Editor's Note: This was originally published for FANGORIA on March 15, 2012, and we're proud to share it as part of The Gingold Files.
Yesterday, Gunnar Hansen told us all about his new book Chain Saw Confidential, and that’s not the only way the original Leatherface is contributing to Saw lore in the 21st century. He has a cameo in the upcoming Texas Chainsaw 3D, a part he also discussed with us.
“It’s very three-dimensional,” he laughs when Fango queries him about the role at the Monster Mania convention in New Jersey. “I can’t really say too much, because they’re being very secretive. I can say that I’m not playing Leatherface, but fans of the original movie who know it well will appreciate the character I play because of who he is, and also because of what he has to say. It’s a real ironic kind of thing when you realize what’s going on. Plus, there’s a little bit in there that I did basically as a reference to Leatherface from the first film. I think fans will see that.”
Directed by John Luessenhop, starring Bereavement’s Alexandra Daddario, Lost’s Tania Raymonde and Chainsaw 2’s Bill Moseley, and set for release by Lionsgate January 4, Chainsaw 3D “is a true sequel to the original; they pick up right after that movie ends,” Hansen tells us. “It’s like they just kept the cameras rolling and kept right on going. I haven’t seen any footage other than what we were shooting, so I don’t know what the rest of the movie looks like, but the part I was in, they did a great job of capturing the feel and the atmosphere from the first movie. It has that grittiness and density and tension, which I was very impressed with. They made every effort to try to capture that. And of course, it helped that we were shooting in August in Shreveport, Louisiana, which looks amazingly like central Texas. My first day on the set was 104 degrees and my last day was 108. So Mother Nature helped out.”
In other words, it was like being back in that house in Texas in 1973, filming the dinner scene with the windows blacked out and the lights inside raising the temperature past the 100-degree mark. “Oh, man, it was like, I was walking around thinking, ‘Is it 1973 or 2011?’ But they did a great job, so I’m actually excited about this one. You know my opinion of the sequels and the remake, but I’m actually looking forward to seeing this movie. I want to see what we ended up with, because I think it has a true shot at being terrific.”
The IMDb indicates that Hansen will also appear in archival footage from the Tobe Hooper classic, but the actor himself isn’t certain what that will entail. “When I signed up to do the film, I agreed to that,” he notes. “This is nothing I know for sure, but I would guess that they’re using something from the dance at the end.” He did get a chance to view the costume and mask worn by new Leatherface Dan Yeager, but can’t spill any beans there. What he can say is that “they made a pretty-woman mask, because they needed it for the continuation. It has to follow [the ’74 film] at the beginning, and that mask is dead-on. After that, the movie goes its own way.”
Hansen isn’t the only member of the classic ensemble to return to the Chainsaw universe for the dimensional sequel. “Marilyn Burns [pictured above with Hansen] is in it, and plays a different character, as obviously I do,” he says, “and John Dugan is back as Grandpa. John and I had some stuff where we were together for the shoot, and then they brought Marilyn back for the media day and timed it so she’d be there when John and were working. So we had a great chance to catch up with each other and reminisce about the filming. Then they had a day when they were shifting the 1st-unit/2nd-unit schedules, so we all had that day off, and we managed to find a pub near the hotel and sat there from about 12 noon to 5:30 just sipping beers and talking. That was great for us. We really appreciated that the schedule worked out so that we could hang out.”
Even though the latest Chainsaw filmed with the latest 3D technology, Hansen appreciates that Luessenhop followed in the stylistic footsteps of its four-decade-old forebear. “Because it’s 3D, right away some things were very different, because they were running several cameras simultaneously that were computer-controlled and they had all this powerful technology. But certainly, John was looking to continue the feel of [the original], and the way he blocked the stuff we did, it felt like an extension of what we had done. He was really keyed into doing that, and in fact, right when I got on set and before we started filming anything, I said to him, ‘Look, I’ve got this idea I’d like to do. Is that OK with you?’ I explained it, and he went, ‘Oh yeah, that’d be great, absolutely.’ I think the reason he was willing to do it was because of the way it ties into the first movie. And like I said, while I was just there for a few days, the stuff I was involved with—man, I was impressed. And it was just a blast to be back on a Chainsaw set.”
Hansen also had a chance to talk with Yeager, his onscreen successor. “We chatted for a while, and I liked the guy. He was intense, very quiet and thoughtful, and asked me questions, because I think he really wanted to find out from me what I’d been doing, and for the character to be consistent. You know, in the other sequels, the writers just didn’t care about that. For each Chainsaw Massacre, they basically wrote a different character. The Leatherface in 2 is a different person than in the first film, and the one in III is a totally different person, and the remake…they’re all different individuals. It’s like the writers were saying, ‘We’re not going to worry about the first one or the second one,’ or whatever. And here, he was real aware of the first one and wanted to catch some of that sense. So I’m hoping.”
Having turned down financially disrepectful offers to appear in previous sequels, Hansen was thrilled that Chainsaw 3D’s creators were more considerate. “The basic thing has always been, ‘Hey, let’s get Gunnar in our movie!’ but then they would say, ‘He’s not worth anything, because of course, anybody could play the role.’ And then I’d say, ‘Well, hey, if I’m not worth anything to ya, then no thanks.’ But for this one, they truly wanted me in it, and I felt great about that. I was very happy that they wanted me in their movie, and wanted to make that happen.”
