Meet Sarah Butler: 'I Spit on Your Grave' star talks nude scenes, torture

Sarah Butler once played Belle at Disneyland, but her latest role is a far cry from a fairy-tale princess. The relative unknown (except for a handful of under-the-radar TV appearances) is taking the lead in this month's unrated remake of "I Spit On Your Grave."

Butler plays Jennifer, a novelist who survives a brutally violent sexual assault against all odds and returns to get revenge on her attackers. The film is unrated as filmmakers were unable to remove enough graphic, horrific scenes to obtain an MPAA rating.

Despite the movie poster, in which you can't see Butler's face, but her rear end is showcased, the actress says that the film isn't sexual in nature. "There has been some major updating," she tells USA Today. "One of the biggest updates we've done to it is that instead of approaching her revenge by using her sexuality as a weapon, in our version I don't do that at all. I use my cunning and my brute force to capture and torture and kill these men."


That doesn't mean you won't see her naked... you'll just be too busy being disgusted to notice. "Mind you, there is nudity in ours, but it's definitely less gratuitous. There's enough in there to give you the idea of what's happening and to evoke a sense of pity for Jennifer. That was something that was brilliant on [director Steven M. Monroe's] part. I felt really safe in his hands saying, 'Let's go ahead and do another nude shot here. It would have more impact if we did this right here,' knowing that he wouldn't exploit those shots and he would only put what's necessary in."

Though Butler's character's revenge on the men who attacked her is infinitely torturous, it was their attack on her that stuck with her throughout the filming. They shot chronologically so that she'd remember shooting her own attack scenes while she took out her anger on the men.

"A lot of the things that were going on were real," she says. "There was a real gun involved - I knew it wasn't loaded but it's still scary when you have a real gun right there next to you. There was real fire and real water and my head going under water. Those are fears I really have. I couldn't help but be terrified at the violence being directed at me."

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Photo: Anchor Bay