Incomplete, but here's the first part of the transcription!

Tony: One of the things that I think you said very well in the press kit that I have received was that the Witchblade was the Maltese Falcon to your character and he's trying to obtain it. And what he can't have, he wants to control.
Anthony: Exactly. Exactly. So he has to go through Sara.

Tony: But you know what's funny. Although that is Irons purpose, there has to be some attraction to the wielder herself- almost in spite of himself. I'm guessing that even reluctantly, on some levels, while he wants to keep his focus on the blade, I think there's something highly attractive to him about the fact that there's this woman who's wielding it.
Anthony: Oh Yeah.

Tony: So, it's not just a one-dimensional pursuit.
Anthony: And plus, not only her, but the women throughout the ages who have wielded it. I mean his art gallery certainly says it right there.

Tony: Right.
Anthony: He's really very interested in the whole history of it and has had a long association in the pursuit of it in some way. And we certainly see that in the result of the scar in the two-hour movie too. Yes, opted to have a scar, rather than the hand completely shorn. I _____.

Tony: Yeah, right. What did you see when you first got the script for the two-hr movie and this character?
Anthony: Well, it actually starts a little bit further behind that. When I first saw the title Witchblade, I realized that this was a project that my former college roommate had initially been working on, Brian Haberlin.

Tony: That's funny.
Anthony: We went to school together and Brian-I don't know if you know or not- but he was with Top Cow for awhile before he went to Avalon to form his own company and has since departed. But it was great to see something come fill circle. I have certainly heard references to the Witchblade, and this is, the Irons character, I think in particular is a character that I know Brian enjoys creating and working on. So it was, it was a real treat to be able to play this person who is comfortable in all levels of society and somebody who is considered perhaps great benefactor, a patron of the arts, a humanitarian. Yet at the same time has that rumor that perhaps he made his fortune in the arms trade. What I like and what I find interesting is always to look for the opposites. Where one person is one thing and then something opposite at the same time. And I think that's what I will ų and have been trying half the time- with Irons.

Tony: Well, I think one of the things you said too, you are attracted to the superhero and the mythology of the series.
Anthony: Yes.

Tony: And actually, that's part of my appeal and that's why I like it as well. And then I think the "X factor" is you guys. That trio of Sara, of Nottingham and Irons. And I think that, ya know, it's like the three of them kind of eventually, kind of eventually evolve the Witchblade and her use of it. I mean, they're both like her teachers really aren't they?
Anthony: Yes. And it's an interesting triangle, because you certainly have Nottingham, who has conflicting loyalties.

Tony: Yes he does.
Anthony: He runs into conflict. Whether he should be loyal to Sara and the Witchblade or to Irons, who essentially raised him. At least in thisˇ.where we are going with it. And then you have Sara. She hasˇ she could also have conflicting loyalties in the sense that she has this tremendous power, but she really doesn't want it at first. She doesn't know what to do with it and she sort of grows into it. It's not as if she suddenly masters it, enjoys it and runs around and, ya know, turns everything that's been upside down, right side up again. She has a real conflict in herself in terms of "what is this power", "should I use it or not use it?" and then of course with Irons there's a conflict in terms of he has to be constantly aware of whether Nottingham is loyal to him or disloyal. He has to weigh how he can, and of course Sara- whether she's warm or cold to him. And then Irons master plan, as he's trying to anticipate his end. And make things work out the way he sees fit. He has to take all this into account, which is really interesting. The idea of having to take this loyalty and what somebody would do if they might be disloyal to him into account as far as how he can further his own interest. And so, I think that's a real fun chess game to play. And it certainly one that Eric Etebari and I talked about in our playing as the actors. Ya know, we're taking into account because most of Irons' scenes are with Nottingham to do sort of sits on his Mt. Olympus and sending out Nottingham to do his bidding. And there are times where Nottingham is more or less loyal or he has conflicting emotions and Irons is constantly trying to take this into account. And constantly trying to make sure that when he sends him out if he does disobey or if he does do something that is not on the plan, the __ plan, that it will eventually work to his advantage.

Tony: Yes. Exactly. And I love the scenes with Irons and Sara. I particularly, I don't know, I just kind of dig it, but the times when he kind of push her buttons or just see if he can push her just a little bit to see if he can get a response.
Anthony: Right. Because part of it too, is he is trying to draw out the blade. I think in a different fashion, Irons certainly want her to have an experience of the blade by turning to her more brutal side, for instance. And he's been using Nottingham a little bit, as in bullfighting, as a picador might be used to excite the bull and bring out this great, terrible, awesome power that he knows is contains within. Whereas sheˇher angle, it seems, is more on the side of justice and righteousness. The great thing about the Witchblade, the way it's been conceived, is that it you can't say it's good. You can't say it's bad. It's just this awesome force. And sometimes it helps. Sometimes it hinders. You just have to hope you're on the helping side, I guess, if you're Sara Pezzini. And Irons is just looking for mastery of it. How is he going to completely master it.

Tony: The three of you seem to have a pretty good rhythm as actors when you see them all on the screen together, it appears like to us anyway when watching it.
Anthony: Well, I think that's for a couple of reasons. And I know this sounds like a clich°. But, and I've heard people say this all the time, but it really, really applies here. You could not have a better, better, better actress than Yancy Butler in that title role. She makes it so fun and enjoyable. She really sets the tone. She's always up. I've never heard her say a single complaint out of her. Even when, I mean, believe me, she does a lot of action work in this show. And she has the marks and bruises and cuts to show for it. Never complained. I think I heard, like a year later, that broke a bone in her foot or something and she had just kept on shooting. So she's got that real tough work ethic.

Tony: Wow.
She's very funny. She keeps the crew sort of buoyant, excited, happy. And it makes for a good working environment. Because every other member of the show, ya know god bless you, the property people, the camera people, the lighting people, everybody isˇ it energizes everybody. It makes everybody want to contribute and help. And nobody is just dialing in the work.

Tony: Right.
Anthony: Which there are some wonderful, wonderful little details that have been put in by props, for instance, or wardrobe that will just lend to the overall texture of the show. And Eric and I, ya know, since we have most of our scenes together, we spend a lot of time together off the set. We work on our material by ourselves. He's terrific. He has a big Rottweiler with him, so he had a difficult time finding a place, so he has a very Nottingham-esque dungeon. Sort of this converted industrial building with concrete floors. And this huge table and these large chairs and we sort of have these "battle of the titans" ___ have our discussions and it's really conducive to the show. And Eric is one who is very competitive. Which is good. And we jostle a little bit back and forth. So what you see going on in the show- in Irons and Nottingham- there is a little bit of that actually happening. Which is really fun. And there is absolutely no, and I say this in really the best sense, but certainly Eric and I are very fond of each other and we have a lot of fun as a result. We're constantly trying to one-up each other a little bit. Creates that Irons-Nottingham relationship.

Tony: Again, I definitely have to echo what you just said, especially with Yancy. I remember watching her in Mann & Machine, where she played an android and even...
Anthony: She's smart, isn't she? And ___.
Tony: Yes. She is. And
Anthony: And ____
Tony: And she was a con artist on a short-lived series called South Beach. Again, but, that was a very light role. She was a con person. And she brings an intensity to everything that she's done in the past.
Anthony: And I think, ya know, and I don't mean to interrupt, but very quickly- since you just brought up the point- people are suddenly learn about her, and I'm really surprised that they haven't pushed it more- is she is a tremendous comedian. And once she gets some comic roles, there will be a whole other side that deserves to be mines. But she's very, very funny. But as an action hero, when she runs and punches you really feel it. But, I'm sorry. I interrupted you.

Tony: No. No. Actually I will chime in and say that in South Beach, for example, when she was playing this con person, she did like different accent, different characters in the context of the show. To con people because it was in South Beach, where all this money is. And you got to see a little bit of that. So, it was like when you see an actress in a few things and you say "Well, I hope she connects with something because you know she's got it. She's got it."
Anthony: Absolutely. And the fun thing about this show too. Given the fact that the Witchblade has a past that __ through various women throughout history, it opens up the opportunity for the show to go to various times in history. For Yancy to play these various rolesˇ Joan of Arc, or perhaps ˇ I know we've been blending a lot of mythology. There's some episodes that deal with Celtic mythology and sort of a Celtic heroine. So it ____. It's a real broad brushstroke in terms of where we can go with it. And I look forward to seeing what happens.

Tony: Yeah. Ya know I agree with that. That's one of the things that struck me in the pilot. You could do a whole flashback episode ųespecially with today's technology- in, say, feudal Japan.
Anthony: Sure. Sure. Absolutely.

Tony: And you could even see other representations of Nottingham and Irons during that period. That would be kinda cool. It would really work out.
Anthony: That would be fun. And you know. Look for it. I can say, it might very well might be there.

Tony: Cool. That's something that struck me right away. If you really want to have a broad brushstroke on the series, I can certainly do that and it will certainly keep it interesting for us. And effects wise too. What you guys are doing is phenomenal. I mean, in Parallax there was some great stunt, motorcycle stunt, riding.
Anthony: Oh. Wonderful work.

Tony: And then there's, like, effects. Like the bullet-time effect that I loved so much in the Matrix, that you guys used really well. It's not overused. It's used perfectly.
Anthony: Ya know. That's really what we're trying to do. In talking with Max, one of the guys whose responsible for effect. His philosophy on special effects is they really have to service the story. We're not going to do something just so "Oh look how neat we are", but he says we want them to have their own logic and make sense within the context of the story. So, hopefully, viewers will these effects that are.. I think they are.. pretty spectacular, but at the same time they are servicing what's happening and they have their own logic to htem that makes sense to us as viewers.

Tony: Yeah. I was just thinking it's kind of funny. If you take the character in Batman. Batman himself. And split him into three. In a way, you have all the characters in Witchblade. Because your Irons is a millionaire-
Anthony: Bruce Wayne

Tony: Right. Bruce Wayne. And Nottingham is the dark side and Yancy's character, Sara, is his sense of justice.
Anthony: That's terrific that you would mention that. Because somebody else, in a completely different context, mentioned the same thing and it was something I had failed to see, initially. But in talking with you, and others, it really does make sense. Doesn't it?

Tony: Yeah. And you can even go further I mean, her whole thing with her father.
Anthony: Yes. Oh. Of course.

Tony: The death of her father is just like Bruce Wayne and his parents. So, there's a lot you can really step into it. But, of course, the nice thing is what the three of you bring to your parts. And that's the intangible thing. I mean the way you deliver your lines. Ya know. All of you. And you're in the scenes together. I mean that's the part that makes it fun.
Anthony: Oh. Thank you. Well, we hope so. There'sˇ while television will certainly afford this Witchblade story to open up to many, many, many, many new fans. Of course, there's still that core base that's been with the comic book from the beginning. And I'm hoping that, ya know, certainly there are certain extingies to television, that may require certain variations here and there, but in terms of the true spirit of the story and the characters, I'm hoping that the diehard fans will tune in and see the essence of what they've been seeing along all the time.

Tony: Yeah. Ya know. I've seen quite a few comic adaptations done in movies and television and nine times out of ten, with very few exceptions, I've been disappointed. Because they play around with the mythology way too much and they lose the spirit. And what I like about Witchblade is it's not campy here. They are really approaching this
Anthony: Oh. Yes. Absolutely. And you know that will continue. It was so enjoyable to do that two-hour show, but at the same time it was frustrating because we just, just scraped the surface. Just sort of sped up the world barely and there wasn't a chance to really go in and work with these characters. And now that we've had this.. and certainly the producersˇ are treating these next 11 episodes like an eleven-hour movie. You are going to see a whole story continuing from episode one through eleven. Except, that it will stand up well on it's own, it will be great and much more enjoyable to really follow the entire story as it unfolds. It will be very enriching in that way

To be continued...