“Hand of God” stars Ron Perlman and Dana Delaney are veterans of broadcast and cable TV. Promoting their new series at the Television Critics Association summer press tour Monday, both extolled the virtues of working for one of the streaming services shaking up the television business.
“This is the most exciting period I’ve ever seen in television,” Perlman said. “Probably the most exciting place to be if you’re a storyteller is television, because of that very factor. Ten years from now it’ll all be fucked up. But for right now, it’s a beautiful place.”
Delaney, whose work in recent years includes ABC’s “Desperate Housewives” and “Body of Proof,” gave Amazon a shout-out for being female friendly.
“For women, there’s always that thing in network television, the likeability factor,” Delaney said. “That’s something that Amazon never mentioned, and really was against it, I think.”
Perlman plays a judge who, after his son attempts to kill himself, believes that God is speaking to him and guiding him on a vigilante mission. Ben Watkins, the show’s creator and executive producer, talked about working with actors with so much TV experience.
“It goes without saying, when you look at the resume of an actor like Ron Perlman and what they’ve done, that obviously was the initial appeal,” Watkins said. “But I have to say that I had some questions about having someone that had such gravity that was going to be put into a position of really reeling and backpedaling for an entire season.”
He added that he knew Perlman was right for the part after meeting with the actor.
“The clinching factor for us was when he was scared. Not that he didn’t want to play the role,” he said. “That was what drew me to him.”