Baller Alert Exclusive: Harold Perrineau Talks Honoring People With Mental Health Challenges, Roles He’s Learned From and More!

Harold Perrineau is best known for his role as Julian “Murch” Murchison in The Best Man franchise. Still, most recently, fans can’t get enough of his performance as Niecy Nash’s autistic brother in the popular comedy-drama series, Claws

Many people have applauded Perrineau for the way that he portrayed his character as a mentally ill man, showing that there isn’t much of a difference between his character and himself, along with everyone else.

In a recent interview with Baller Alert, he opened up about the role and the unique character.” We’re more alike than we are different,” he said. “The way he perceives things may be a little bit different than the way I perceive things, but we still have the same emotions and wants and desires, and that’s a really important thing to see, you know. If you don’t see that, then you start making judgments about that, and so I think that that’s one of the things I think is really beautiful.”

As he continued, he opened up about being honored at the NAACP Image Awards, where he won the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor for the role.

“This honor tonight is a testament to the fact that we can honor people who have mental health challenges. Not so much about my acting, I think my acting is my acting, I’m going to be doing it no matter what, but certain characters really stand out, and this one really stands out for me, and this is important for me.”

When asked about which characters that he’s embodied has helped him learn the most about himself, he opened up about a transgender character named Monica, and how it was the first time he ever considered being pretty and what that might mean.