The Dark Untold Truth Of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

A dozen years after the first film's triumphant release, Hooper and Henkel again teamed up for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2—but this time, they didn't have as much free rein. New Line Cinema nosed into the creative process, and execs weren't quite as fond of their original idea, which had been to follow up with a whole town of cannibals for what would've been titled Beyond the Valley of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Screenwriter L.M. Kit Carson was brought in to give it the carnival vibe the sequel eventually came to have. They still got to make it a spoof of the original (and of the new Reaganism era during which it was released) and even had a cheeky The Breakfast Club-themed family photo for a poster.

The most storied aspect of the first sequel, though—well, apart from the fact that co-star Dennis Hopper is rumored to hate the movie—was Caroline Williams' audition. The actress, who'd play the radio host who becomes the Sawyer family's (yes, Leatherface's crew has a last name in this one) latest victim of note, was called in to read for the part and said she noticed that her script wasn't very line-heavy. Instead of going in and merely reading the few dialogue bits available, she decided to improvise by going absolutely bananas before she even set foot in the audition room.

"I'm watching these actresses come and go; the ebb and the flow, and the room is incredibly quiet. They are coming out very cool and unruffled. I thought at the very least that if I'm not going to be cast I'm going to go down fighting," she recalled to Starburst Magazine. "So I simply took the instruction and followed the directions. I ran screaming down the hallway. I ran into the audition room, slammed the door, and pulled the chairs right out from under Tobe Hooper and Kit Carson. I piled them in front of the door, and I backed into a corner, and I played the scene. Tobe and Kit just walked up incredibly close to me. They stood directly in front of me and then they just looked at each other, and I thought I'd done this okay. Before I even left that day, I'd been hired." Take note, would-be slasher pic ingenues: that's how you set yourself apart right there.