder to chase dear, which I probably tried to chase before. I like to eat, and when two-legged creatures fall
into my range, it’s easier to cloak them with that need to kill. That need to eat, that need to take the prey down. Like a
lion, who needs to get the antelope. It’s gonna Run it’s gonna Run It’s gonna push itself as hard as it can until it takes
that antelope down. Anything it takes. It’s this release; it’s this revenge on the people who tormented him, which makes it
very natural for him. He’s a very strong insane brute. The fact that he had to throw carcasses around in the meat plant, and
cows weigh a whole lot more than people. This is the guy who had to do this work, and he was very able to do it. and he’ll
pick up a quarter of beef and throw it on a hook, day in day out , a hundred times, a thousand times it’s impersonal, but it
build his strength. That along with the need to do this; that’s where I came from, and its insane and harrowing and there’s
nothing fun or funny about it. It’s not the theatre. It’s very real and you’re in the mind of a maniac, and you’ve become his
prey."
Wow. Truly this menacing portrayal of Leatherface was accomplished.
The script, as well, as Leatherface, was different too. I know a lot of people, like myself, missed the dinner table scene.
But they did include the meat hook scene, to my delight and the delight of fans everywhere.
H: "Were there any scenes that were left out of the original that you had wanted to re-enact?"
A: "No. The script really moved me. By Scott Cosar, the minute I read it on the plane on the way to
Austin, with the intention to do a great job already, I was inspired. The scenes with the kill box and the meat locker…all
this stuff had never been seen before, and I had never even visualized it as a possibility until I read it on my way to
perform it. It lit a spark up in me and really fired up with passion to meet the people I was going to make this movie with…
When I got there and I saw the Art direction and the sets by Scott Gallagher who is just amazing and created this wonderful
demented world where there were so many sharp implements on the walls, And so much darkness, so much eeriness, and such a
wretched condition, it put me in the mind of this guy very very easily. I knew these guys were on to something of their own,
but yet ghastly and beautiful and that these people would spare no expense to the avant-garde… What was missing? I never
thought anything was missing. I saw the gold in our movie and a started to mine for that. Every scene I got to do that
implied the original scene was done so differently. I mean, he was Leatherface, I ‘m Leatherface. There was a door, and now
this is our door. My door didn’t open like that door, and it was up to me to figure out how I was gonna shoot the scene. The
logistics, the position of the saw, the mechanics…You don’t know what’s going to happen until the saw starts, and then it all
goes out the window."
A fan tells him he was the coolest Leatherface ever. Andrew says hot chicks hang out with him because of it, and then looks
at smiles and me. (I blush profusely and giggle like an idiot.) We start discussing his role as Christopher Walkin’s son in
Batman Returns. (He’s also been in Higher Learning, Hudson Hawk, and Black Mask).
"There were bondage scenes with Michelle Pfeiffer that aren’t in the movie." Oh Really? Andrew. One piece of advice he has
for a fan is "Never wear a latex mask if you can help it". Duly Noted. However, if you are Heidi, you are often forced to
wear all kind of…well, that’s a different story. Andrew is also chock full of interesting facts. To one hung-over fan, he
says, "Vlad the Impaler felt worse than you many a night for thousands of years. How would you like to wake up and feel like
Vlad the Impaler?" To which the fan replied that Vlad probably felt all right until he got his head chopped off. Andrew, like
so many people in the Horror business, (and myself) is also a shameless self-promoter. "Anybody need some cool Leatherface
stuff?" he asks of the crowd around the table. The TCM DVD is coming out March 30th and he is not going to miss the
opportunity to make one more fan.
A: "I love my fans. They’ve all been really good to me since the beginning of my career, regardless of
the part and regardless of the film…regardless of the project’s commercial success, or lack thereof. Nobody’s ever hit me
with an egg, and nobody’s ever thrown me an apple. . It really justifies what I do. It’s a ringing endorsement of my work and
it keeps me going."
On the TCM DVD, there will be a documentary section about the life of Ed Gein. How much did he learn about Ed Gein to prepare
for the role?
A: "I’m not into Ed Gein. Ed Gein was a psychotic maniac who got what he deserved. He inspired Tobe
Hooper to make a great movie with a great premise, half-based on Ed Gein’s creative and disgusting exploits, but to me it’
more about the psychology of the killer, that’s pretty much straight cut and dry." Besides, Ed Gein didn’t use a chainsaw. He
"strung up his mother like a damn deer".
Gulp.
The chasing scenes with Jessica Beil were so terrifying, you could tell they had a ton of onscreen chemistry. But what about
off screen?
A:"I wanted to catch her and eat her. I love her. I call her Real Deal Biel. She’s a hard worker and
she has a lot of integrity. She’s no 7th heaven girl. She’s tough. She could run with the guys, spit and hang with the guys,
and still be a really beautiful delicate flower. She’s hot stuff."
Did he have a crush on her while they were filming? "Can you tell?" Now it’s Andrew’s turn to blush.
Stars from the past films didn’t make any appearances in the remake. Were there any cast or crew Andrew had wanted to work
with but didn’t get to?
A: "If you need to be in it, then you have to be in it. I had to do it, I had to be Leatherface. Gunnar
isn’t in that place. That wouldn’t have been right in Dodge. We were in the spirit of Low-budget filmmaking. We ran out of
time and money….There wasn’t any money in the budget to hire the superstars from the original film. It’s a tribute to Tobe
and Gunnar and the inspiration that they gave us. I want to meet Gunnar so I can tell him thank you for the
inspiration.
Horror Geek Question:
H: "When you’re actually cutting a limb with a chainsaw, does the sound change when you hit the bone?"
A: "Yeah. The saw bogs down and you have to pull the saw blade release."
H: "Is it hard to clean the blade?"
A: "This is silly! It’s okay, though. By the time the blade gets that messy somebody’s yelling cut, and
they take that puppy right outta my hands."
A female fan tells him she likes his Butt and that she loves him cause "he’s a big Manly Man." The women like Andrew, that’s
for sure. One fan can barely contain her giddiness.
How tall is Andrew? 6’5’’ for the Ladies, (and 6’5’’ for the Men.) Does Andrew have any tattoos? Yes. Celtic ones and they
are all meaningful because they are a part of his history.
Andrew is a screaming demon in his own right, and a self-proclaimed "Polack". He used to paint leather jackets, he has a band
and they play Black Sabbath covers. He tells little girls that they can grow up to do anything. Oh, and the DVD of TCM comes
out March 30th.
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