<P> Many of the cast members at the time were relatively unknown actors--Texans who had played roles in commercials, television, and stage shows, as well as performers whom Hooper knew personally, such as Allen Danziger and Jim Siedow . Involvement in the film propelled some of them into the motion picture industry . The lead role of Sally was given to Marilyn Burns, who had appeared previously on stage and served on the film commission board at UT Austin while studying there . Teri McMinn was a student who worked with local theater companies, including the Dallas Theater Center . Henkel called McMinn to come in for a reading after he spotted her picture in the Austin American - Statesman . For her last call - back he requested that she wear short shorts, which proved to be the most comfortable of all the cast members' costumes . </P> <P> Icelandic - American actor Gunnar Hansen was selected for the role of Leatherface . He regarded Leatherface as being mentally retarded and having never learned to speak properly . To research his character in preparation for his role, Hansen visited a special needs school and watched how the students moved and spoke . John Larroquette performed the narration in the opening credits . </P> <P> The primary filming location was an early 1900s farmhouse located on Quick Hill Road near Round Rock, Texas, where the La Frontera development is now located . The small budget and concerns over high - cost equipment rentals meant the crew filmed seven days a week, up to 16 hours a day . The environment was humid and the cast and crew found conditions tough; temperatures peaked at 110 ° F (43 ° C) on July 26 . Hansen later recalled, "It was 95, 100 degrees every day during filming . They wouldn't wash my costume because they were worried that the laundry might lose it, or that it would change color . They didn't have enough money for a second costume . So I wore that (mask) 12 to 16 hours a day, seven days a week, for a month ." </P> <P> The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was mainly shot using an Eclair NPR 16mm camera with fine - grain, low - speed film that required four times more light than modern digital cameras . Most of the filming took place in the farmhouse, which was filled with furniture constructed from animal bones and a latex material used as upholstery to give the appearance of human skin . The house was not cooled, and there was little ventilation . The crew covered its walls with drops of animal blood obtained from a local slaughterhouse . Art director Robert A. Burns drove around the countryside and collected the remains of cattle and other animals in various stages of decomposition, with which he littered the floors of the house . </P>

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