TIFF Report: Ron Perlman Talks Fessenden's Last Winter

This interview originally ran here on ScreenAnarchy in May 2005, and was conducted while star Ron Perlman was in Iceland filming Larry Fessenden's The Last Winter. With the film now premiering at TIFF, it seems worth posting again ...

A while back ScreenAnarchy regular Swarez posted a note in our forum - which you really should join - saying that he'd been asked to interview Ron Perlman for a paper in his native Iceland and asking if anyone has suggestions for questions. Vulture that I am I immediately swooped in and offered to run the English version of the interview here at ScreenAnarchy ... I must be a more appealing vulture than most, because he said yes. So here it is, the fruits of Swarez's labors, talking to the man about his new Iceland-shot horror flick, Hellboy, Jeunet, directing his first film and a good load of other stuff ... big, big thanks to Swarez ...

A Hellish Hero Up North.

Ron Perlman is an actor that many here know in appearance but might not know much more about. He is best known in this country portraying the Beast, Vincent, in Beauty and the Beast. It’s a TV show where a deformed man falls in love with a young reporter, popular in the nineties.

Perlman is staying in this country while he’s filming a US produced horror film called The Last Winter. It’s directed by Larry Fessenden who has made a name for himself as a horror film director in the west who specializes in more artistic approach to horror movies.

Don’t stick your drill where it doesn’t belong.

What can you tell us about Last winter?

“It’s a story about a big oil company doing research in the Alaskan wilderness and who are preparing the arrival of the big oil rigs. Something goes very wrong and things escalate and get worse and worse. We don’t know if there’s something out there behind these strange happening or if it’s the surroundings that are having these effects on our minds.”

So it’s sort of like The Thing with an eco message?

“There are supernatural things that happen but there is also a chance that this is all in our heads while the threat was real in The Thing. Here we aren’t sure and that underlines the message that we shouldn’t stick our drill where it doesn’t belong. This is a message that is very relevant today, especially since the US government made it legal to drill for oil in the Alaskan wild.”

A great experience working with Fessenden.

Asked about how the experience has been working with Fessenden the actor has nothing but praise for him and would love it if he would use him again in his films. “I love working with him. He possesses all the things I love about great directors. He’s extremely funny, doesn’t take him seriously but takes his work very seriously. The atmosphere on set is very relaxed even if the scenes are very dramatic and tension filled. He’s very easy to work with, loves great ideas even if they are not his own. He’s ready to try anything if he likes it. I hope I work with him again.”

Wants to work with Coppola.

You have worked with directors that use you again and again in their films over the years. Guillermo Del Toro, Jean Pierre Jeunet and Jean Jacques Annaud have all used you in more than one of their films. Why do you think it is?

“Because I’m so loveable. I don’t really know. This is something you should ask them about. Maybe it’s because they sense the respect I have for them and that I am a fan of their work, sometimes almost in a geeky way. There is also that friendship that forms and lasts long after the film is finished. My friendship with Guillermo started way before we did Cronos together. I met him in LA and we had dinner together and at the end of the night we had connected in a way that felt like I had known him for years. Even if we hadn’t ended up working together we would have remained friends. He sees how he can use me in films and is always looking for ways to use my weird humanity in his work. I can say the same thing about Jean Pierre and I can probably dwell deeper but this really a question you should be asking them.”

Are there any directors out there that you’d want to work with?

“Many. Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott and Paul Thomas Anderson come to mind. These are all great men who are doing great work and continue to do so.”

Nice to be invited to the big party once in a while.
You have done a wide variety of films over the years, in every genre and all sorts of budgets. How do you choose your work? Do you see some of them as something to pay the bills and some as something you do out of love for the material?

“We all like to make money. I’m in the position where I have a family and putting my kids through school and it’s very hard to live of the small, independent movies. Of course you hope to be invited to the big party once in a while."

"Those times where I have been invited it’s usually been because it’s a director that I had worked with before, coming up from the independent films and thought of me, like with Guillermo. I would never have gotten to do Blade 2, let alone Hellboy if it wasn’t for him. The same can be said about Jean Pierre. If I hadn’t done his weird little film City of Lost Children years ago I wouldn’t have done Alien Resurrection."

"So that’s how it’s been almost always when I do a film for the big studios. It’s because I’ve worked with the director on a smaller film before. Hellboy was the quintessential payday for me and I owe it all to the friendships I’ve made over the years.”

Lucky to know so many great directors.

“This is how my strange career has evolved and seems to write itself. I’ve never seen anything quite like it,” says Ron when this reporter compares his career to Christopher Walken’s in the sense that they can go back and forth from big budget films to low budget films without losing the respect and admiration of their fans or get pigeonholed.

“Many people ask me how I choose my projects and my answer is always that I wish I had any kind of power to choose my projects. I take whatever comes along. I’m just so lucky that I know great directors that want to use me in their movies.”

“I also feel that the best work that’s being done today are the small independent films. They have everything to prove and nothing to lose. Those films are a lot closer to you and personal and that’s the best way to work.”

“No matter how old I get and no matter how much I think about taking it easy I always end up working for guys who are making their first features. It’s because I believe in their work. Plus my life would probably get a little boring.”

Directs his first film.

You are going to be directing your first feature after all these years called Wooden Lake. Why not sooner since you directed some episodes of Beauty and the Beast years back?

“I’ve always known I wanted to direct but I’ve never been in any hurry to do it. I’m fully aware that this is something not to be taken lightly. Directing a movie is the hardest part of the process and it needs more knowledge and expertise than any other facet of filmmaking."

"I knew I had to find the material that I knew I wouldn’t fail and I’ve found that. Then enough good will of the community to get the financing to make the film. Also actors and artist that have faith in me to go in and get involved. Nobody is making any money off of this. Every cent goes up on screen.”

What is the film about? Is it a genre film?

“No it’s a drama. It’s a very simple, very beautiful story about a family and their struggles. It’s written like a poem, like a great William Butler Yeats poem. Very simple yet very emotional,” Perlman says he hopes to start shooting this summer or fall.

Enjoys every minute here in Iceland.

Is there any news on Hellboy 2?

"Yes. Guillermo just finished the script and has handed it in to the studios. Now we have to wait for their response. He’s shooting a film in Spain as we speak and as soon as he finishes that he’ll got straight into preproduction of Hellboy 2. We should be shooting this time next year."

I have to ask you finally. How do you like Iceland?

"You know the best thing about my chosen profession is seeing all the places I wouldn’t normally see and how I experience them. I’ve been up north at Mývatn in the past few weeks battling this raw nature and it’s been great. Reykjavík is a place I’ve always wanted to go to. I was supposed to start my career here when The Quest for Fire was originally supposed to be filmed here so I consider the circle to be closed.

I’ve never worked with a better crew on any project. These people are heroes, hard working and fun to be around. I haven’t experienced Iceland as a tourist but almost like a native and I enjoy every minute of it.”