Now in theaters, the inspiring film Day of the Fight, which was written and directed by Jack Huston, follows the once-renown boxer, Mike Flannigan (Michael C. Pitt), as he is ready to step back into the ring for the first time since leaving prison. He undertakes a journey of redemption through the streets of Brooklyn, reconnecting with his friends and family to make amends for his past misdeeds, risking it all for the most important fight of his life.

Golden Globe winning actor Ron Perlman plays the role of boxing trainer Stevie, mentor and surrogate father figure to Pitt’s Flannigan.

Recently, Perlman spoke with SciFi Vision about working on the film, if he still learns new things as an actor during projects, what he looks for in roles, and much more.

Watch the interview and read the transcript below.



SCIFI VISION:   To start off, talk about how did you become involved in it? What was it that made you want to do it?

RON PERLMAN:   Jack Huston. Two words. He and I met on a movie some time ago, 10, 15 years ago.

The movie shall remain nameless, as it was when we made it, but we found out that we were two guys that liked each other's company a lot. So, we stayed friends.

And when he approached me about the fact that he was very close to getting the financing together for his very first, his directorial debut of a movie that he actually wrote himself, I just was so delighted for him. He's one of these guys you really root for, because he's such a beautiful dude, and the fact that he wanted me to be there for him was a delightful notion. And it turned out that it was a part that I ended up falling in love with as well. That was a fringe benefit, but I wouldn't have needed that in order to just say, “Yes, Jack, I'm here. I'm doing this.”

SCIFI VISION:   Talk about working with him as a director, and is it hard being directed, I guess, by somebody who you are friends with?

RON PERLMAN:   No, I think most of us are compartmentalizers, whether we acknowledge it or not, or realize it or not, particularly actors. I'm able to compartmentalize whatever situation I'm in. That's the situation I'm in. I don't try not to bring any extra baggage or any extra history to it that's going to get in the way of what is happening in the moment. And so what was happening in the moment was Jack was overseeing the playing of these scenes, and my job was to be one less problem for him, to get him what he needed as quickly and as seamlessly as I possibly could. That was my job. So, I had forgotten about [it], although our friendship was so deep and my adoration for him was so pronounced that it was a pleasure to do that.

SCIFI VISION:   Yeah, I was going to say, it's amazing. This is his first film that he's directed, and it's done really well. So, talk about your character's relationship with Mike, because he's sort of a surrogate father in this sense.

RON PERLMAN:   Yeah, well, you find out in the exchanges that they have in the early scenes between Stevie and Mike at the gym, which are earlier in the day on the day of the fight, that the kid walked in there 25 years ago. He was like 14 years old, and the minute Stevie had a look at him, he realized this is one of the ones that may be able to go all the way. This is not just a kid coming to a gym to get boxing lessons, because his dad's telling him to. This is somebody who has got the true grit and the determination and the talent. Then, of course, the more Stevie learns about him, the more he realizes he comes from a troubled home.

So, just by elimination, Stevie is asked to become more to him than just a boxing coach, but maybe like a surrogate guide through life, maybe even a surrogate dad through life. So, there's a beautiful friendship and love for one another on top of the professional relationship they have.

SCIFI VISION:   Talk about working with Michael Pitt.

RON PERLMAN:   Michael Pitt, I cannot articulate how much I admire what he does in this movie and his approach. It's as brave, as raw, as unstudied, as uncontrolled as you can possibly be as an actor. And to get to the space where you're willing to do this, particularly with how vulnerable all of his scenes are, how emotional all of his scenes are, and to not blink when it comes to allowing yourself to be that uncontrolled and that raw is, from one actor to another, as admirable as it gets.

And when I realized how much he was investing himself in giving this incredibly heart-wrenching, difficult performance of a very flawed, difficult character, my approach was, “I'm just going to get on his wavelength and be there as someone who's reacting off of this thing, this special thing that he's exhibiting. That was my approach. It required no preparation. It required no rethought. It just required tuning to him and react[ing].

SCIFI VISION:   You talk about approaching it, going by what he did and reacting to him, but you've done so many films. I mean, I was looking and it’s almost close to 300 different projects. Do you still learn new things from an acting perspective when you go through a project?

RON PERLMAN:   I feel like I'm part of a process of, you know, where I want to try to get to as an actor. I feel like I was somebody who, when I was young, was very much into controlling his performances and kind of designing his performances, curating, and that as I grew older, I felt like the real goal was to relinquish control and to just see what happens when the camera's rolling. When you come in there, you have done your homework, you have read the script, you do know your lines, you do know your relationship to everybody.

But then when the camera's rolling, and you have to have the balls to, like, forget it all and let it go and see what happens. So, I feel like I'm kind of halfway through the process right now. I still feel like I'm a student of the game and I have a lot yet to learn and I have a lot of deeper places I'd like to get to as an actor, which is what makes it so beautiful for me to continue to be in the game, because, you know, to live in a sense of wonder is a privileged place to be, especially for an artist.

SCIFI VISION:   It stops it from being boring, that's for sure. Because you have done so many projects, is there anything in particular, just in general, that you look for when you decide - you know, other than knowing Jack, just in general - what you look for when deciding whether to do something or not?

RON PERLMAN:   Well, it first starts off with the world of the movie. You start reading it, and you start realizing, this is a world that I don't recognize. It's original. I don't know where it's going, where, as I'm turning the pages, I'm being surprised. That's number one.

And number two boils down to the character. Do I feel he's interesting enough and multidimensional enough to engage me in a real kind of battle to unearth who he is, what his humanity is? And is it somebody I want to hang out with for a period of time? And is it something I've never done before?

So, those are my criteria.

SCIFI VISION:   Was there anywhere other than the script that you pulled from as you were sort of creating the version of this character?

RON PERLMAN:   Well, I'm a massive fight fan, and I was lucky enough to be born in a time where I was able to watch the entire length and breadth of the career of Muhammad Ali, who was the greatest of all time and who exhibited all of the ups and downs that you can possibly, you know, list in the sweet science. And I not only was obsessed with what happened during the rounds that Muhammad was fighting, but also what happened between rounds in the corner.

So, I was a great student of that. So, I came into the project with a great deal of experience and knowledge of what the dynamics are that take place, like the ones that we were enacting in our movie.

SCIFI VISION:   Was there anything at all that you found difficulty with? Or was it just pretty easy for you, this role?

RON PERLMAN:   It was not either. It was not difficult, and it was not easy. It's never easy. But I don't remember having a lot of bad days. I don't remember having any bad days on this movie. So, that made it easy.

SCIFI VISION:   What's something you still would love to get to do in your career, a type of role or a character?

RON PERLMAN:   Tevye.

[crosstalk]

SCIFI VISION:   Do you have a favorite scene from this movie?

RON PERLMAN:   The last embrace with Mikey is something that I will never forget. It's a kind of culmination of everything about their relationship that I found beautiful and attractive.