Ron Perlman — the gruff-voiced star of Hollywood's blockbuster "Hellboy" movies — says Hillary Clinton belongs in the White House and believes Donald Trump is flabbergasted that he's risen to the top of the GOP presidential pack.
"Donald Trump is probably the most surprised that he's where he is right now," Perlman said Wednesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV.
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"My theory about him is that, like in 2012, he probably figured he'd be in it three, four weeks tops, get some juice out of it, go on a book tour, get a new deal with NBC, whatever it was going to yield.
"And here he now finds himself as the front-runner, [and] never put together an infrastructure or anything like that."
But while the billionaire developer may continue his meteoric rise in the polls, he'll never make it to the White House, predicted Perlman, author of
"Easy Street (The Hard Way)," written with Michael Largo and published by Da Capo Press.
"He could win the nomination. He can't win the general [election]. His base isn't big enough. His base is very specific … people who basically feel as though the last eight years have been a complete abject failure."
Perlman who calls himself a lifelong Democrat, doesn't share that belief and supports Hillary Clinton, with whom "I actually have been very, very impressed," as the next commander-in-chief.
"I don't agree with her on everything, but in terms of who I see having the bona fides to sit across from pretty much anybody in the world … she's going to come across and have a real smart, well-informed, and incredibly intelligent way of gaining leverage over them for the greater good of the American people," he said.
Perlman — a Golden Globe winner who starred as a loveable demon turned superhero in "Hellboy" and "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" and appeared in the TV hits "Beauty and the Beast" and "Sons of Anarchy" — grew up on the tough streets of Washington Heights in New York City.
He never imagined he'd become such a runaway success, earning a Golden Globe and winning fans around the world.
"It was long and winding but it worked out pretty good at the end of the day, worked out. Very blessed, very blessed," said Perlman, 65.
"In fact, the memoir was a combination of a lot of things but very, very much a kind of a gratitude tour of just saying, 'Oh my God, this worked out way better than I ever expected it.' I don't know who to thank, so I'm going to just put it out into the universe."
Asked if he is bothered by the heavy makeup he often wears and disguises his real face, Perlman joked:
"Looking back now, I wish it was covered all the time. There's nothing better than going to the mailbox and getting a residual check for a job you did and then being able to go to the grocery store and nobody knows who the heck you are!
"I like the normalcy of it all. I'm not complaining. I don't mind the byproduct of being stopped and people wanting to just love you. Anybody who denies the seductivity of that is lying to you."
Aside from his acting chores, the 6-foot-1 father of two also works as a director, animator and voiceover star.
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