Yancy
Butler, star of TNT's upcoming television movie Witchblade, told SCI FI
Wire that she signed on for the starring role of NYPD detective Sara Pezzini
before reading the Top Cow comic series of the same name on which the film
is based. "I met with everybody, and then got the comic, and I totally
panicked," Butler said of the comic books, which feature a buxom, scantily
clad heroine festooned with spiky armor.
"I
thought, what the hell?" Butler recalled. "Dog collars, well-endowedness,
metal. I'm very happy our director chose to go in another direction." In
the movie version of the comic, director Ralph Hemecker has toned down
the more lurid elements and grounded the supernatural story more in reality,
Butler said with relief. "It had the potential to not be cool. And it's
so not cheesy. I'm so happy."
Like
the comic, Witchblade tells the story of Pezzini and her inadvertent acquisition
of a mysterious armored gauntlet that gives her supernatural powers. But
the movie is "realistic and potent," said Butler. "You care about her,
because we're playing it as if she were real, asking, 'What the hell is
this thing?' She becomes [like] an audience member. Both of us don't know
what's going on. [At the end of the film,] she still doesn't know what's
going on. It's not better or worse [than the comic], but much more user-friendly."
Butler
is no stranger to either cop roles or fantasy, having played a police officer
in CBS's Brooklyn South and a robot in NBC's Mann & Machine. "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. 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
that we have. She's extremely vulnerable and extremely sad where we pick
up her life, but she's extremely tough and can kick some real royal ass."
The
movie has an "amazing cast ... amazing director and crew," producer Brad
Foxhoven told the site. "All of them [are] very supportive and friendly
to us. Though there are some elements of the comic book that had to be
tweaked for the sake of continuity and television viewership, the show
will stay true to the original concept and initial story arc. And did I
mention it looks amazing?"
