http://www.ugo.com/movies/perlman-of-the-year

It's the Time of the Season for Ron Perlman

Get on your horse and ride to victory with Ron Perlman in Season of the Witch.

Chosen by the Sword

Chris Radtke:  Season of the Witch, what attracted you to the project? To me it looks like the coolest Dungeons and Dragons mission I've ever seen in a movie, with swords and devils and all sorts of madness.

Ron Perlman: What initially attracted me was the combination of names attached: Nic Cage, Dominic Cena, Chuck Roven, Alex Gartner. Then, I read the script and I said "Great Googley-Moogley" this is too good to be true! I play Nic Cage's bosom buddy. You know, it's me and him the whole movie shoulder-to-shoulder, belly-to-belly, etc. So I approached it with no small amount of enthusiasm.

Chris Radtke: Did you have to do any kind of training for this role?

Ron Perlman: Well I had to get my horse skills a little sharper than they had been. I had to get my sword skills a little bit sharper than they have been. Especially for the particular period we were depicting because every period had its own unique approach to the broadsword.

Chris Radtke: You had experience with sword fighting before?

Ron Perlman: Yeah but you know, like I said, each one of these styles of fighting depending on the period are unique unto themselves so you want to get with whomever is doing the choreography and get a real kind of immersion into the fighting style, so you look like you're the master you are being depicted as.

Cage Fighting

Chris Radtke: Is this the first time you're working with Nic Cage?

Ron Perlman: Yes.

Chris Radtke: Is he a force of nature? What's it like to work with the man?

Ron Perlman: Well in my mind he was a force of nature, due to my regard for his work.  In particular Raising Arizona, Wild at Heart, Moonstruck. I'm a huge fan of Vampire's Kiss. Leaving Las Vegas. He's very versatile and not like anyone else; he's iconoclastic. I was a little bit daunted and a little bit intimidated at the prospect of having to step my game up to be on his level. Having said that, he was so welcoming and so appreciative of everyone that he was going to be working with on his film. I think that's just his nature. He's a cool guy. He's a fanboy. He loves the movies. He loves watching movies. He loves making movies. He has a real journeyman's approach to it. I don't think anybody told him he's a movie star because he certainly doesn't behave like one. He's just a blue collar dude who's just getting it done without a whole lot of falderal, or fanfare.

Chris Radtke: He's a big comic book fan. Was he psyched to be working with Hellboy?

Ron Perlman: I guess. I couldn't figure out to what I owed this gesture of largess, being handed this role without even meeting anybody. The offer just came true. It turns out he watched Hellboy with his young son and they kind of geeked out over it. I know he had approval of the cast, so he must have signed on to have me as his best bud.

For the Love of Movies

Chris Radtke: You mention Vampire's Kiss. You and Nic Cage have had a long, interesting career making genre pics but also some really interesting films. Did you two get into it as far as your history of making movies? What was some of your conversations about the love of filmmaking?

Ron Perlman: We didn't talk about our films a lot. We talked about a lot of stuff in each other's lives. It was just a couple of guys hanging out and talking.

I remember talking to him a lot about my obsession with the 40's, with Turner Classic Movie kind of thing a lot. Because I'm obsessed with that period of filmmaking. I remember talking to him a lot about that, not about contemporary filmmaking. He turned me onto a couple of things that I really loved, I turned him onto a couple of things he really loved. The relationship started out great and just got better everyday. He's just a super guy to work with. His generosity is unrivaled, as far as him knowing when it's the other guy's time to shine and what he's willing to do to facilitate that. It's a beautiful thing to be around.

Chris Radtke: Did you have a lot of input on your character? It sounds that they were very bullish about having you involved.

Ron Perlman: We had the luxury of spending about two or three weeks prior to principal photography on location. We spent a lot of time on horseback, sword fighting; we spent a lot of time sitting around a table and talking about the backstory, how these guys forged the relationships that they have, and their history with spirituality, with a lack thereof in my case.

We discussed the church and perceptions of the day. We're two guys that fought for ten years in the crusades and then went AWOL because of this war that was being forced down everyone's throat was not what is was cracked up to be. So by the time it came to shooting, we knew what was expected of us and it made for a much smoother shoot.  Not having to worry about behavioral problems or relationship problems, just getting in the can what was on the page.

Dominic Cena, who I would work with under any circumstances, any time any place, is so easygoing and such a joy to be around. So appreciative of everyone's input. He doesn't muck about. He's kind of like Clint Eastwood, he doesn't do a lot of takes. He knows when he has it, he moves on. He has a beautiful visual sensibility about himself. He was a joy to work for because he had nothing but appreciation for everything you were giving him, and let you know it.