"BLADE II" Ron Perlman interview

Actor Ron Perlman told Comics2Film that his career has been like a pinball game. "I just basically bounce from one piece of good fortune to another," the baritone actor said in an interview conducted last week.

That first bit of good fortune may have been landing the role of Vincent in the legendary late-80's TV series Beauty & The Beast. Perlman's performance in the show left an indelible mark on the psyche of fandom and has lead to a constant stream of work leading up to the upcoming Blade 2.

Perlman told us he was approached to appear in Blade 2 by the film's director, Guillermo del Toro. "I did his first film called Cronos and we became lifelong pals. I like to think so anyway. Guillermo may have something to say about that," Perlman quipped. "Aside from being a brilliant, brilliant filmmaker he's a great guy.

"When he secured the task of developing and directing Blade 2 he asked if I wouldn't mind if he wrote something for me, which he ended up fulfilling. So, who was I to say no?"

Perlman plays Reinhardt, an imposing and militaristic member of the vampire bloodpack that Blade must ally himself with in the movie. "He's a professional soldier," Perlman said of Reinhardt. "He's the head of the elite guard that serves Damaskinos, the emperor of the vampire world. So he's the kind of guy you'd see running along side the presidential cavalcade. He's a guy whose been trained to take one for the team, if need be. He's really good at what he does and he's a vampire."

Although the part was written for him, Perlman and Del Toro continued to develop the character throughout the production. "Reinhardt became a great deal more in the making of the film than he was on the page," Perlman said. "He emerged more as the leader of this group than he was originally articulated simply because the look that Guillermo and the costume people gave him was really strong. He looked like the most formidable guy in the bloodpack. "As I started to playing him he had a very, very stealthy, strong silence to him, which they decided to augment as the filming went on. So the character's importance grew and grew, in a very organic way. A lot of the stuff that ended up getting shot was thought of on the hoof."

Blade 2 was filmed on a tight schedule in Prague last year. Although some reports indicated that it was a tough shoot, Perlman said he enjoyed his time spent there. "I found Prague to be very civilized and a cool place to be when one wasn't at work. It's a very happening city," Perlman said. "I've worked on, personally, a lot of movies that are much more physically demanding. I think that if you ask Wesley you'll get a different response.

"He does major fighting in this film where he pulls out every bit of knowledge that he has, which is formidable in terms of his martial arts skill. Whereas I just kind of like...I pulled a gun every once in a while." Perlman told C2F that his fighting style in the movie is, "more western than eastern and more brawn than finesse."

Perlman tells us that we can expect a Blade 2 that is as well-directed as humanly possible. "There're some amazing action sequences that are just like non-stop roller coaster rides, from beginning to end," Perlman said. "I haven't seen the film yet but I saw a lot of the sequences that were cut together in a very raw state and they were rock and roll, really rock and roll. I asked to see them again when he got done showing them because they were so cool. It's not 'In the Bedroom.' It's an action adventure sci-fi movie and I think it lives up to those criteria in a very big way." The actor credits the director with putting together an exciting movie. "Guillermo is just an amazing director of action which I think is going to be a surprise to the world because I don't think he's ever employed that side of himself on anything prior to this."

Working with Del Toro again was one of the attractions for the actor. "I just so enjoy performing for Guillermo because I know that he has a great eye," Perlman said. "If he sees something that he likes and prints it, you know its good. I trust him probably more than any other director I've ever worked for. That's a real luxury for an actor."

Perlman hopes to work with Del Toro again on the big-screen version of Mike Mignola's Hellboy. The director has long championed Perlman as his first and only choice for the lead in that film.

"I don't even have words to describe what that kind of loyalty and devotion means to me," Perlman said of Del Toro's commitment. "It's one of the great, great events of my professional life, to have that kind of devotion and loyalty emanating from somebody who is as accomplished as he is."

The actor is hopeful that Hellboy will happen. "It's a phenomenal project. The adaptation that Guillermo wrote based on the comic book just totally nails it. It's so cool and so theatrical. That would be huge fun to play that character and a great honor because he's a phenomenal super hero."

After Blade 2 fans can look for Perlman in Star Trek: Nemesis. The actor recently wrapped work on that movie in which he plays a villainous character called The Viceroy. "He's from the planet Remus which is the sister planet of Romulus. We've seen Romulans in the Star Trek canon but we've never seen Remans until now. So it's kind of a new breed."

Perlman tells us that he is also poised to launch his own production company, an effort that's been brewing for three years. In the mean time, the pinball will keep bouncing between roles in cool genre movies. "I'm just lucky that they ask. Usually all it takes to get me is to ask."

comicbookresources.com
Wednesday March 13, 2002.