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A Conversation With Yancy Butler, Part Two
(Sara Pezzini) April 2001
Q: We were talking about the other characters you've played. Have you drawn from those for this character, or what have taken from the others to put into Sara Pezzini?
A: I think what I've taken from the other characters that I've played is they were stepping stones to this character that I love so much and hopefully am portraying that and embodying it in a way that people will enjoy. I think it laid the groundwork in that they are strong women who are doing their own thing. But often I've had a male lead in that realm. And this is very much of a female presence in a heavily testosterone (LAUGHS) show, for good or for bad. I'm with the boys again but it's a different thread line, where they are really allowing a female to shine through in all of her colors. And it's quite interesting. So I think that all the roles that I have played have been wonderful, like little lily ponds to the big fountain in the middle.
Q: There are a number of shows out there right now about women kicking butt. What does that say about strong women in tough roles?
A: I think it's great that the pendulum has swung, that there have been a lot of shows that are about women like those. I know what distinguishes our series is that it's fantasy-based reality. It's not necessarily a fantasy-based show. And I think it makes it that much more real. I don't turn into a big blade. This thing turns into a big blade (LAUGHS). So it's a kind of different energy. But I think it's great that people are open, are facilitating the means for women to be able to express themselves that way. Good on us, is what I say.
Q: Have you gotten any feedback from the comic book fans?
A: We have gotten great feedback from the comic book fans. You know we did that whole comic book circuit last summer, I guess it was. And they couldn't have been happier. That was some pressure there because, unlike a lot of other characters where say, Batman has talked before, my character had never had a voice. And the first day you should have seen me. I was kind of like, I was so nervous about these people who had been living with this character for three or four years and to give it it's first voice or to see it move. . .They'd never seen (Sara) move except for in a cel. And I thank goodness they could not be happier.
Q: Has there been any question about the allegiance to the comic book in terms of you guys having to take some creative license and maybe not follow it episode by episode, book by book?
A: We definitely had to take creative license with the storylines as well as, (I) cannot stress enough, the costumes (LAUGHS). But I'm working on it. We had to take creative license with some of it, but not very much. We've got some really intricate stuff coming up. We kind of took bits and pieces and yet some of them are just so completely gone from the comic book. Because they don't have that many. There are a lot, but considering we're doing the equivalent of about, oh, 76 comic books in one show, I think that we that kind of ran out of established ideas.
Q: You brought up bad guys. How does this show deal with bad guys? Are they your traditional villains?
A: Our show deals with bad guys in the traditional way, in that you know they're bad. But there is not necessarily bad and good. The interesting thing about our show and, being that it's a crime show and there has to be a bad guy, otherwise there's nothing to really do in an hour, a lot of them have a lot more information than one would think and a lot of it does revolve around the Witchblade. A lot of them, actually, it's interesting, help Sara with more knowledge. So everything isn't just black and white. And again, as Danny Woo says, everything is connected.
Q: What are some of the blessings and curses of the Witchblade?
A: I think the blessings are it's giving her a certain power. It's giving her a certain insight. It's giving her certain relations with people and a wonderful relation to herself, both in what's going on around her, what she's seeing, and also her lineage. And really where she came from, which is very important to people and, I think, in their makeup. The curse is kind of like some of the cops that we're playing -- they're not around when you need 'em and sometimes that's not happening all the time for her. It'd be very uncomfortable, say, to be sitting in a restaurant all of a sudden and it turns into this big gauntlet. That's a little embarrassing. There are some curses to it for sure. But it's a mixed blessing.
Q: So do you think Sara controls the Blade or the Blade controls her?
A: I think it's a little of both. I think that Sara is controlling the Blade and that the Blade is controlling her. It's a give (LAUGHS) and a take relationship. But as she's learning more, hopefully, it'll be working more in her favor.
Q: Describe the world through a cop's eyes as opposed to through Sara's eyes.
A: I think the world through a cop's eyes has got to be one of the toughest jobs that there are. Actually, my grandfather was a cop in Long Island. And I often try to draw in resources that I've heard about him. It's got be extremely difficult. One has to become, I could only imagine, has to become and by default becomes, quite jaded. I don't know if there's any difference with a cop's world through Sara's eyes. I think that Sara's quite jaded. And the difference might be she really does care. She wants to do good. And I think that it's a struggle with her to remember to do good in every episode without giving up too much. But in her daily job Sara's taking some knocks and she's treading water, that's for sure. She's still going strong.
Q: How does this series fit into the category of great drama?
A: Oh this series fit into the category of great drama. It fits into the category of great features, though it's not, being a series. But I've never, seeing some of the stuff that I have, I'm so proud and so excited to say I've never seen or even heard anything quite like it. It fits into great drama. It fits into comic stuff. Because you gotta have a few laughs, otherwise that day is really long. It's amazing. I'm really excited.
Q: We get scripts on a weekly basis and can't wait to see the next one. How far in advance of shooting do you get your scripts and how do you know how your character's developing?
A: You get scripts on a weekly basis? Who do you know? (LAUGHS) We're getting the scripts as -- we're getting a lot of scripts. We're getting eight versions of the scripts. We're getting them as quickly as they can. I think it's great because sometimes I think it's kind of a mystery for them, as well, exactly where to end up with this thing. So we're getting the scripts and then we're getting rewrites. But it's interesting, Ralph Hemecker and this new writer that we have on the show, Rick Okie, who's very good, are letting us know exactly what we need to know at the moment. And I think that has a lot to do with Sara's finding out exactly what she needs at the moment and then some. But they've been great. God bless Ralph for his vision on this.
Q: So when you get your hands on a new script, can you not wait to see where Sara's going?
A: Oh, not only when we get the scripts is it a page turner, but I'm actually jealous because this is the star of the show and I'm wearing it on my wrist. So I'm in a lot of shots. And some of the characters, like the boys, will come up and they'll say, 'did you read it? Did you read it? I'm like, 'no I don't wanna hear it.' It's like this new Harry Potter thing, you know? You don't want anybody to really tell you the end of the story. And they'll be wanting to talk to me about these ideas and the scripts are so great, that I'm like I don't want to know until I can read it on my own. Just by default, some people will have to talk to me. whether it be props or. . . And I go, 'darn! They told me before I had a chance. They're wonderful. I'm on the edge of my seat.
Q: What is the camaraderie on the set like?
A: The camaraderie on this show is -- if I had phoned it in to the powers that be upstairs -- both TNT (LAUGHS) and God -- I couldn't have gotten a better feeling from these people. I mean the boys will go hang out on their off time. I say the boys only 'cause I don't have a lot of off time. But I want to hang out with them. We do hang out on the weekends. We talk on the phone. We plan stuff together. A lot of our lunches are spent together. They're the best. We really have a great feeling. It's also different. Nobody's competing, you know, for time. We're all playing the cog and the wheel and that part that we do. And so it's great. I feel very blessed.
Q: Thank you so much.
A: Thank you.
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