Ron Perlman—no longer the lonely fat kid

Press, 26 April 1988, Page 15

Ron Perlman —no longer the lonely fat kid

By

LAWRENCE EISENBERG

Rohl Perlman's black sports i jacket, created by an! Italian designer, seems to! go beyond trendiness: All over the fabric are sculpted large letters of the alphabet, some (forming words <the' back! reads "LAM AN '■EROTICtii.

Powerful aftershave surrounds him lifce a shield 1 as he opens a nifty brick lizard cigarette: case, the likes of which [hasn't been [seen since Barbara Hutton’s . last fewj husbands. Lighting up. he swings into a private dining room at New [fork's "21, ’’ [where he's to; have breakfast with the press.

It's [here that th<jt selfconfidence falters, flor all his years 'as[an actor, for all hiif success as Vincent, the man/beast hdl portrays [in the [C.B.S.-tv hit. "[Beauty ano the Beast.” he [seems more than a little [ uneasy being hit with [questions by [a baitp[ry of reporters. Hostility hovers just a tad I below the surface as [he is iiandhd a' plate of scranjbled I eggs i and asked. "What does the beast [ eat?"

i He I replies. "He doesn't eat." [

! The reporter [ says. “Ever,- creature has to. eat. [Haven't you! ever wondered?" Perlman shakeis his head; “Maybe you lhave a preoccupation. I [ think you're anthropomorph'ising.” j ■ j Several hours i|ter in an exclusive interview, the beast , actor has 'tightened! up and is nwe than a little endearing, especially when he talk* about now he almost d.i n't get

[the part of the strange I superhero ivho lives in tjie [ tunnels below* New York ! and devotes his life to protecting pnd helping tie human woman he loves] i Before this. Perim ijn ! had appeared as a preh;S- -[ toric man in "Quest for Fire" and as a grotesqJe hunchback in "The Narie . of the . [ : | "I had alread laid doy-jn an edict to all my representatives, ’ he says, "that ‘The Name of the Roie’ would be the last timt | I would ever wear 1 make-up for a role 1 . I said, 'Dori'i even sene me the script : of 'Beauty and the Beast.' I don’t want [ to [be templed.' And my mahager left it on my doorstep and it weighed Jess than the ‘L.A. Times'! that day, so I opted to reaid it. Tllen 1 called him dnd sejid. 'Tell me Vfhat I have to [do to get it.' That's how iiscerally I responded to Hi" He nods thoughtfully and his gentle blue eyes evoke the beast at his most Vulnerable. I [" I thought that in the world of justice.[if there was any such thine, that if there was ever a, part with thy name on it. this was [it. But I had grown so uijed to living with injustices [as a professional actor, arid not having thingy the way one wants, except bn very, very, rare occurrences. My firs' reaction ■ion getting rhe role; was almost like a religious one, because it came out according! to tie way! I had drear.ee it." :[ This is ironic n light! of the fact that un il several years ago. Perirrian wouldr.'! work on TV "I

decided when I had a kid (his daughter. Blake Amanda, born in January. 1984) that I could no longer rule out television, even, though I had a very’ low regard for working in it. And I might just as easily have gotten a job in a very unimaginative show in a very unimaginative role. But it turns out I'm doing television at its most exciting. It's something that I believe in artistically and I am engaged in to a greater degree than any role I've ever played.” A side benefit is the mail he receives, most of which is from women. "The thing that turns these women on is the romance, the chivalry, the care that he takes for his woman, the apparent willingness to die for the love that he has for her. the amount that he gives i of himself in relation to the amount that he asks back, which is nothing. And that is probably the most deepseated of all women's romantic fantasies, [ to have this person whb is capable of taking care of them totally — physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and who asks nothing from them back in terms of favours.! be they sexual, emotional or mental." One of the imor.rtnni reasons for his love of [the role, says Perlman, is that "Vincent, even though; he is a beast, is the romantic love interest of the piece, and a hero, and 1 have hitherto only played character roles. The best [that .1 ever did was playing the best friend of the lead, the guy who never (gets the girl, who always! get the laughs, and I groomed myself for that in [ my acting style, in mv I ao-

proach. in my tastes. I never, never imagined [myself to be in a position of number one." This is a miraculous position for Perlman, whose own fantasies as a kid were to be "totally accepted with no strings [attached. I guess [my deep-seated feelings w*ere that I wasn't. I didn't have ia particularly high self image. I was not particularly good looking. I was pretty, much overweight during my whole youth, especially during my adolescence. With spring's awakening it comes time for boys and girls to start pairing qff;[ And I [was never paired off with anybody. And that was the beginning of my wanting to find something in this life to do that would afford me what I'd longed for. And. when I found acting, it seemed to fill a great hole." [ [ The turning point was a pre-college physical! "I was. almost 300 pounds (136 kg I had high blood pressure ,— as a 16-year-old kid. So I was put'on a special salt-free [ diet, meaning not only cduld! I not use the salt shaker, but I had to eat specially processed foods, [which the salt had been extracted from, whibh |is tantamount to eating cardboard three times a day. And in three months I lost 90 pounds By the time I entereo college I was 205 pounds (93kg). [ No longer the lonely fat kid. he smiles expansively and pulls a smoke out of his cigarette case. "With the acceptance that the show has gotten. I could die satisfied right now. I've achieved everything that I ever dreamed of.” Copyright — Los Angeles Times Svndicate.