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Yancy Butler takes up the Witchblade gauntlet

Yancy Butler, star of TNT's original television movie Witchblade, took her job without knowing a thing about the Top Cow comic series on which the film is based. When she finally got around to reading the comic--which features a scantily clad heroine and over-the-top swordfighting--she says she got very nervous.

But her fears calmed when production on the movie began. The pilot for a potential series, the movie takes a more real-world approach to the supernatural storyline. Butler plays Sara Pezzini, a New York City police detective who comes into possession of a magical gauntlet that confers mystical powers.

The part allows New York native Butler--the daughter of Lovin' Spoonful drummer Joe Butler--to make use of her previous television experience as a cop in the short-lived CBS series Brooklyn South and as a heroine in NBC's equally short-lived SF series Mann & Machine. As Pezzini, Butler has the chance to plumb emotional depths and indulge in physical action at the same time. Recently the actor took a moment to speak with Science Fiction Weekly about Witchblade

Had you heard of Witchblade before you agreed to take the role? 
Butler: Never in my life. And actually, the story goes, I met with everybody, and then got the comic and I totally panicked. I thought, "What the hell? Dog collars, well-endowedness, metal." I had a panic attack ... and I literally called my manager. ... [But] I just liked the script. ... After talking with [director] Ralph [Hemecker], I got the idea ... he would go in a different direction, and we were on the same page about it. ... It had the potential to not be cool. And it's so not-cheesy. I'm so happy. ... It's realistic and potent. You care about her because we're playing it as if [she's saying,] "What the hell is this thing?" She becomes [like] an audience member. We both don't know what's going on. She still doesn't know what's going on. It's not better or worse [than the comic], but much more user-friendly. 

What can you tell us about your character, Sara Pezzini? 
Butler: People have asked me what it's like to be the star of Witchblade, but the God's-honest truth is, I'm simply wearing the star on my wrist. [But] what I loved about [Pezzini] and why I wanted to play this part and why I got interested is her dual nature, which we would all do well to admit to ourselves. She's extremely vulnerable and extremely sad where we pick up her life, but she's also extremely tough and can kick some real royal ass. ... I'm very curious about the possibilities [of the character]. They're endless: What she can do and where she can go? 

Is there a good chance Witchblade will become a series? 
Butler: I'm just an actress. They try to give me as little information as possible [laughs]. ... Originally, this was conceptualized as a series; hence, the untied loose ends at the end of Sarah's journey. ... We're game, and very excited for that to happen. Given the ... push towards comic fantasy, magicness, with the X-Men and everything, the market's ripe. I think for the amount of money they had, regardless, they did a fantastic job. ... Hopefully they will pick it up. ... I know I want to see what happens to her. 

Are you prepared for another series? 
Butler: Yes, even if I did have a choice, which I don't. I too am curious ... to see, not only the possibilities of what she did in these two hours, but ... the possibilities are endless with Sara Pezzini and this beautiful bracelet that dons her right wrist. 

Are you aware of the fan interest in this project? 
Butler: Very much so. ... We just returned from [the International Comic-Con] comic book convention. ... It was quite a relief and actually an honor to have so many people--especially the people at Top Cow, but also the fans--who have invited Sarah into their homes to actually say, "When I heard you were playing the part, I was very excited." That was the biggest compliment I could get, ever. ... The fans haven't seen it, but the people at Top Cow who created this entire story ... are ecstatic. And thank God. That was a big relief. ... What was really cool, we visited the comic book convention ... with director Ralph Hemecker. I don't think I was as incognito as I thought. My hair was all over my face like Cousin Itt. I watched people watch the trailer, which is an acting study in itself. But people walked away, and they wanted to see more. 

So you were pleased with the reaction? 
Butler: Whether it goes to series or stands by itself, I'm proud of what we did with it, not only from the standpoint of what it could have been, but for itself. My cup runneth over with relief and being jazzed. 

Do you think the movie captures the spirit of the comic? 
Butler: As I've been telling people, we're not acting in a [comic book] cell. [A comic] can be aesthetically beautiful. But we have to move. I think they captured it beautifully and accurately. 

Witchblade has some "Matrix-y" stuff in it. 
Butler: Yes, that's part of its flavor. "Matrix-y" would be another word in my mind for the sign of the technological times, which is [the special effects that are] available to us, which astounds me. ... I know when something's really good when I'm involved in it. ... I've only seen it twice myself, but I was agape and agog at the stuff that is available to us now. 

Did you do your own stunts? 
Butler: I did a lot of them. I'm still paying the price for that [laughs]. A little massage here, and a little stretching there. ... My mother ... enrolled me at the Joffrey and Alvin Ailey [dance company schools] to keep me out of trouble, but it helps me walk down the street. And for Mann & Machine, I learned firearms training by fire. Now I'm quite confident with a Glock nine millimeter. 

Are you a fan of science fiction? 
Butler: I dig science fiction, though it was never really my thing. My taste in music and entertainment is quite eclectic. I'm open to it, but I was never a diehard fan. I have no idea why it keeps following me. I'm extremely lucky, I guess; it's a lucrative venue.