The Secret Behind Leatherface’s Return: Jessica Biel Spills All
Before audiences got their first look at Leatherface in the 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, star Jessica Biel sat down to share why the horror icon was being kept such a big secret – and why that made him even scarier.
“I think he’s going to be incredibly terrifying to see for the first time,” Biel admitted. “I’m really excited that we’re doing it that way. We don’t want anyone to see him until the characters do.”
For Biel, a self-proclaimed horror fan, stepping into the franchise was a dream come true. She revisited classics like The Shining to study what makes a horror movie truly frightening.
She also dove into the real-life story of Ed Gein, the killer who inspired Leatherface, calling his life “incredibly sad, terrible, and horrifying.”
Biel threw herself into the physicality of the role, doing her own stunts and preparing for endless chase scenes. “I don’t have a stunt double – I do it all,” she said proudly. “This is kind of a dream come true… I always wanted to be like an action star.”
Her character, Erin, isn’t just running from Leatherface – she’s a leader when things spiral out of control. “She’s definitely the take-charge character,” Biel explained. “When things start to go wrong, she calms people down and keeps the group together.”
The production leaned heavily into realism to amp up the terror.
The cast shot in actual abandoned houses filled with decades-old belongings, from skeleton keys to wedding dresses. “It was really cool but creepy,” Biel confessed. “These locations are the real thing. There are no sets here. And that makes it especially scary.”
Between the secrecy surrounding Leatherface’s reveal, the raw authenticity of the filming locations, and Biel’s full-throttle commitment to the role, she promised audiences wouldn’t just be watching another slasher movie – they’d be “frightened to death.”
🔪 Did you see The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake in theaters? Share this with other horror fans and compare notes on whether Leatherface lived up to the hype!
