In an interview with the DARK HORIZONS Ron Perlman discussed his upcoming role in Guillermo del Toro’s HELLBOY; while Perlman has starred in a number of independent films and is highly regarded as a character actor, HELLBOY marks the first time that Perlman has taken on the lead in a major studio picture. Perlman has made no secret of the fact that del Toro had to do a lot of work to convince studio executives that Perlman could carry the role.

 “Under normal circumstances the idea of me having to carry something as big as this would be so intimidating,” Perlman said. “(But I told del Toro,) for some strange reason I can’t wait to get on the set. I have no fear about playing this guy, I have no trepidation. I want to start filming NOW and there’s no scene in this movie I can’t wait to play.”

Perlman revealed that the reason for his unusual confidence is because the Hellboy character is one he feels very close to.

“It’s because (del Toro) wrote this thing so well and it’s the least amount of adjusting I’ve ever had to do,” Perlman said. “The difference between this and every other big make-up job I have is that all those others were truly transformational. Not just physically but behaviorally and in terms of the mindset of the character, and the field of experience of the character. They were all flights of imagination and fancy. This is me playing me, but with four hours of make-up on. It’s the difference between this and any other job I’ve ever had, it’s the closest guy to me I’ve ever played, yet it’s the most mythic and extraordinary version of me that you could possibly ever imagine, which is why we get into the business to begin with. So we can correct all of our defects, you know? For a few brief moments during the course of the day you can play someone who you want to be like but don’t quite measure up to.”

HELLBOY tells the tale of an infant demon who is summoned by occult experiments conducted by the nazis; raised by Americans, the demon matures to become a uniquely-qualified investigator of the paranormal. The film is currently shooting in Prague.