Ron Perlman, the iconic voice of Fallout, reveals he joined the RPG series for just “$40 and a sandwich” and was surprised to learn there were multiple games.

Legendary actor Ron Perlman, known for his iconic chin and memorable roles, has lent his voice to nearly every Fallout game since the franchise kicked off in 1997, and he seems pretty indifferent about it. Reflecting on his early involvement, he shared that it was a decision made out of necessity.

“They offered me $40 and a sandwich,” Perlman recalled during a recent podcast episode. “A year and a half later, I got a call asking if I remembered Fallout. I said, ‘No.’ They told me there was a sequel in the works, and I was baffled, asking, ‘Why?'”

To his surprise, he learned that the original game had sold an impressive 100,000 copies by the end of ’97, which was a huge success. “I said, ‘Really? Cool,'” he continued. “Then I did the second one, and a year later, the third, the fourth… and now it’s a massive franchise. I never saw that coming.”

Interestingly, Perlman has never actually played Fallout. He describes his experience succinctly: “I recorded a few lines, got my $40 and my sandwich, and went home.” At the time, it had been seven years since his breakout role as Vincent in Beauty and the Beast, with another seven years to go before he starred as Hellboy in Guillermo del Toro’s cult classic.

“I’m not a gamer; I wouldn’t know which game goes into which console. I’ve never played any of the games,” he admitted, despite having voiced characters in several major titles like Call of Duty and Halo. “This whole Fallout thing is like a mystery to me.”

As for the current state of the franchise, he remarked, “I don’t think Bethesda hates Fallout; they just don’t fully grasp its roots and arguably, don’t care.”