Over the last 40 years, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has seen six additional installments, with a seventh debuting this fall. Between reboots, sequels, and prequels, the mythology can get a little muddled, as well as the fates of all of the characters whose names aren’t “Leatherface.” Caroline Williams, who played radio DJ Stretch in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2, recently revealed what happened to her character after she was last seen dancing victoriously on top of a mountain after escaping the clutches of the Sawyer family.
As a guest on the Brainwaves podcast, Williams claims, “Jeff Burr, director of part three, called me on the phone and said, ‘Look, I don’t know how long this Chainsaw franchise will carry on, but I want to keep your character alive. I don’t want to get rid of you. You are not mentioned anywhere in this screenplay, but I want to make sure that, for the ages, if anybody wants to revisit Stretch, it has to be you. [You will] be seen in part three, so indelibly speaking, the fans will know it’s you.’”
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In Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III, Williams has a brief appearance as a TV reporter. In Part 2, she is sent to cover a chili cook-off before getting caught up with the Sawyer family. Williams claims that her TV reporter character was an extension of Stretch, branching out in other forms of media.
In the unrelated slasher film Hatchet III, Williams played another reporter, this time by the name of Amanda Perlman, which the actress claims is all part of her original character’s mythology.
Of her role in that film, Williams noted, “You got to see Stretch, now known as Amanda Perlman, pursuing the Victor Crowley legend, and that’s the way I played that character. [Director] BJ McDonnell told me, ‘She’s Stretch. That’s what we’re doing here.’ I played the character of Amanda precisely as she would be.”
The actress elaborated on the backstory, detailing, “Stretch grew up, she changed her name, she married a law enforcement guy played by Zach Galligan, and she split [from him] because she’s a woman who is obsessed with pursuing these legends…these myths, which in her mind are NOT myths.”
While we shouldn’t expect to see Stretch pop up again in any other installment in the franchise, at least this now brings closure to the character.
The latest installment in the series, the prequel Leatherface, opens October 20.
