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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Annabel Nugent and Sam Moore

‘F*** you and your self-importance’: Don’t Look Up star Ron Perlman hits back at film’s critics

Getty Images

Ron Perlman has strong words for the critics of his latest film Don’t Look Up.

Perlman starred opposite Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio in Adam McKay’s Netflix film, which was released in December last year.

The 71-year-old played military officer Benedict Drask, who is chosen by the US government to be sent into space on a mission to stop a comet from colliding with earth – before the mission is aborted when it’s discovered that the comet might be worth trillions of dollars.

Don’t Look Up received mixed reviews from critics and viewers, and currently has a 55 per cent audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Speaking to The Independent, Perlman opened up about his feelings towards the film’s detractors.

“F*** you and your self-importance and this self-perpetuating need to say everything bad about something just so that you can get some attention for something that you had no idea about creating,” said the actor.

Perlman – best known for his role in the Hellboy franchise – continued: “It’s corrupt. And it’s sick. And it’s twisted.”

He said, however, that he “understands that it’s part of how the internet has almost killed journalism. And now journalism is trying to do everything they can to co-opt and maintain their importance.”

Ron Perlman in ‘Don’t Look Up' (Niko Tavernise/Netflix)

In The Independent’s four-star review, which you can read here, Clarisse Loughrey called the movie a “punchy, funny satire”.

Other critics were less impressed. A review for The Hollywood Reporter condemned the movie as a “tiresome doomsday whoopee cushion”.

Elsewhere in the interview with Perlman, which will be available to read in full tomorrow, Perlman discussed his views on Republicans and anti-vaxxers.

He also spoke about his friendship with director Guillermo del Toro, with whom he most recently worked in the new crime thriller Nightmare Alley.

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