Time heals, they say, which is probably why Renée Zellweger is finally acknowledging the existence of Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, the fourth film in the Texas Chainsaw franchise.
While co-star Matthew McConaughey has always been cool about his breakout role (even though his agent then purportedly put “pressure” on Columbia Pictures to not release the film theatrically), Zellweger has always remained mum about her run-in with Leatherface. You see, the movie was made before Jerry Maguire, which would propel Zellweger into stardom. To her, The Next Generation was the part on her resume she wished she could erase.
Now, nearly 20 years later, Zellweger is finally opening up about her experiences on the set, which has me salivating for a potential reunion with McConaughey on Blu-ray (I’m looking at you, Shout Factory!).
“Best workout ever.” That’s the first thought that came into Renée Zellweger’s mind when Yahoo! brought up the 1994 slasher flick Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation. “Live chainsaw — that’s some motivation to get running! Fast!”
Like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre from 1974, which is considered one of the most successful independent films of all time, Next Generation was a low-budget affair. “We all shared a tiny Winnebago that belonged to the producer of the film,” she recalled. “Makeup was [in] the front seat, and then there was a table in the middle for hair, and then there was a tiny little curtain back by the bathroom, that’s where you put your prom dress and flower on.”
Two years before her breakout in Jerry Maguire, it was also a major stepping-stone in Zellweger’s career. “I was so grateful, and I was so excited. I had done a little bit here, a little bit there, but nobody had ever trusted me with a role before to carry a film.”
Still, she’s not sure it was all done entirely by the books. “It was ridiculous. How we pulled that off, I have no idea. I’m sure none of it was legal… But what an experience. It was kamikaze filmmaking.”
Kim Henkel’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, completed in 1994 (with festival screenings shown), would finally see an edited down limited release in 1997. In the sequel, a group of teenagers get into a car crash in the Texas woods on prom night, and then wander into an old farmhouse that is home to Leatherface (Robert Jacks) and his insane family of cannibalistic psychopaths.
