Well, if Leatherface were a writer, at least you could count on his pencil being sharp.

While the character may not (we'll never know) have had literary aspirations, the man under the mask did. Gunner Hansen, the hulking figure who portrayed Leatherface in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, was something of a renaissance man. While he studied acting and took the job very seriously, he also took great strides to not be boxed in by a life in the footlights. 

A December 1976 interview with the Ellsworth American revealed the depths of Hansen's character and his goals.

"I consider myself an actor by profession, but I have always thought of myself as being basically a writer. I may write a film someday. It's hard to say what I am. I hate the thought of doing just one thing. I love acting, but I would like more depth of roles, and my primary interest is still writing."

"In May of 1976, I decided I didn't want to live in Austin, where I had been teaching English at the University of Texas. Since I had always wanted to live here [in Ellsworth], I decided that if I were ever to do it, I had better do it then. I got here in July and worked as a bartender at Geddy's Pub in Bar Harbor. That fall, after taking two months off to make the film, I came back, and since I had savings and the film money, I decided to live by myself and write. All that winter, I read and wrote."

At first, Hansen pursued writing for the art. However, just as he'd once wielded a chainsaw for pay, he soon too brandished a typewriter in order to earn a paycheck.

"Last fall, my money ran out, and I began to get into freelance writing. I arranged to do some work for Downeast [Magazine], and then Buddy Chase, art director at Maine Magazine, told me about the new magazine. I arranged to meet the publisher, but before I did, I saw a dummy of the first issue, and it had a bit about the star of the Chainsaw Massacre being a bartender at Geddy's Pub. That fired me up even more to meet him, and we eventually had an hour's conversation."

That conversation went well enough that Hansen left with a few assignments for articles. Upon their completion, he was further offered the role of associate editor of the magazine.