'Hand of God': Ron Perlman Says Talking to God is 'Overwhelming'

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Sons of Anarchy alum Ron Perlman has chosen Amazon as his first post-SoA series regular role, and like Clay Morrow before him, Perlman’s Pernell Harris — the central figure of Amazon’s just-released drama Hand of God — is going to invoke some strong reactions from viewers.

Namely: Is powerful, and corrupt, judge Pernell slipping into madness as he tries to deal with his son’s suicide attempt after a pair of devastating events in the family? Or, in his grief, has Pernell found a new spirituality that will either see him through the tragedies, or quicken what could be a dooming downward spiral? Perlman, who co-stars with a stellar lineup that includes Garret Dillahunt, Dana Delany, and The Wire alum Andre Royo, talks to Yahoo TV about why the role of Judge Harris lured him back to the small screen, what he found overwhelming about the role, and how he’s trying to prepare himself for the instant feedback social media will provide on his sure-to-be-binge-watched new series.

What attracted you to the role of Pernell?
Oh my God. I mean, the same thing that would attract you to playing Macbeth or King Lear. He’s got these characteristics that make him a contemporary version of something regal… he has that kind of outlying power over the community, and here he is breaking down in this moment where his entire skill set, which is rather formidable, still falls short of giving him what he needs to square up the fact that he’s about to lose the one thing that is inconceivable for him to lose, which is his only son.

When you first read the pilot, did you know a lot more of where this story would go in the first season?
I knew nothing. I knew through the last line of the pilot. Having done TV before, I’m OK with only knowing what I need to know as we go along. Maybe it’s a superstitious impulse on my part where I’d rather not know… because once you know, then you’re in danger of getting canceled or shut down. I just felt like the amount of stuff that was given to me, episode by episode, was so formidable that to get ahead of myself might have been somewhat overwhelming. I did not feel as though this was a situation where I needed to be any more overwhelmed than I already was.

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What did you find most overwhelming?
Just the pain this character is going through, the confusion the character’s going through, the grappling with this influx of Biblical sensibility that he’s digesting and spewing back out. The signals that he’s getting that are completely irrational, when he’s been somebody who, basically, has traded on rationality his whole life. Those are some very, very non-logical things for an actor to hang his hat on. So I approached the material with a great deal of trepidation and humility, because I felt like without authenticity it would all be a waste.

Did you feel it was important for you to decide whether it is God talking to Pernell, or if he is experiencing some sort of insanity?
I like the ambiguity of it. I actually feel like the act of talking to God is more about faith than it is about whether there is a God or not. It’s a personalized thing that one does when one needs to believe in something that he can’t see, touch, or feel. Pernell is finally in a situation where the one last thing he has to grapple with is faith, so whether God truly exists or not is a question even Pernell’s not able to answer. The only thing he’s able to control is his level of faith, and then he takes what he gets commensurate with that. What he ends up getting, which we share with the audience, are these voices. Is he [hearing them] because he’s losing his grasp, or are they actually coming from some greater being?

How do you feel about the fact that viewers can binge-watch this whole first season?
I’ve never been in that situation before. I’m used to waiting from one week to another to find out what the verdict is. This thing drops all 10 episodes on Sept. 4, and by Sept. 5, there’s going to be a whole lot of people who will tell me what they thought of Season 1. I really don’t know how I feel about that.

You’re already active on Twitter. Is that one of the ways you’ll get some instant feedback on Hand of God?
It’s nice to have something about which to tweet. It’s also nice to just tweet some random thought that crosses your mind that you feel compelled, that everyone on the entire planet must be aware of. [Laughs.] If you’re putting a product out into the universe that’s seen by people, the great thing about social media is that the feedback will be immediate and will be vast. We’ll know right away whether we’ve touched off a nerve or whether this is a clunker. It’s undeniable. People will tell you how they feel. So [ask me] about this around Sept. 20. I could be in a rubber room by then.

Your memoir, Easy Street (the Hard Way) was one of the most entertaining celeb reads from last year. Any plans for a follow-up?
No. It’s going to take me a while to have more to say. That one was pretty much up to speed on where I am in my life right now. I never even knew I had that one book in me, so I’m not thinking about the next one. I will say that the paperback version comes out Sept. 30, so maybe there’ll be a whole new interest in it. I don’t know. And guess what the biggest bookseller in the world is?

What a coincidence.

Hand of God Season 1 is streaming on Amazon Prime.