With his grizzled presence, unique face and a voice so deep that, with the right sound system, you can feel in your bones, it’s always good to see Ron Perlman in a movie, even if his career has been made up of more films like “Mutant Chronicles” than “City of Lost Children” or “Quest for Fire.” But he’s been winning new fans as the patriarch on the acclaimed FX biker drama “Sons of Anarchy,” and he’s just lined up a role in one of our hotly tipped films for next year.
According to Screen Daily, Perlman is the latest addition to the crackerjack cast of Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive,” joining Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Albert Brooks, Oscar Isaac, Christina Hendricks and Bryan Cranston. In case you missed the synopsis, the film’s a hard-boiled crime thriller about a Hollywood stunt driver who doubles as a getaway driver, who gets in over his head when he agrees to help the ex-con husband of his beautiful neighbor.
The report doesn’t state which role the actor will take, but those of us who’ve read the outstanding script were discussing it last night, and we reckon Perlman will either take on the role of Shannon, a garage owner and the mentor of Gosling’s Driver, or Cook, who organizes a heist that Driver gets involved with. Neither are perfect fits on the page for Perlman: Cook is written as much younger, while “Breaking Bad” star Cranston was previously thought to be taking on the role of Shannon (although Perlman is a better fit, age-wise).
Having said all that, we’re sure the script has undergone revisions since the date of the draft we have, so the character could’ve been tweaked to fit Perlman’s talents. Nevertheless, Perlman’s another fine addition to one of the most enticing casts of next year. Filming begins in 10 days.