Yancy
Butler's not an android anymore; her work ethic just makes her seem that
way sometimes.
The
actress is in full trouper mode, making the best of a tough schedule and
a painful ailment on the Mississauga set of TV's Witchblade recently.
"I
try to do the best I can, you know. It might be a curse in that I'll kind
of bop 'til I drop, as they say," Butler says, smiling despite a tear-duct
infection that had inflamed one side of her face.
After
a doctor's appointment and a little extra makeup, Butler is proceeding
as planned with the day's shoot of the fantasy TV series, as well as with
several interviews, a gallery photo session and taping of TV promo spots.
With
typically self-deprecating humour, Butler explains, "I know how much money
it costs and how difficult it is to schedule things, so I try not to let
a broken fingernail get in the way."
As
if.
As
Sara Pezzini, a New York homicide cop who fights evil with the help of
the witchblade, a powerful and ancient gauntlet, Butler is in almost every
scene. But she brings to the role a resume filled with action experience,
from her feature film debut co-starring with Jean-Claude Van Damme in John
Woo's Hard Target to playing opposite Wesley Snipes in Drop Zone, portraying
an android on TV's Mann & Machine and walking the police beat before
on Brooklyn South.
"I'll
kick for as long as they'll let me and as long as I can," says Butler,
who turns 31 on July 2. "Yes, there's a lot of Epsom salts. There's a lot
of soaking in baths. But it's par for the course."
Her
male co-stars have a time keeping up.
Will
Yun Lee, who is cast as Sara's murdered partner Danny Woo, is a fifth-degree
black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
So,
can he take Yancy? He laughed.
"I
don't think so," he says. "She's tough."
Actor
Eric Etebari, a former pro beach volleyballer who plays Sara's mysterious
pursuer Ian Nottingham, says simply, "She sets the standard."
"It
makes you really question when you're tired, question when you're hurt,
question when you're upset about something when you look over and there's
Yancy Butler moving straight ahead and working twice as many hours, doing
twice as much," says Etebari, whose character is the henchman of Kenneth
Irons (Anthony Cistaro), a billionaire obsessed with owning the witchblade,
even if he has to kill Sara to obtain it.
The
series, which also produced its movie-length pilot here last year, wraps
shooting of 11 episodes June 22. Regular locations include a police station
set on Fraser Ave. and the Gladstone Hotel as the dive bar Shaughnessy's.
The Who's Roger Daltrey guest stars as a Catholic priest caught between
the Nazis and the Vatican in one episode.
The
show premieres June 12 on the American cable network TNT. So far, it has
no Canadian broadcast deal, but CHUM/City is considering picking it up.
Although
Witchblade is based on the popular Top Cow comic book, it has been tweaked
somewhat for TV. In the comic book, Sara boasts rather fantastical physical
proportions and is often scantily clad.
"Yeah!
She's quite a babe. We've deviated a bit," says a laughing Butler, who
admits she accepted the role before she saw the comics, then went, "Oh
my gosh, I'm in a lot of trouble and they're going to be very disappointed."
So
far, they aren't. The TV pilot was well-received by the comic's fans and
the cast was relieved by the interest shown when they appeared at a San
Diego comic book convention last fall.
Butler's
Sara is more likely to be costumed in baggy jeans, men's underpants and
a leather jacket, a choice prompted more by a desire to depict reality
than by modesty.
"Running
down the street being a detective in a metal bra, I would not buy that,"
Butler says. "In a (comic book) cel, where it's one frame, that's one thing.
But when you're moving and talking and interacting, you have to wear sensible
shoes. You have to be a real person."
Helping
Butler keep it real here in Toronto is her mother, Leslie, her assistant/roommate.
Leslie was a longtime New York theatrical company manager (Butler's father
is Joe Butler, lead singer and drummer for Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Famers
Lovin' Spoonful), so she's familiar with the production grind.
"She
travels with me," Butler says. "It's a nice balance. She excuses me a lot
more than maybe a regular assistant for being cranky. I have my moments.
We all do. But she's also my best friend. She understands. She says, 'You
know, you're allowed to be as tired today as you want to.' "
Not
that Butler would likely let on.
