Hellboy Creator Talks Differences Between David Harbour & Ron Perlman’s Performances

– Hellboy creator Mike Mignola recently spoke with IGN, discussing the differences between David Harbour & Ron Perlman’s versions of Hellboy…

On David Harbour’s Performance: “[David Harbour’s Hellboy is] a little bit more dramatic. There’s a different edge,” Mignola said. “[Ron Perlman] was very smooth as Hellboy, and there’s a whole different love interest vibe with Ron’s thing. Ron was almost playing this kind of old adolescent. And Harbour plays a grittier Hellboy, and a bit more explosive, emotionally. It’s hard to explain, but it is a very different take. The beauty is, both of them, in their own way, feel like Hellboy. It’s almost like they’re just tipped it in two different directions. There’s something much gnarlier about David’s Hellboy.”

On Ron Perlman’s Performance: “In the del Toro films, Hellboy is kind of penned up, and kept secret, and that is not what we have here [in the upcoming film]. This is truer to the comic, in that Hellboy’s been out in the world. He’s not a top-secret, hidden away guy. He’s an out-there-in-the-world, functioning, working adult. So you’ve got that working stiff, been there, done that vibe with Harbour, that you just couldn’t have with Ron because it was played so differently. [With Harbour’s Hellboy] there’s a little bit more angsty, find-your-place-in-the-world, a frustration with his role.”