Yancy
Butler was built to be a superhero. Looking sleek and sturdy in a body-hugging
dress that shows off her sinewy physique, Butler exudes the sort of vitality
you'd expect a comic-book icon to have.
One
can picture Butler, with her sparkling green eyes, jumping through the
pages of a colorful world and fighting for truth and justice. Hollywood
executives can picture it, too.
Action
roles have been a constant in Butler's career ever since her first big
role as a beautiful cyborg cop in the 1992 series "Mann & Machine."
So the lead role in "Witchblade," a sweeping fantasy-adventure based on
a cult-hit comic, almost seems like old hat for the raspy-voiced New Yorker.
Not that Butler was looking to become the tough girl on the block, mind
you.
"You
lift some weights for one part, you go and meet for something else, and
they think that's just what you do," Butler says with a smile that comes
easily and often. "It's kind of a snowball effect. There are very few women
that can really tread the line between being strong but not butch, and
being feminine [but] not so soft. There are few women who can really do
it."
In
"Witchblade," Butler plays Sara Pezzini, a hard-nosed, take-no-prisoners
New York detective. Her crime-fighting ability is further enhanced when
she comes into possession of the Witchblade, a powerful gauntlet that for
centuries has been passed along to female warriors, including Joan of Arc.
The TV version of "Witchblade" closely mimics the comic books - with one
noticeable exception. In the comics, the buxom Sara tends to undress for
success when fighting crime.
"[Her
outfit showed] enough that I think I did a Linda Blair," says Butler, who
was pleased that her character wears mostly jeans and leather in the film.
It's a change that could annoy devotees of the comic, but Butler thinks
they'll be fine with it.
"We're
not in a (comic) cel, we're not static; we're actually moving," she says.
"We've got to interact. It's like horror: Anything that is that much more
realistic is scarier and kind of sexier. Hopefully, they won't be disappointed,
the diehard fans. I mean, I don't think people really know sometimes what
they want until they see it. Or by default, that they don't know that they
don't like something. I'm just hoping that I did the role as well as the
diehard fans would like."
The
folks at TNT are hoping viewers will be fascinated by Sara and her mystical
weapon. "Witchblade" was initially developed as a weekly series, and it
could still end up being one. That would be fine with Butler, who is surprised
a "Witchblade" series hasn't been approved yet.
Butler
has been down a similar road before. "Mann & Machine" was supposed
to be a breakout series, but it was canceled after only nine episodes.
Two other series that featured Butler, including the Steven Bochco police
ensemble "Brooklyn South," met similar fates, and that has influenced the
way Butler looks at her chosen profession.
"I
had no place to go but down [after Mann]," Butler says. "I don't expect
much in my life, because then I don't get disappointed - I only get pleasantly
surprised. So it's really cool. I know I'll work again."
Butler
isn't sure whether she'll be strapping on the Witchblade again or moving
on to something calmer, such as a comedy or a romance. For the time being,
this exciting actress is finding happiness in inactivity.
"After
shows like this, I yearn to be bored," Butler says.
