Ron Perlman and director Jean-Jacques Annaud have shared behind-the-scenes stories from the making of the medieval murder mystery The Name of the Rose, including how Perlman ended up spitting in Sean Connery's face 16 times during filming.
Director's vision and casting
Jean-Jacques Annaud said he was drawn to the project after reading about a book with great reviews in Italy, a murder mystery about monks in the middle ages fighting for the fictional missing part of Aristotle's Poetics. He said: "This is for me." Annaud had been fascinated with medieval and religious architecture since childhood, and Aristotle's Poetics is his favourite literary work.
Annaud met the author, Umberto Eco, in France for one night and drove him to Charles de Gaulle airport. He recalled Eco's shadow on the hotel staircase looking like the silhouette of Sherlock Holmes, and Eco meeting him wearing a deerstalker with a pipe in his mouth. In the car, Annaud asked about details like the shoes Franciscans would have worn, whether monks would have had beards, and the colour of pigs. Eco replied: "I don't know, I didn't have to write any of that." Annaud ended up hiring medievalist Jacques Le Goff and seven of his colleagues to ensure accuracy in costumes, architecture, liturgy, and other details.
Sean Connery's arrival
Annaud wanted an unknown actor to play William of Baskerville, the friar who investigates the deaths, and travelled the world to watch plays featuring great actors in their 50s. Meanwhile, agent Mike Ovitz kept calling, saying Sean Connery would love to make the movie. Eventually, Connery arrived at Annaud's door with the screenplay under his arm, said "Listen, boy …" and started reading. Annaud said he had goose bumps because Connery's delivery matched what he had heard in his head while reading the book.
Annaud flew to Vienna to look at paintings by Bruegel the Elder for inspiration, wanting to portray real people of the period, though he also cast some good-looking monks. Christian Slater auditioned for the young novice Adso, admitting he hadn't learned his lines because he got drunk. The casting director, Mary Jo, was furious and tried to send him away, but Annaud wanted him. Slater was only 16 but looked 14, and it turned out he was Mary Jo's son. Annaud had three women selected to audition for the part of the nameless girl from the village, but Slater fell in love with the first, Valentina Vargas, after a screen test, so Annaud never saw the other two.
On-set incidents
The production built a vast set on a hilltop near Rome for the monastery and village. During the scene where the library tower burns, Connery's cowl briefly caught fire, and a big piece of real timber fell on Feodor Chaliapin Jr, who played the blind monk, knocking him to the ground. Chaliapin said: "I'm 80 years old, I don't mind dying. Was the take good?" He went to hospital and had a scar, forcing a change in schedule.
After four months in Rome, Annaud returned to his production office in Munich and couldn't find it. He discovered the film's producer, Bernd Eichinger, in the cellar with his feet on a table. Eichinger said: "JJ, I didn't want to disturb you during the shoot, but I sold the building to help pay for the movie."
Perlman's role and spitting scene
Ron Perlman, who played Salvatore, said his first film, Quest for Fire, was directed by Jean-Jacques, and he played a caveman. When he read that Jean-Jacques had attached himself to The Name of the Rose, he found the character Salvatore – an intellectually challenged hunchback who spoke in a jumble of seven languages – and told Jean-Jacques the part would be a dream come true.
Jean-Jacques gave Perlman complete freedom to figure out his dialogue. The Name of the Rose had been published in 80 languages, so Perlman got copies in the seven that Umberto Eco has Salvatore referencing, and circled every time Salvatore spoke. He then selected words from different languages to create Salvatore's speech.
Perlman worked with a dialect coach who was also a historian. The coach suggested the lullaby that Salvatore sings when he's burned at the stake. Jean-Jacques had the idea that Salvatore was so out of touch with reality that he was initially amused to be in that situation, and the lullaby gave a sense of childlike wonder.
Perlman only had to wear the prosthetic hump once, filming the scene where Salvatore is about to be tortured by F Murray Abraham as the inquisitor, Bernardo Gui. He was in the makeup chair for more than 13 hours, and his hair was shaved so it looked like he had mange. They said: "Good luck with your personal life, my friend."
Perlman spent every moment he could with Sean Connery, watching him act and listening to his stories. When it came to the scene where he had to spit in Connery's eye, he couldn't do it. Connery took him aside and said: "Ron, if you don't actually spit in my face, we'll be here all fucking day." Perlman finally let one fly, but because the scene had to be recreated from multiple angles, he ended up spitting in Connery's face 16 times that day.
The Name of the Rose is available now on digital and limited edition 4K UHD and Blu-ray (Second Sight Films).
