Yancy
Butler apparently has a good grasp on Witchblade - at least the character
if not the gauntlet itself. The Witchblade movie, set to premiere on TNT
on Sunday, Aug. 27 at 8 PM (ET), was screened during the Wizard World convention
last weekend, and Butler's performance earned positive buzz.
"One
of the things that obviously concerned me is that a lot of you and the
people who created it have been with the Witchblade character much longer
than I have, and the fact that they were pleased, which I've been told,
it's a great honor," Butler told the Wizard World convention crowd. "It
was quite an exhale of relief."
Butler
had already earned the praise of those involved with the show. "Yancy's
great, a total pro," said Witchblade director Ralph Hemecker. "She's a
great actress, and she's very physical, which helps. She's really got the
full package and that's not easy to find."
"Not
only is she Sara, she takes Sara to a whole new level," said Top Cow's
Marc Silvestri, an executive producer on the movie.
Butler
said just showing up to work every day for the 29-day shoot of Witchblade
proved to be challenging. "Sara's a little active. It was a very physically
demanding role," she said. "But I like doing stuff like that. I like being
able to play in the playground. Yeah, it was physically demanding, but
it turned out to be great."
"She
had to be able to run the whole gamut of emotions," Silvestri said. "She
not only has to support and be the female lead in an action show, but it's
an action/drama show, where she can make the audience believe that this
could really happen. It's a reality-based show. It's gritty, it's grimy,
it's street-level."
In
addition to all police work, Butler also has a scene that had the other
Witchblade panelists comparing her to The Terminator's Linda Hamilton.
"There is one scene in this where you see Sara try to work out her demons
and she goes to the gym," Butler said. "I was there for a 4-1/2 hour session
of doing sit-ups and punching a bag, which I had never done. My lovely
director Ralph was saying, 'Just ten more.' And I'm saying, 'You've got
to be kidding me.' It was very difficult, but it was well worth it."
"Yancy's
got quite a six-pack," Silvestri said of Butler's abdominal muscles.
Butler
said she definitely wants the pilot movie to spin into a weekly Witchblade
series. "Hopefully, it will be quite a ride," she said. "I'm game."
