RON PERLMAN ON THE PAT SAJAK SH0W

March 2, 1989

Sajak: [After announcing other guests] But right now, one of the stars of the big CBS hit series Beauty and the Beast is with us. He plays the romantic hero, Vincent. This coming Monday, and the following Monday, they're airing at a special time period, which will be 10:00 in the evening. He also won a Golden Globe this year for his role as Vincent, and a Golden Apple. We'll find out what that is from Ron Perlman. Ron! (Applause and cheers. Ron Perlman comes out from behind the curtain and sits next to Pat Sajak). It's good seeing you. Want to join the Army Band? (Holds up a piece of paper).

Perlman: (brushing off his shoulder) I'll tell you, I just ran into that pigeon backstage. (laughter).

Sajak: Now, are you just sick to death of all the jokes? Because we've done a few on the show about the Beast.

Perlman: Have you? (laughter).

Sajak: Yes--from time to time. Are you?

Perlman: No.

Sajak: So I don't have to watch it? I can say anything I feel like? If it comes to mind, I can do it and you won't turn on me?

Perlman: As long as it's funny. (laughter) We have to draw the line somewhere. We don't want any bad Beast jokes, because--after all--.

Sajak: You care very much about vour character. I know… I've seen interviews and you said, for example, you don't do the voice unless you're in the makeup. So, you do treat him with respect. Has the show gone in any different direction from what you thought it was going when it started? I mean has he changed much?

Perlman: Well, when I first read the script I imagined this gnarled, ugly, deformed character. Somebody who was a total outcast and a total misfit, and outside of mainstream society. And I saw Rick Baker's sketch some time after that, and there was this rock star, this very attractive, romantic, leonine, mythic figure. And he has evolved to proportions that I didn't think possible.

Sajak: Have you figured out why women really like this guy? I mean, he lives in a cave and doesn't shave all that often. (laughter).

Perlman: He's house trained… a lot of fun at parties you know.

Sajak: He's romantic…he is a romantic though, he really is.

Perlman: He's very romantic. He's a throw-back to a chivalric… is that a word? Chivalric?

Sajak: You coined one.

Perlman: Chivalric time. His presence in the life of the object of his love, being Catherine in this case, is all encompassing, and he asks for absolutely nothing in return for that devotion and love. So, I think that he hits a fantasy place in women's psyches.

Sajak: You seem to be drawn to roles that keep you in a makeup chair for a long time. You were in the Sean Connery film, Name of the_Rose. You were in Quest For Fire, as the caveman, and you were the hunchback in the first movie I mentioned. Any particular reason that seems to happen to you with frequency?

Perlman: They hire me. They ask me and I say 'sure.'

Sajak: Do people recognize you? Out of makeup, I mean.

Perlman: Hopefully, no one will be watching tonight, so…

Sajak: Actually, we've done research, and no one watches. So it's really… (laughter) No problem here, Ron.

Perlman: Just as I suspected. I did some research too, which is why I came on the show. [laughter and applause from audience].

Sajak: I had that coming. You owed me one.

Perlman: People can do Beast jokes. People can do Sajak jokes. It's all the same. We're all on CBS together.

Sajak: We're all in this together, aren't we?

Perlman: But no, I don't mind not being recognized. I'm not recognized probably as much as Burt Reynolds is. But then again…you know… [smiles]

Sajak: There's a finish there somewhere.

Perlman: Somewhere. You can just supply that.

Sajak: Now, when you're out doing location filming as you are from time to time, and you're in your regalia, it must cause a stir from time to time.

Perlman: As a matter of fact, a couple of weeks ago, we were shooting at Mercy Hospital which is in downtown L.A. and we had just gotten finished shooting on the sixteenth floor, the scene, and they made the mistake of releasing me without, you know, having sort of an escort to show me…I have a terrible sense of direction. So, when I got off the elevator on the main floor, instead of making a right, I made a left and I ended up in the emergency ward. [laughter]. And there were these people with crutches and wheelchairs, you know, carrying, like, sick babies, you know, like, all coming to Vincent. It was like Vincent was the fountain of Lourdes. I've never experienced anything like that in my life.

Sajak: You have to watch where you're going.

Perlman: Yes, you don't want to let me out in public too much, because...

Sajak: I understand. We will take a break and be back and chat more with Ron Perlman. Stay right there folks.

[Commercial break]

Sajak: Back with Ron Perlman who plays Vincent on Beauty and the Beast. We talked about Vincent being romantic. Is there an album in the works? Is this true?

Perlman: This is true. There is a record album. It will be out in your stores beginning in April.

Sajak: Vincent howls? Vincent what? Vincent sings?

Perlman: Vincent is the Barry White of the tunnel world. (laughter) Hey baby… you know, that kind of thing.

Sajak: Is he going to do poetry?

Perlman: Yes, what has happened is that every once in awhile on the show he's given to breaking out into these readings of famous poems and sonnets. The mail that we got in response to that - I just think people weren't used to seeing that kind of thing 8:00 on network television - was overwhelmingly positive and Capital Records jumped on the band wagon and…

Sajak: Now you're a recording star. See, all this stuff happening. We're going to look at a piece of film from an upcoming episode, I guess. Now, it has been reported that there may be an interspecies kiss coming up on the show.

Perlman: Can you say that word on the air?

Sajak: I'm not sure. I just did.

Perlman: Because that's a four-letter word on our show.

Sajak: Is that going to happen in fact? Can you confirm or deny that?

Perlman: A kiss?

Sajak: Yes.

Perlman: I don't know anything about that. [smiling]

Sajak: Oh, sure.

Perlman: You'll have to tune in on Monday night.

Sajak: All right. Well, we won't see that if in fact it's going to happen, but we will see something else. Do we need to know anything about what we are about to see?

Perlman: This is an episode in which Catherine's father becomes ill and dies. She has to cope with the emotional ramifications of that and, seeking solace, she comes to the underworld to mourn and come to terms.

Sajak: Let's see what happens - Beauty and the Beast - Ron Perlman.

[A clip from Orphans is shown, where Vincent and Catherine are sitting talking by the waterfall below. This is followed by loud applause from the audience, and is acknowledged by a smile from Ron Perlman who mouths a silent 'thank you'.]

Sajak: It really is - in all seriousness - it's an amazing performance because, just in watching that scene, so much acting you have to do with your eyes, literally. An actor relies, I guess, in great measure, on doing things with the face and there's a limited amount of that you can do. So you have to call on other talents. It really is brilliant, what you do. You're from New York, right?

Perlman: Mm [Nodding his head].

Sajak: You miss it back there?

Perlman: Very much! I think everybody who is from New York and leaves, misses it a great deal. [applause].

Sajak: Well, always the hometown, sure. Any hometown.

Perlman: There are just things that transpire in that city that don't happen anywhere else.

Sajak: Yes, and some of us out here are pleased about that. [laughter]. You grew up with it. That's another thing.

Perlman: That's true. For instance - this is a true story. The last time I was back there, some friends of mine and myself got in a cab to go to Chinatown to get some dinner. We got in the cab and we went for about a block and realized that this guy had a profound1y flat tyre. I, sort of, leaned forward and spoke to him in that little change cubbyhole and said, "Do you realize that you have a flat tyre?" and he said, "It's O.K. I only have an hour to go." [laughter].

Sajak: That's a good New York attitude. Yeah, that's true. When you came out here, what kinds of parts were you getting, initially?

Perlman: None.

Sajak: That good, huh?

Perlman: When I first arrived in town, this was about four years ago, and the only thing I was known for was the caveman in Quest For Fire. So, I would go to meetings with various producers, they'd take a look at the resume and they'd remember my work in Quest For Fire and they'd go, "Ron, you know… you're real good…we don't…there's the part of a Hispanic woman…that's in this…you could play that…you could do that couldn't you?" That's the kind of things that I would be offered.

Sajak: Are you going to continue to have that problem? Because again, this is a role in which you are heavily made up - perhaps sedated, I don't know. But… (laughter).

Perlman: Perhaps, perhaps… mayhaps.

Sajak: Will there be more Hispanic women in your future?

Perlman: I don't know. It's anybody's guess. I'm too busy right now doing this to have tested the waters to see what this show has or hasn't done for me.

Sajak: I think they'll test just fine. Again, Beauty and the Beast airs this Monday night and the following Monday, March 13th at 10 o'clock, a special time. And then we'll see what happens.

Perlman: We'll see what happens.

Sajak: Great having you here. Ron Perlman, folks. Thank you.

Perlman: My pleasure.

[Screen captures by Lynn Wright]