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| Cover art for Fallout 1 |
For millions of fans, the gritty, sardonic narration that opens every core Fallout game is as iconic as the Pip-Boy or bottle caps. The voice, belonging to acclaimed actor Ron Perlman, perfectly sets the tone for a journey through nuclear devastation. But in a recent interview, Perlman revealed his legendary involvement began with the humblest of compensations: “$40 and a sandwich.”
In a candid conversation on The Joe Vulpis Podcast, Perlman reminisced about his voice-over debut for the original Fallout in 1997, a time when the franchise was just an ambitious project from Interplay Entertainment.
“They gave me $40 and a sandwich,” Perlman recalled with a laugh, summarizing his entire initial contribution to what would become a billion-dollar franchise.
The story gets even more amusing considering Perlman’s confessed disconnect from video game culture. More than a year after that first session, he received a follow-up call that left him baffled.
“Hey, you remember Fallout?”
“No.”
“Well, there’s a second one.”
“Why?”
The reason, he soon learned, was staggering success. The original Fallout had sold over 100,000 copies by the end of 1997 and, in Perlman’s words, “went through the fkin’ roof.”** His reaction was one of genuine surprise: “I go, ‘Really? Cool.’” That surprise only deepened as the series exploded with Fallout 2, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, and Fallout 4. “I didn’t see that coming,” he admitted.
Despite being the narrative linchpin for the series’ distinct atmosphere, Perlman has never actually played a Fallout game—or any video game, for that matter. “I’m not a gamer. I wouldn’t know which game goes into which piece of hardware. I’ve never played any of the games,” he stated. For him, that first job was simply a day’s work: “I did a couple of lines, and you know, got my $40 and my sandwich and went home.”
At the time of that first session, it had been seven years since his starring role in Beauty and the Beast and another seven years before he would don the horns as Hellboy. Yet, his iconic voice has become inextricably linked to the wasteland.
To hear the iconic narration that started it all, check out the original Fallout intro.
The irony of Perlman’s story is heightened by his other, more knowing forays into gaming. He has lent his voice to other blockbuster titles like Call of Duty and Halo 2 & *3*. This makes his utter bewilderment at Fallout’s monumental popularity all the more endearing. “This whole Fallout thing is like a mystery to me,” he concluded.
From a quick studio session for a sandwich to the defining voice of one of gaming’s biggest RPG franchises, Ron Perlman’s Fallout legacy is a testament to the unpredictable ways pop culture icons are born. And for fans, his opening line—“War. War never changes.”—will forever be the welcome to the wasteland.
Ready to revisit the series that started it all? Explore the world of Fallout with the newly released Fallout Season 1 Steelbook, available now.