Apparently, Ron Perlman and Charlie Hunnam can’t get enough of working together. After filming FX’s hit drama Sons of Anarchy for the last five years, they also appear together in Jordan Robert’s small independent film Frankie Go Boom and in Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim—one of the anticipated summer 2013 blockbusters.

Is this a fortuitous coincidence, a concerted effort or a severe case of one actor stalking the other? I was determined to get to the bottom of this while I was able to tap into both Perlman and Hunnam during San Diego’s Comic-Con.

Ron Perlman jokes he’s worked in his contract a clause that he must work with Hunnam.

During the Sons of Anarchy press conference, I hit Perlman first.  “It’s in my contract. We don’t make a movie without each other. If you look, we’re even color coordinated today,” he joked, then got serious. “It’s just a happy coincidence. He turns me on to a bunch of people that he’s working with. He gets turned on, not by me, to a number of people that I usually work with.”

Katey Sagal, who was sitting next to Perlman, doesn’t skip a beat. “Frankie Go Boom. I think you’re both turned on by each other,” she teased, giving him a hug.

Did I fail to mention Perlman plays “Phyllis,” a lovely (transgender) woman who has a thing for Hunnam’s character?  Hold onto that image a little longer. Hunnam had some interesting things to say about Ron’s character that we’ll get back to soon.

I felt compelled to compliment Perlman about how great he looked in Frankie Goes Boom—I mean, the transformation had to take so much effort—and he offered me a humorous, “We’ll talk.”  But soon, he turned more serious and introspective again while discussing how he views his ongoing working relationship with Hunnam.

“Everybody aspires to a familiar element of having a troupe that kind of travels through life together, where we all get a chance to play in different arenas. It’s like a team,” Perlman explained. “For the last couple of years, we have been in the same traveling team that does various things, not just one thing. It’s interesting to see each other in different lights.”

The two film projects couldn’t be any more different and although Perlman is known to be a jokester (as he kidded in his statement), I was impressed by the seriousness of his tone, which to me is an indication of the respect he feels for Hunnam.

Charlie Hunnam claims responsibility for the casting of Ron Perlman as “Phyllis” in the indie Frankie Go Boom.

Next, I wondered how that casting connection came about because when most people think of Perlman, aside from Sons of Anarchy, they think of the Hellboy movies.  It turns out Hunnam played a direct role in connecting Roberts with Perlman.

“They couldn’t find the right guy to play this transsexual who falls madly in love with the main character, which is me,” Hunnam said. “I just said–laughs hard–‘listen, it’s crazy and he’s going to be the ugliest woman you’ll ever see but should we send this to Ron and see if Ron wants to do it?’ And the director was like ‘oh my God, that it’s a brilliant idea’.”

Now that the idea had been planted and accepted, Hunnam got busy. “I thought I was going to send it to Ron, instead I called him. I said, ‘Listen, I have this role; I’m not going to preface anything, like just read it. You’re going to say no but just read it. Hopefully, at least you’ll get a laugh,’” he explained. “I thought I was going to get a call like two hours later and be like ‘you’re out of your fucking mind bro, like, I don’t know what you’re thinking!’’’

At that point, I had to hear the conclusion, because it begged to be heard, and Hunnam shared in great detail.

“And he (Perlman) called me. He said: ‘How did you know?’”

–“How did I know, what?”

–“That I always wanted to play a woman!”

There you have it folks!  You can thank Hunnam for such an interesting and fun casting choice. As he goes on to reveal more details about the project, I’m amused at the fact he can barely contain his laughter. “That it’s psychotic…that stuff. We’re slow dancing. It’s wrong, that giant caveman face with lipstick on, a pearl necklace, in a silk kimono, smoking pot and trying to blow it into my mouth… and follow through with a French kiss. For fans of Sons of Anarchy to see that, they are going to be like, what has happened?”

According to Hunnam, “Frankie Go Boom” cost approximately $400,000 to make and was shot in 20 days.

Indeed, it’s a dramatic change from the good ol’ Clay and Jax Teller dynamics Sons of Anarchy fans are used to seeing, but it sounds incredibly funny. However, in the midst of this joking around, the love and admiration these two actors feel for each other as professionals and friends is clear. “It’s an unlikely and quite a fun partnership we seem to have developed,” Hunnam stated.

Frankie Go Boom cost approximately $400,000 to make and was shot in 20 days in Los Angeles. It also stars Chris O’Dowd and Lizzy Caplan, and its theatrical release has been announced for October 2012 (VOD on September 10, 2012).  The grand-scale Pacific Rim was filmed in the massive Pinewood Toronto Studios and boasts a start-studded cast that also includes Idris Elba, Charlie Day, Clifton Collins Jr., and Rinko Kikuchi. Pacific Rim will hit theatres on July 12, 2013.

Season five of Sons of Anarchy premieres Tuesday, September 11, 2012. For more on the show visit: http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/soa/. On Twitter, follow @SonsofAnarchy, @sutterink, @FXNetworks, and tweet using the hashtag #SOAFX.

For more information about Pacific Rim, visit: http://www.legendary.com/films/pacific-rim/. Follow @LegendaryEnt on Twitter.

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