Chris Avellone Says Ron Perlman Was "Too Expensive" for New Vegas Because Bethesda Made Him Repeat Iconic "War Never Changes" Phrase for Hour
Perlman claims he worked on Fallout 1 for "$40 and a sandwich."
Interplay
Even if you haven't played Fallout, you probably know the famous "War. War never changes" phrase that the series' narrator says again and again. The narrator, voiced by Ron Perlman, who has also worked on Halo, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, and other successful games and movies, is part of the post-apocalyptic experience, but, apparently, Perlman was only paid "$40 and a sandwich" to do the very first Fallout, as he revealed at The Joe Vulpis Podcast.
Of course, it could be an exaggeration, but whatever he was actually paid, getting him to take part in New Vegas was difficult, according to Chris Avellone, the designer for Fallout 2 and NV.
In his X/Twitter post, he shared that "aside from him threatening my life on Fallout 2… which I hope was a joke (as he also threatened my non-existent pet dog)… there was a reason we had 'trouble' getting him for New Vegas."
Leaving possible death threats behind, Avellone said that the team had been told that the actor was too expensive. However, a producer revealed that the reason for the price was that same iconic phrase we love so much.
"It was supposedly because Bethesda had him in a recording booth saying 'War. War never changes.'
For an hour.
Repeatedly.
And when the session was done, they decided, 'You know, let’s just go with the first take.'"
I can see how it could drive someone insane. This expense was allegedly the reason why the DLCs' opening and ending slides started changing narrators specific to the location, "which still worked out fine – it’s even more natural that way. Still, a shame," Avellone said.
"We did ask him back after F2 for Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter – and 'mysteriously' our VO coordinator SOMEHOW couldn’t make the session, so I had to go, which after F2, I didn’t want to do after F2, obviously (he was great)."
So, yes, after Fallout 1, Perlman got more than a sandwich. Maybe even three.
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