Jack Huston makes his debut as a feature film writer/director inDay of the Fight, a new indie boxing drama starringBoardwalk Empire’s Michael C. Pittas Irish Mike, a disgraced fighter making his big comeback. Throughout the day of the fight, Irish Mike contacts various important people who are important to him, if not to reconnect, then at least to make peace before he takes on the fight of his life. The ensemble cast includes Nicolette Robinson, John Magaro, Steve Buscemi, and Joe Pesci.
Day of the Fightalso co-starsRon Perlmanas Stevie, Mike’s boxing trainer and de facto father figure. Perlman is best known for his transformational performance as the title character in Guillermo Del Toro’sHellboymovies, as well as the tough-as-nails biker patriarch in FX’s hit show,Sons of Anarchy. InDay of the Fight, he plays a tough, foul-mouthed patriarchal figure who nevertheless cares for his student. The term “tough love” is often thrown around by abrasive figures to excuse their abusive behavior, but Perlman’s nuanced performance truly embodies both sides of that well-worn phrase. He’s tough, sure, but he also has genuine love for Irish Mike.
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ScreenRantinterviewed Ron Perlman about his role inDay of the Fight. He spoke about the complex relationship between Stevie and Irish Mike and the theme of male vulnerability that permeates the film, and about how he loves starring in low-budget indie movies, where he’s always on the lookout for thenext Guillermo Del Toro project.
Ron Perlman On Playing A Complex Father Figure In Day Of The Fight
“It’s a tough world, the boxing world, and it’s a tough life, this life that we’re all living.”
Screen Rant: I got to talk to you years ago aboutThe Big Ugly, and now this. It’s nice to watch movies for grown-ups, right?
Ron Perlman: It’s nice to make them!
A big theme of the movie is the father/son dynamic between you and Michael Pitt’s character. You’re his trainer, not his father, but his relationship with his real father is juxtaposed against your character, and it’s really beautiful. When we first meet your character, you’re rough around the edges, abrasive, really tough. He might even be a jerk! But then you learn how close you really are.
Ron Perlman: The movie explores the uneasiness he has with his real father, and so having a surrogate father like Stevie becomes something that he’s very open to, and something he’s probably very much in need of. But yeah, it’s a tough world, the boxing world, and it’s a tough life, this life that we’re all living in. So your real friends are going to be reflective of that. The tough love that Stevie feels obligated to share with Mikey, is something that emanates out of that.
But it’s all for wanting the best for him. There’s nobody on the planet who roots for Mikey more than Stevie. And their relationship goes back 25 years. We talk about the fact in the movie that he walked into the gym for the first time when he was 14, and immediately, Stevie saw that this was a kid who could go all the way. So he gave him a special sort of attention, professionally, but also very personally.
It’s so interesting how the movie conveys that, juxtaposed against his real father, and how he wants that warmth from him. Do you think Mikey knows that he’s getting it from Stevie? That he’s getting the relationship he wanted with his real father? Or does he draw a line between his “real” life and his work life?
Ron Perlman: I think he hopes that he’s reaching Stevie in a way that is beneficial and youthful. No one ever really knows… Love is an inexact science, and I think part of what’s beautiful about the movie is, we do our best, and we hope for the best, but we don’t always know whether we’re hitting our target or not. That’s kind of a vulnerability that mirrors what Jack is trying to get at in the story.
Let’s go back a bit. Who approached you? Did Jack reach out and go, “Hey, I’ve got a movie, I want you to read it,” or does your agent send you an e-mail, “Hey kid, you gotta read this!” How does that go for you?
Ron Perlman: We were in a steam bath together. No, I’m joking. No, Jack and I worked on a movie a long time ago in Canada, called The Outlander, and we became fast pals on that, and maintained a very close relationship ever since, always with the notion that it would be great to find a way to work together again. Little did I know, he was going to write a script as beautiful as Day of the Fight, and then approach me with the idea of perhaps taking on the role of Mikey’s trainer. And so, uh, I am the recipient of a great deal of generosity and trust in his very first directorial movie. To be picked to be part of his cast is an honor, and not something to be taken lightly.
Day Of The Fight’s Ron Perlman On His Extensive History With Indie Filmmaking
“There’s a lot of young people on the set, and that infuses you with feeling young yourself.”
I love black and white. New York City in black and white is really something special. When you are performing with the knowledge that it’s going to be in black and white, does that perfect your performance at all? Or is it all, whether you’re on film or digital or color or whatever, is it all the same to your performance?
Ron Perlman: Acting is acting, whether it’s with camera, without camera, on stage, in a soundbooth using just your voice… Your job is to get lost in the character you’re playing, and try to make the audience feel as though this is a character that really exists in life, and then all of the outer trappings of it never come into play, in terms of those concerns.
You’ve done so many big, blockbuster movies. Tell me about the difference when doing an indie like this.
Ron Perlman: Well, if you check the list of my credits, you’ll find that maybe 75% or 85% of it is low-budget indies. I love working in that setting, where the resources are scarce and the time is precious. There’s a level of enthusiasm. Everyone on the set, they’re not there for the paycheck, they’re there for the love of the game. And that… That makes for a very energetic and exciting environment to work in.
No one is looking at their wristwatch. Nobody is walking from place to place. They’re running! There’s a lot of young people on the set, and that infuses you with feeling young, yourself. I actually, you know, there’s a reason why most of my career is low-budget indie. The very first low-budget indie I ever worked on was a movie called Cronos, for a young filmmaker nobody had ever heard of, called Guillermo Del Toro. And I’ve been in search of another Guillermo ever since.
Incredible. For my last question, I want to go back a few years before Cronos, when you were on an episode of my all-time favorite show. All respect toSons of Anarchy, but I’m aMiami Viceguy.
Ron Perlman: (Laughs) Okay, I didn’t think you were gonna pull that one out of your ass!
Can you talk about working in Miami, hanging out with those guys, and the man who would be Lawrence Fishburne?
Ron Perlman: Lawrence Fishburne is one of the fond memories of that experience, as is Edward James Olmos. I knew that I was working on a storied show that had a voracious following, so, your game level goes up under circumstances like that. But I made a couple of friends for life on that show, even though it was very brief.
More About Day Of The Fight (Originally Premiered 2023)
A once-celebrated boxer is about to fight for the first time since leaving prison. To prepare, he takes a redemptive journey through the streets of Brooklyn, reconnecting with those he loves the most. While trying to right the wrongs of his past, he risks everything for the fight of his life.
Day of the Fight
Cast
Day of the Fight follows a former renowned boxer as he navigates a journey of redemption through his past and present on the day of his first fight since being released from prison.
