There's
a new butt-kicking babe on the prime-time block. And Yancy Butler doesn't
think she'll have a problem fitting in.
"I'm
aware of the other shows, but I must admit I haven't seen them. I do know
that, unlike Xena, our show may be fantasy-based, but it's also reality-based,"
says the star of Witchblade, which premieres Tuesday, June 12, on TNT.
What
differentiates her series from such femme ferocityfests as Dark Angel and
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a quality that made The X-Files so great in
its first few seasons. It's the One Big Whopper deal: The show asks you
to suspend your disbelief of one outrageous element of the premise, and
from that point on, it steers much closer to plausibility. To enjoy The
X-Files, one has to accept that FBI agents are chasing UFOs. In Witchblade,
it's a little more complicated.
"You
do have to suspend your judgment a bit," Butler says. "Bottom line, I play
a New York homicide detective who has this fantastical situation, which
is this thing on my wrist that not only gives me visions and makes me feel
like I'm losing my mind, but helps me (fight) crimes (and) sometimes hinders
me (in fighting) crimes."So unlike the other shows, it's like a reality-based
show with these fantastic situations. To me, that makes it even more scary
and more poignant."
That
"thing on her wrist" is the Witchblade, a mysterious, ancient weapon passed
from chosen one to chosen one. Joan of Arc was one heroine blessed, or
cursed, with the Witchblade, according to the relatively recent string
of comic books on which the series is based.
Butler's
character, Sara Pezzini, as revealed in last year's original movie, is
deeply conflicted about the weapon - and the role for her it implies: a
white-hat destined to battle the darkest evil.
Butler
is pleased with the complexity of her character. "(It's not) this kind
of fluff, Barb Wire thing," she says referring to a popular comic that
was later turned into a feature film starring Pamela Anderson Lee. "It's
this real woman who has a real job, who is very scared and very vulnerable,"
she says, "and at the same time, she's kind of sexy and can kick ass, if
you will. It's really unlike anything I've ever seen."
Butler's
career has seen its fair share of action. She has starred in the high-kicking
flicks Drop Zone and Hard Target. And although she has starred in a few
television series (Mann & Machine, South Beach, Brooklyn South), she
sounds as if she's found her home on Witchblade.
"I've
done other series before, but not this intellectually dense. You know,
it's funny - the one (other) series that was created for me, by Dick Wolf
(South Beach), I played another cop," Butler says. "It was very easy. In
the teaser, there's a crime, with the bad guys. The bulk of the show is
me figuring out who did it and solving it, and in the end of the show,
what we call the `tagger,' we're all in the cop bar having a beer and slapping
our knees about it, laughing.
"This
is definitely not formulaic. The episodes are not self-contained, and I
love developing this character. We've all taken jobs where we've just had
to connect the dots," Butler says.
Not
only does she have to do more research for the role - she plays Joan of
Arc in one episode, as well as other wielders of the Witchblade - but she
is learning of the special demands put on a TV actress playing a fantasy
heroine derived from a comic book.
"We
did a bunch of comic-book conventions over the summer, and it was as if
I was receiving a reward! It's not Batman, who's been done before, or even
Wonder Woman. We're talking about a comic book that people have been bringing
to their homes for three years or so," Butler says.
"Comic
books have cells - basically pictures. To actually bring movement and voice
to that picture, I was concerned about disappointing people. And not only
did I not disappoint the fans, but they were so very happy and quite pleased!
It was such a confidence builder.
"What
I actually do on my time off is go to all the other comic-book stations,"
Butler says with a guilty giggle. "I do my stint, shake hands, and then
I'm off to the Spider-Man thing, Mad magazine - I have a blast!"
One
element that could spoil the show's reception by the core audience of comic-book
convention-goers is a deterioration of the production quality - specifically,
the special effects. The visuals of last year's original movie were truly
groundbreaking, with camerawork worthy of The Matrix. It was tough to believe
it was really a made-for-TV movie.
"Originally,
that was the concern of TNT; they were concerned about the production value,"
Butler admits. "Case scenario - they give me rough cuts of the shows with
the special effects already in there, and they already look amazing. I
don't know if they're smart and they give them to me to appease me, or
if they give them to me because it actually gives me some boost to continue
with these hours, but the show looks amazing."
©
TVData Entertainment Features Syndicate
