Coming off the success of his first CBM venture, Blade II, which marked a pivotal point in Guillermo del Toro’s Hollywood run, the revered filmmaker was then handed the keys to the adaptation for Dark Horse Comics’ Hellboy. Given the director’s obsession with horror and monsters, whom he saw as the patron saints of imperfection, Hellboy proved to be right up his alley.
This, in addition to Ron Perlman’s casting, made for a memorable experience for fans, and interestingly, Del Toro didn’t take kindly to one suggestion from Perlman.
Guillermo del Toro wasn’t too thrilled about Ron Perlman’s input
Prior to Ron Perlman‘s inclusion, the studio was apparently interested in casting the likes of Dwayne Johnson or Vin Diesel for the lead role. Although Guillermo del Toro met with some of the A-listers upon the studio’s request, no one could sway his mind away from Perlman, who inspired his version of the Hellboy.
In his autobiography, the director wrote (via CinemaBlend):
Absolutely, absolutely true. I never met with The Rock, but I met with two or three actors that I won’t name, but big stars. After every meeting I would go back to the studio and say, ‘Yeah, I like the guy… but I like Ron Perlman more.
Considering Del Toro modelled the character around Perlman, when the latter suggested the idea of using a different voice for Hellboy, the Mimic filmmaker immediately turned it down (via The Guardian).
What are you doing? Just be Ron Perlman and that will be Hellboy.
Even though the film was a major hit, which was followed by a critically revered sequel, unfortunately, a threequel never came to fruition.
Ron Perlman refused to entertain 2019’s Hellboy
Following Del Toro’s exclusion from the planned 2019 sequel, which was canned in favor of a reboot, Ron Perlman, who was originally asked to reprise the gig, refused to return without his collaborator. Moreover, given his loyalty to the Mimic filmmaker’s vision, the Golden Globe winner refused to watch and follow the 2019 reboot starring David Harbour (via CBM).
The reboot was something I had the opportunity to participate in and decided that the only version of ‘Hellboy’ I’m interested in is the one I do with Guillermo. So in walking away from it, I truly walked away from it, and haven’t seen it or heard much about it. I wished them well, but it was not in my bailiwick.
While Perlman did admit that he might be too old to step back into Hellboy’s shoes again, he is still adamant about bringing Del Toro’s planned conclusion to life for the fans.
Hellboy is available to rent on Apple TV.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
