INT: Andrew Bryniarski

Last Updated on July 28, 2021

The Arrow
interviews Andrew Bryniarski

If
you don’t know who Andrew Bryniarski
is, you surely know the face. He played the insane steroid-pumped
football player in “The Program”, the tough Russian henchman in
“Streetfighter”, a scary skinhead in “Higher
Learning”,
a butt-kicking player in “Rollerball” and more! Andrew finally  
entered the horror fold with his badass performance as Leatherface in
the new “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” film (look
for the DVD release on March 30th, 2004).
I had the chance to rumble with the imposing, yet happy-go-lucky, party
animal and here’s what went down.

ARROW: Hey Andrew…John Fallon here from
JoBlo.com/Arrow in the Head!

ANDREW: Very cool.
I love the site!

ARROW: Thanks, man. First of all, I want to
say congratulations on the success of the new TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE.

ANDREW: Right on,
thank you very much and
right back at you, because your site is very popular too.

ARROW: Thanks, dude. So were you surprised by
the success of the film? Did you expect it?

ANDREW: I
expected $100 million. I was very confident in the film and was very
impressed with its marketing campaign.

ARROW: How did you get the part anyway? Did
you lobby very hard for it?

ANDREW: I lobbied
very hard for it. I saw Michael Bay at a Christmas party and we
corresponded after that.

ARROW: Did you audition for it at all?

ANDREW: Oooooh
yeah…I really fought to get that part.

ARROW: You actually got a lot of good reviews,
for your performance alone.

ANDREW: Well, thank
you very much.

ARROW: You were, pretty much, the first
Leatherface who brought this psychological undercurrent to the part,
where there was this resentfulness towards these teenagers, because he
was deformed. And you really felt that come across the screen.

ANDREW: Thanks for
noticing and being very insightful about that. You know, I was
completely aware of the success of Gunnar’s performance and the people
who tried and failed to capture the character’s pathos, as well as his
motivation. But it was pretty clear to me when I met Marc (Nispel),
that they had the dedication and how much time they had spent on it.
They made it easy for me. The sets were incredible, the atmosphere was
incredible and everyone was very focused and very determined to
succeed in raising
the bar.

ARROW: I heard from some of your co-stars that
you went “method” on set. Care to expand on that?

ANDREW: Not at all.
What did you hear?

ARROW: I heard that you were a scary man to be
around…in between takes…

ANDREW: That comes
with the territory. When you play a scary character very convincingly,
people think that sort of thing. But for me, the thing is to find the
heart to that character and the challenge. I really enjoyed the
opportunity, it was a great gig and I never lost sight of that. It’s
not really a character that you want to go “method” on…you have to be
very conscious about what you’re doing, not just in terms of the
performance, but conscious about the safety as well. There’s a lot of
action, dangerous weapons…you really have to be paying attention and
on top of your game.

ARROW: I heard that you might be scaring
people some more in a TCM prequel in some format or another. Can you
tell us something about that?

ANDREW: That would
be wonderful. I anxiously anticipate hearing your take on that. In
fact, I was supposed to receive a report on that yesterday…I would
love to come back!

ARROW: Yeah, it would definitely be cool to
see you in a prequel in which you’d have more
room to work with your character.

ANDREW: Damn! It’s great
to have validation like that from JoBlo.com.

ARROW: (laughs) No problem, man!

ANDREW: Thank you
very much.

ARROW: When I met up with you at this year’s
Fango Con, you mentioned a couple of movies in
which you were also involved in as a producer. One of them was
“Bloodline: The Legend of El Charro”.

ANDREW: Yeah, you
can get more info on that film at

www.prettydangerousfilms.com/elcharro/.

ARROW: So where’s that project at?

ANDREW: We just
finished principal photography on the movie. The director is Rich
Ragsdale and he’s doing the post-production. I can’t wait to see the
final film. It was independently financed, we did it on our own.

ARROW: So there’s no distribution deal yet?

ANDREW: Right, since
it was done independently, we’ll get to that after post-production.

ARROW: So what kind of character do you play
in the film? The ultimate bad-ass?

ANDREW: (laughs) I
actually find it very easy to play a scary guy, but in the real world, I don’t think
of myself as the ultimate bad-ass…it makes me laugh.

ARROW: Yeah, but you’re a tall guy, imposing
and all that…

ANDREW: (laughs)
I know…I know…

ARROW: So what can you tell us about the film?

ANDREW:
Let’s just
say that it’s a horrifying movie. I don’t want to give too much away.

ARROW: Fair enough.

ANDREW:
But thank you for asking.

ARROW: We’ll definitely keep tabs on your
post-Leatherface work.

ANDREW: I appreciate
it, John.

ARROW: Well, I’ll end off with the last
question…

ANDREW: Would I like
an arrow in the head?

ARROW: (laughs) You bet!

ANDREW: (laughs)

ARROW: The original TCM or the
remake? Straight up…which one do you like the most? No PR
shit…straight up.

ANDREW: (long pause)
That’s not a fair question.

ARROW: (laughs) COME ON!

ANDREW: We really
rode the back of a great, classic film and we have made a great film
in the process that can stand on its own. I think they’re both great
movies.

ARROW: Beautiful. Being a big fan of the
original myself…I was taken by surprise when I went
to see the remake…I didn’t expect to like it…

ANDREW: We were out
to surprise you, that’s why you were surprised. I worked with great
people who were highly motivated. Everybody was up for the task at
hand.

ARROW: Well, that’s it for me, Andrew.

ANDREW: Hey man…I’m
a big fan, so keep up the great work over there at JoBlo.com.

ARROW: Thanks a lot and keep kickin’ that ass
on your end, bro.

ANDREW: I feel you,
bro and I appreciate your support. Thanks.

ARROW: Be good.

ANDREW: You too.

I’d like to thank Andrew
for his time and for the killer performance he gave as Leatherface.
And one more thing, next time you’re in Montreal Andrew, give me a
call! Montreal remembers you since your
last visit (the Rollerball days) and it misses you! Till
then, keep kicking that ass!