APRIL MOORE’S STRUGGLE FOR SUCCESS P26

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THE MAN BEHIND THE CHAINSAW

“Bring it!”The rhythmic thump of a cane connects with the filthy

wooden floor. The wheelchair creaks as the old man

yells yet again at the top of

his lungs, “Bring it, boy!”

Then it happens. The roarof a chain saw cuts throughthe speakers and the audience jumps asLeatherface charges ontothe screen full bore at theunsuspecting teenagers.Three hundred pounds ofpsycho wielding 35 poundsof twisting metal ripsthrough the door and intothe room.

He towers above his victimsat an impressive 6’5” andstares them down behindthe eye sockets of a gruesome mask stitchedtogether with the skin ofvictims past. Who is thiscreature and what must theactor playing him do to prepare for such a journey?

Don’t be fooled. The manbehind the mask may betowering, powerful andintense, but that is where the similarities end. ActorAndrew Bryniarski was raised just outside Philadelphia,Penn. by his hard-working father and librarian mother.He enjoys music, reading and spending time with hiswife, Gretchen, and the many animals they have res-cued together. “She is my love, my sanity and the ani-

mals are a joy,” Bryniarski says. At present they havethree dogs (pomeranians), two cats, an Amazon parrot,several box turtles and four giant African land tortoises.

For a man who’s childhoodhero was the nature-lovingJohn James Audabon, jumping into characterrequired that he delve intothe darkest areas of his psyche. “I began someintense character studies onpsycho murdering types,” he says. “It’s simple psychology, this character’smotivation: Hunt, kill, eat,provide. For necessity first,then followed shortly byrelease and sweetened byrevenge.”

Slipping into Leatherface’sskin meant placing himselfin the right frame of mind.Bryniarski states that he didn’t play the character forhis likability. The characteris, in Bryniarski’s words, “atowering, evil, powerful,imperfect beast.” He knewhe needed to play that tothe hilt and he did whathad to be done. But thatwas only half the journey.

However daunting the mental challenge of playingLeatherface, the physical challenges of the role provedeven more strenuous. Bryniarski wasn’t the first choiceto play the part. Another actor was originally slated forthe performance, but on the first day, during the first

THE MAN BEHIND THE CHAINSAWActor Andrew Bryniarksi wields a mean chainsaw as Leatherface in New Line’s remake ofThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but find out what he is really like.

“I was born to wearthe mask.”

by Stephanie Starr • photos by Jasonellisphotography.com

take, he fell injured. Not only did the actor misrepresent hissize, he’d now nearly crippled the production by landing inthe hospital. Producer Michael Bay knew of Bryniarski’s interest in the role early on and made the call.

“I was born to wear the mask,” Bryniarski says.

The pressure was on. Bryniarski gained as many pounds ashe could to prepare for the physical demands of the part. He managed to add 30 pounds to his frame by stuffing downwhite bread and brisket. The discomfort of moving aroundwith that extra poundage was nothing compared to the rest ofit. Each day he strapped himself into a heavy fat suit, donnedthe mask and maneuvered a live chainsaw while movingabout the set. Smoke coughed out from the machine, oftengagging him and drying his throat. Some days he wore thelatex mask, other days he endured a silicone one, which didnot breathe and contributed to the ever-present problem ofhim overheating.

It was in this condition that Bryniarski did all his own stunts.What stuntman would have volunteered for such a task? Factis, no one else could have possibly handled them. Runningwith all that weight strapped to him, overheating at times tothe point of his core body temperature going up to 103degrees and swinging a live, smoking chainsaw while jumpingoff the hood of vans and muscling through doorways couldonly be handled by a very large, very masochistic man. A self-described action junky, Bryniarski gave his all to the roll,working his body past the point of normal physical torment.Ironic as it is, he was the most physically uncomfortable of allthe actors, even those he pretended to butcher. At least thebrutalized victim in the bathtub had a cool place to sit.

The suit eventually became so sweltering Bryniarski institutedwhat he called the “103 degree rule.” If his body temperaturewent above 103 degrees, he’d stop for the day. However, onmany occasions he broke that rule. Taking time out from production is money and the pressure to continue despite theodds is great.

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“I had to jump off the van’sroof — an 8-to-9-foot drop —with the chainsaw in hand,mask on, running in slime, fullspeed after people I actuallylike and respect.”

He may have chased after his co-workers with achainsaw, but Bryniarski has nothing but good thingsto say about everyone he worked with on the set.

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Each day on the set he prayed he would not drop deadwhile remaining hyper- sensitive to the real danger onewrong move from him could present to the other actors andthe set crew. “You can’t see shit in the mask and thechainsaw weighs 35 pounds,” Bryniarski says. “I had tojump off the van’s roof — an 8-to-9-foot drop — with thechain saw in hand, mask on, running in slime, full speedafter people I actually like and respect. That comes with ahigh degree of responsibility. Any and all instances whenyou are working with a chainsaw and priceless talent aredangerous and requireyour complete and totalattention in order to con-trol the chaos.”

Years of being physicallyactive and working outwith weights helpedhim quite a bit. Despitebeing a large man,Bryniarski is particularlyagile and has doneeverything from motorcross and swimming asa teen to football inhigh school and college.He used his body building lifestyle not ashis main focus, but tospringboard himself intoother goals. While theface of his training haschanged, his consistentfocus has not. “DorianYates said somethinggreat about training,”Bryniarski says,“Training is notinstinctive, being lazy is. Training needs to be specific to beeffective. Set goals, be flexible. My training needs to changeand grow as my goals do. As in life, hard work pays off.”

Bryniarski moved to Hollywood in 1990 and soon found himself staring alongside Bruce Willis in Hudson Hawk.Later he landed rolls in Batman Returns, The Program, StreetFighter, Any Given Sunday, Pearl Harbor, Rollerball, Scooby-Doo, 44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shootout and,ultimately, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Years of hard work has made him a versatile actor andhe enjoys the challenge a new roll brings. “Part of whatI enjoy about the craft of acting is the freedom to segue

into so many different things creatively. Gaining knowledge, never getting stuck in one thing, place ortrain of thought. What is next is always the questionburning in my mind. That’s the thrill.”

His creativity both on and off the screen has earned him aplace on Entertainment Weekly Magazine’s “It” list of thetop 100 creative people in Hollywood this year.

Had he not ventured into acting, Bryniarski would havemost probably mademusic his full-time love.As it is, he plays in a rockband call The M.F.S.(Musical Freak Show) andthey have just finished upa tour. Next step for themis recording an album.Creatively he admits tohaving been influenced bythe band KISS and alsoby his cousin Jimmy whowas always acting inplays and playing electricbass in bands.

“I like to learn,”Bryniarski says.“Anything, from anyone,anywhere, anytime. I tryto turn anything I may beinterested in back into mybusiness. That brings megrowth, personally andprofessionally.”

His future projectsinclude rolling his interest

into Celtic mythology and literature into a screenplay he’swriting, continuing to perform with his band, siftingthrough new offers for acting parts and adjusting hisphysique to the demands they present.

If you haven’t had the chance to see the new TexasChainsaw Massacre movie I urge you to rent it once it hitsthe shelves as a DVD. Knowing what you know now aboutwhat it took to make it, I am still willing to bet it will scarethe daylights out of you.

“I’m proud of this movie,” Bryniarski says “I promise youwon’t soon forget it.”

Aside from his work as an actor, Bryniarski also enjoys playingin his band, Musical Freak Show, and spending time with manyof the animals he and his wife Gretchen have rescued.

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