Before ‘Game of Thrones,’ George R. R. Martin Worked on This Forgotten 56-Episode Fantasy Series

It’s safe to say Ron Perlman has solidified himself as an icon of pop culture through some seriously imposing roles. He’s played Slade in Teen Titans, The Lich in Adventure Time, Clay Morrow in Sons of Anarchy, and, of course, Hellboy. He’s also been a longtime collaborator of Guillermo del Toro, appearing in films including Cronos, Pacific Rim, and the Hellboy movies. But one of Perlman’s most surprising roles came long before Hellboy — on a fantasy series that also counted future Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin among its writers and producers.

Ron Perlman’s Fantasy Breakout Came Long Before ‘Hellboy’

One thing Perlman is known for is disappearing beneath heavy prosthetics. He did it in his film debut, the 1981 Jean-Jacques Annaud film Quest for Fire, in which he plays Amoukar in full Neanderthal makeup while speaking a made-up prehistoric language. He did it again in The Name of the Rose, The Island of Dr. Moreau, Star Trek: Nemesis, and, most famously, Hellboy and Hellboy II: The Golden Army. But years before the latter made him a genre icon, Perlman spent three seasons under prosthetics for a very different fantasy role.

Long before Hellboy thrust Perlman into the spotlight of mainstream nerd culture, he had already found his breakout performance. His role in Beauty and the Beast earned him a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series in 1989, and Perlman wasn’t the only future fantasy icon involved. Years before A Game of Thrones was published, Martin was working behind the scenes on CBS’ Beauty and the Beast, making the 1987–1990 series an intriguing early chapter in both men’s careers.

‘Beauty and the Beast’ Was a TV Cult Classic in an Era Full of Them

Image via CBS

Beauty and the Beast ran on CBS from 1987 to 1990 and follows Linda Hamilton as sharp-witted DA Catherine, the Beauty of the story, and Perlman as Vincent, the soulful, timid beast-man who lives beneath New York City with a secret society of outcasts and misfits known as The World Below. Most of the show follows the struggle of a deep, literally telepathic relationship between two wildly different worlds, along with the recurring villains and issues of the week that come with it, before getting grittier toward the end.

George R. R. Martin was a writer and producer on the show years before A Game of Thrones was published. Martin joined Beauty and the Beast in 1987 and eventually rose through its producing ranks, making the series a notable part of his pre-Thrones television career — apparently, he went on to write a fantasy book or two of some significance. The series has since gained a cult following, and it’s easy to see why. While at its core it’s a fantasy series with heavy elements of mystery and thrills, there’s something about Beauty and the Beast that just makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

That rests largely on Vincent and his interactions with everyone around him. It’s, for my money, Perlman’s most wholesome character, despite being a giant man with the characteristics of a lion and the strength to match. Jokes about resembling a Maine Coon aside, Perlman makes Vincent an unusually gentle romantic lead. He’s someone who deserves to be happy, who we want to succeed in love, and whose relationship with Catherine gives the series much of its emotional pull. Hellboy may be a big softy deep inside, but Vincent wears that softness much closer to the surface.

Ron Perlman Brings Back the True Moral of ‘Beauty and the Beast’

Image via CBS

Hellboy, Slade, The Lich, Clay Morrow — in one word: badass. This makes sense. When you’re on the taller side and have a voice like Perlman’s, you can easily be pigeonholed as a tough guy. And when you have the one-and-only Rick Baker doing your prosthetics, Vincent absolutely could’ve been another variation on that persona. After all, the brooding, rage-filled beast makes a common appearance when adapting the Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve story. That’s how they did the 2012 sort-of reboot of the show; in fact, Disney’s Beast a year later was meaner at the outset. It would’ve made perfect sense for Perlman to do the same thing, especially because he’s undeniably good at it.

The secret ingredient of Beauty and the Beast is that Vincent doesn’t become that character. He has a temper, absolutely, but it isn’t something love magically overcomes; it’s something he personally struggles with without losing his inherent gentleness. In both his animalistic appearance and his dramatic yet sensitive nature, Vincent is most similar to Jean Marais as the Beast in the 1946 Jean Cocteau film, which similarly understands that the core moral of the story is to love the flawed, or what society perceives as flawed. Beautifully, Vincent never changes into a prince, because he was one all along.

Sappy lines aside, Beauty and the Beast remains one of the most revealing performances of Perlman’s career. The imposing presence, unmistakable voice, and elaborate prosthetics are all there, but Vincent’s defining quality is his gentleness. Decades before Hellboy made Perlman a fantasy icon, this cult series proved just how much more he could do with the qualities audiences would eventually associate with his toughest characters.