Interviews:


INTERVIEW WITH GUNNAR "LEATHERFACE" HANSEN

The Man Behind The Mask

By Jakob Schultz

Trauma talks to the man inside one of horrorfilms most popular and legendary figures Leatherface from Tobe Hooper's classic "Texas Chainsaw Massacre". A movie setting new boundaries for what's possible to do and show in a horrormovie, and inspiring many new directors. The man inside the masked chainsaw man is of course Gunnar "Leatherface" Hansen.

How did you get involved with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre?

"I had been in graduate school in Austin just before the filming started, and when I got out I heard that a group of filmmakers was going to shoot a horror movie. I had done some acting in college and thought it would be interesting to do -- something during the summer. So I got in touch with the casting director -- Bob Burns, who was also the movie's artdirector. He told me about the part, though he was vague about the storyline and about the Leatherface character. Then he called me a few days later and I came down to his office and met Tobe Hooper, the director, and Kim Henkel, the writer. They explained the film to me in detail -- what the plot was, what they were trying to do -- and described Leatherface's personality. Then they asked me if I could handle the role, and I said I could, and so I got the part.

Could you describe Leatherface for us; what is behind the mask?

"Well, in a way, there is nothing behind the mask. That, I think, is why he is such a frightening character, at least in the first film. The reason he wore a mask, according to Tobe and Kim, was that the mask really determined his personality. Who he wanted to be that day determined what mask he put on. So, when the Cook comes home, with Sally, Leatherface is wearing the "Old Lady" mask and his wearing an apron and carrying a wooden spoon – he wants to be domestic, helpful in the kitchen. At dinner he wears a different face -- the "Pretty Woman," which has make up. Behind the mask, really, Leatherface was very simple -- he killed anything that came along, he obeyed his brothers, he loved his Grandpa. He was frightening, because whatever was behind the mask was not discoverable by the audience. He was always a mystery.

How was your experience to act Leatherface and be a maniac with a chainsaw and how was it to work with Tobe Hooper?

"Mainly it was hard work. Before we started shooting, I started running a mile every morning. I knew I would have to run a lot, and I didn't want to fall over dead in the middle of the filming. In addition, we shot in Texas in August and early September, so we worked in temperatures around 100 degrees Farenheit. We also worked long hours -- 12 or 16 hours a day, and 7 days a week, as I remember. Aside from these external factors, the part was difficult to play because of the intensity -- he was an extremely high-energy character, and it was tiring to jump up to that energy level when the cameras started rolling, and then drop off when the shot was over. As for working with Tobe, he was good to work for. He wanted a lot from us, and we tried to give it to him. I don't remember his ever getting angry at any of the actors. But he seemed to know what he wanted out of us and he communicated that to us. I think he got it."

How did the critics react on Leatherface and Texas Chainsaw when it came out?

"Actually it got the perfect response. Rex Reed, writing in a New York City newspaper called it the scariest movie he had ever seen. In the meantime, a Philadelphia paper was reporting on its front page about how revolted the audiences were at seeing this gristley movie and were demanding their money back. The movie got a lot of attention immediately, and that helped it very much." How do you feel about the sequels? "I don't like them very much."

Why did´nt you play the part as Leatherface in Texas part 2 (3 and 4)?

"We couldn't come to terms about what they wanted to pay me. Each production seemed to think that I would be willing to work for very little. The worst was Chainsaw 4, which is first now coming out almost four years after filming. They offered me so little I was astounded. I actually lost my temper when the made the offer."

Rumours said, that "Texas Chainsaw Massacre was based on a true story ?

"Nope. It is loosely based on Ed Gein, a farmer in Plainfield, Wisconsin, who was caught about the year 1960. He had killed several people and had skinned them. But when Tobe and Kim were writing the movie, they only knew vaguelyabout him. According to Tobe, he didn't even know Gein's name. The movie "Psycho" was also based on Gein, so you can see how loose the connection has to be."

So there has never been a Leathface in the real world?

"No, though I keep meeting people who claim to have known the "real" Leatherface. I don't have the heart to tell them that they're mistaken."

How do you think about being known as, "the man who played Leatherface" ?

"I enjoy it." What happend for you since "Texas.."; please tell us about it ! "I moved to Maine in 1975, right after Chainsaw came out. I decided at that time that, more than acting, I wanted to write, and so I've devoted most of my energies to that since. I worked as a magazine writer for many years, and now have moved to writing books and films. Three years ago, I published "Islands at the Edge of Time," a book about the barrier islands along the US Atlantic and Gulf coasts. A year and a half ago I completed a documentary film, "Penobscot: The People and their River," which I wrote and directed, about the Penobscot Indian Nation and its relationship to the Penobscot River, in Maine. I recently completed a feature film screenplay, a ghost story-thriller, which takes place in the arctic. Right now I am writing another documentary film, about Greenland, which we expect to finish by next summer.In the past ten years, I have also gotten involved in films again, and have worked on several. The film that got me back into the business was Fred Olin Ray's "Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers," a spoof of the 60s horror films, that still plays on cable, and which seems to have a strong following. Recently I acted in "Mosquito" and "Freakshow," which were released about a year and a half ago. "Hatred of a Minute," which we shot in Detroit a year and a half ago, should be released soon, and just this January I was in South Carolina working on "Hellblock 13." So I am keepin busy with films, too.

Can you tell us about your part in "Hellblock 13" and how it was doing the movie?

""Hellblock 13" is an anthology film, a series of stories with a wrap-around story that introduces each of the others. I played in the wrap-around with Debbie Rochon. She plays a prisoner on death row, and I am the executioner, who comes to see her before the execution. Unfortunately for him, he makes the mistake of letting her tell him a series of stories before her death. I've worked with Paul Talbot -- the producer and director of this film - before ("Campfire Tales" and "Freakshow") and he is very easy to work with. This time, though, we were shooting in an abandoned jail, which had no heat. The temperatures were very low when we were shooting, and so Debbie and I suffered from the cold - Debbie particularly. The crew, at least, could wear their coats, but we were in shirtsleeves on camera. Still, we got through it fine, and as usual, we all had a good time during the filming. How was it starring in "Campfire Tales" and "Freakshow".

I know it was directed by Paul Talbot who are a new director, how was it to work with him, and how is it to work with new film people, being a veteran like yourself?

"This was my first film with Paul Talbot. It went very easily. My first evening in town Paul and I rehearsed my part, and then the next night I went on the set and shot. As with his other films, I did the wrap-around story, and he made it very easy. Everyone was very easy-going on the set."

What do you think about todays horror movies?

"Well, some I like, some I don't. I thought "Jacob's Ladder" was excellent, a true horror movie. I don't care much for films that go just for the shock and gore - I think that really successful horror films must of course scare you, but also they need to be disturbing. That's what "Chainsaw" did."

What other films are you involved in at the moment?

"I'm always talking with somebody about a film, but right now I have no committments for any other films."What movie has been your best experience and what have been the worst? "The best experience was probably "Texas Chainsaw Massacre." The experience was miserable enough most of the time -- we were all exhausted and suffering from the heat - but I think of it as my best because it was my introduction to filmmaking. And it taught me that I wanted to be like they people I was working with -- they were good at what they did and were doing their best, something I had never been around before that. The worst? I could be the idiocy of making "Demon Lover," back in 1975. It could also be "Chainsaw....." again, because of the conditions. The worst moment came, I think, during the dinner scene, which was part of a 26-hour shooting session right at the end of the filming. My costume was never washed during the entire shoot because of concern for loosing the costing or having it change color. So for four straight weeks I wore the same clothes in that heat - I stank. I could barely stand myself. And by the time of the dinnerscene, no one else could stand me, either. While everyone else went outside to have their dinner during that shooting, I was told not to join them – I would ruin their appetites. That was fine with me -- I got the doctor to give me some anti-nausia medication and then I took a nap."

How was it starring in the flick "Campfire Tales". I know it was directed by some new directors, how was it to work with
them, and how is it to work with new film people, being a veteran like yourself ?

"This was my first film with Paul Talbot. It went very easily. My first evening in town Paul and I rehearsed my part, and then the next night I went on the set and shot. As with his other films, I did the wrap-around story, and he made it very easy. Everyone was very easy-going on the set."

Have you done anything else beside doing horror films, or have you also starred in other genres?

"No. Horror films are all I have done. Several years ago I was approached by New Line Cinema to act in a Viking movie in Iceland, which I would have enjoyed, but that did not work out. And I think that would be a great pleasure to do."

When we became aware of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" while we where kids, people claimed that you actually was from Denmark ?!

"I am from Iceland, actually. I moved to the US when I was a kid, though I continued for many years to return to Iceland summers to see the rest of my family. My last name is Danish, because one of my great-great-grandparents came to Iceland from Denmark."

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