Hellboy's Ron Perlman, Guillermo del Toro and Doug Jones at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention copyright Sue Schneider
© 2004 Sue Schneider
HELLBOY and DAWN OF THE DEAD invade convention
By: Sue Schneider and Steven KlotzDate: Tuesday, February 17, 2004
On February 7th and 8th Bruce Schwartz held his monthly convention, but this time comic book fans and science fiction fans invaded the Pasadena Civic instead of the Shrine Auditorium.
Fans filled the seats to hear the comic book writers and artists of the SIMPSONS and FUTURAMA talk about the books and the show. Also previewed was the Cartoon Network's TEEN TITANS. But what the fans were really waiting for was Universal's DAWN OF THE DEAD and Columbia Pictures HELLBOY.
First up was DAWN OF THE DEAD, after viewing the trailer, which I have to say makes me want to see the film, (I loved the original one) the stars of the film Jake Weber (Michael), Ty Burrell (Steve Markus), Kevin Zegers (Terry), Ken Foree (The Preacher). And yes Ken was in the original l978 movie and starred as Peter Washington. They were joined by Zack Snyder (director) and Eric Newman (producer).
Around 4:00pm the stars of HELLBOY: Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Doug Jones ("Abe" Sapien) and director Guillermo del Toro took over the convention. The fans went wild when the trailer was shown.
Here are some highlights from both panels and the questions all came from the fans...just for all you Cinescape readers.
Q: Can you give us some background on how you got attached to the project?
Eric: I wanted to make a Zombie movie with a studio budget. DAWN OF THE DEAD was a title that meant a lot of Universal. I started working on acquiring the right in 2000/2001. Zack was the first director I met with one I had the script. Zack had an appreciation for what made George Romero's movies good.
Zack: I had been talking about making a movie of a comic book called DEAD WORLD. James Gunn had a great script. It has a personality and voice of its own. I think Romero made a movie he'd want to see. That's what I'm trying to do with this one.
Eric: What I didn't want to do was make a super slick, Michael Bay version. We used makeup effects extensively. There is no Celine Dion soundtrack. Tyler Bates is doing the music. Everyone is great actor and it's very much an anti-studio movie.
Q: Can everyone give a description of their character?
Kevin: Terry, he's mall security staff. He's a nervous jittery little kid that turns out to be a pretty cool character.
Jake: Michael, he sells TV's at Best Buy. He feels lost in the world until the world goes to hell.
Ty: Steve Marcus and I get the impression that he's just horribly inconvenienced by the end of world. I originally read for the role of Michael by the way.
Eric: And it's great to have Tom Savini and Ken from the original movie.
Ken: I play a preacher. I spent a day on the set in Toronto while they were filming the gunshot scene. I enjoyed spending some time with Ving Rhames. Once when I was doing a convention, I was asked who I would like to play my character. I mentioned Ving Rhames, Samuel L. Jackson, and Will Smith.
Q: Can everyone tell us what their favorite horror films is?
Eric: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, ALIEN, BODY SNATCHERS, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (original) and BRAIN DEAD.
Zack: THE THING (Carpenter), THE SHINING, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.
Kevin: THE EXORCIST, THE OMEN, THE SHINING.
Jake: CARRIE, THE SHINING.
Ty: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, THE SHINING, FRIDAY THE 13TH, and
THE THING.
Ken: THE THING, HALLOWEEN, FRANKENSTEIN, ALIEN, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.
Eric: We are proud of our movie. We are all fans of the original and we hope you'll like ours.
Zack: We just got our R [rating].
Q: Ron, what draws you to certain roles?
Ron: Everything has chosen me.
Guillermo: If I'm going to fuck up, I want to fuck up on my own stuff.
Doug: I looked like my character.
Guillermo: The day before we started shooting we had an actor in the "Abe" costume, and I said, "Fuck that, bring me Doug Jones" ... On his birthday I hanged him by his nuts! (laughs)
Q: What did the makeup feel like?
Ron: It feels different in February than in August.
Doug: You know what you're getting yourself into.
Ron: I've done work in the mask and out of it. I like working in the mask. The final decision about the character comes from an artist. It's kind of trippy.
Q: What's up with the look of Baby HELLBOY?
Guillermo: The one in the movie has testicles. The current Baby HELLBOY will only be in the movie. He will have hair.
Q: How much total time did you spend getting makeup put on?
Ron: 93 days...four hours a day except for the six days I was filmed with my shirt off, those took six hours. Do the math.
Q: How can you convey emotion through all the makeup?
Guillermo: They make the prosthetic as thin as possible. Acting with makeup is an art-form.
Ron: I'd like to take a moment and just thank Rick Baker for the makeup!
Q: Will the use of shadow correspond with Mike Mignola's?
Guillermo: Mike himself has admitted to cheating this. He'll draw HELLBOY in shadows even if he's in the middle of a well lit room, but this is basically impossible to recreate on film. There will be scenes in an urban setting that weren't in the comic, so the lighting can be expected to be different. The color pallet for the movie is taken from the comics.
Q: Any more comic movies?
Guillermo: THE COFFIN. I want to do it 3D. Hollywood judges you on your last movie. They looked at MIMIC and CRONOS and said I couldn't do action. Making BLADE II got me HELLBOY.
Q: Were there a lot of stuntman used?
Ron: No stuntmen...75 stuntmen...there were five stunt men.
Guillermo: You have one stunt man that is good at falling. One that is good at landing. And Ron who is good at acting. (laughter)
Q: How did you sell this to the studio?
Guillermo: It took five-and-a-half years. I had to deal with executives wanting stupid shit. Does he have to be red? Can he just be real tan? Does he have to have those goggles? He's not going to have a tail is he? Do your movie with your balls and your heart and people will come. You do not reason with any fucking executive.
Q: What will the soundtrack be like?
Guillermo: You're not going to get any of the top five fucking pop. A lot of stuff is what HELLBOY would listen to, Al Green for example. He wouldn't listen to black metal.
Q: Is Pancakes in the movie?
Guillermo: The word is in dialogue, but it will definitely be in the sequel.
Q: Any other influences?
Guillermo: Expressionistic lighting. Harry Howsing fight scenes. This movie is very different than most.
Q: Did any of you know anything about HELLBOY before you started the project?
Doug: I was cast late. I had no experience with comics. I was given the script and three graphics novels, with less than a day before shooting to decide if I wanted the role.
Ron: Guillermo introduced me to HELLBOY. He said, "in a perfect world, you would be HELLBOY." I refused to get emotionally involved until I knew the project would happen.
Guillermo: I've been a fan of Mike Mignola for a long time. I first bought the HELLBOY comics for the images, and paid little attention to the story. When I went back later and read the story, I knew there was something there.
At this point they cut off the questions, but Guillermo decided to show the fans the poster that was unfinished. Then row-after-row fans were given a poster signed by everyone...hey even we got one.
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