Ron Perlman:

"Guillermo (del Toro) had dinner with me moments after he had dinner with Mike Mignola for the first time and said, 'I just acquired the rights to this comic book that I love called Hellboy, and I'd like to introduce you to him because in a perfect world, you'd be the guy playing him.' I said, 'Well how big a movie does it need to be?' He said, 'Ninety million dollars.' I went, 'Good luck to you. I'd rather not meet Hellboy. I'd rather not know any more about Hellboy because I'm probably never going to play him. And you don't wanna fall in love with a girl only to see some other guy walk down the aisle with her. So, he, having impeccable respect for my opinion, immediately brought me to Meltdown, which is a comic book store on Sunset Blvd. and said, 'Well you're going to look at Hellboy whether you want to or not.' He grabbed me by the back of the hair and said, 'Look! Look! There he is!' And I met Hellboy and I went, 'Hmm, interesting.' And then forgot it. It took six years before Guillermo goes, 'Well, my friend, I have some interesting news for you.'"