David Hyde Pierce previously admitted that the reason why he took no credit for voicing Abe Sapien in “Hellboy” was because he wanted the focus to be on Doug Jones’ work. Jones reported to CBR in 2008 that Pierce heard his performance as Sapien and all but wondered aloud why he had been hired. “He did his job, as he was hired to do, and did it beautifully, and then what happened was, when it came time to promote the film, the mileage that they were hoping to get out of the David Hyde Pierce thing backfired a little bit, because he did not take a credit in the film. He refused to take a credit in the film,” Jones said. Why? “He said, ‘Out of respect to Doug Jones.’ He did not want to take any of the limelight away from me, so that makes David Hyde Pierce unlike anyone else I’ve ever met in all of Hollywood.”
This was not a boon to Universal Studios, whom, Jones was told, asked Guillermo del Toro to replace Jones in the booth with a name that would draw audiences to the film based on pop culture recognition alone. But it ended up working out for both Pierce, who has continued to have a stable and successful career, and Jones, who still acts steadily. Together, they created a superhero sidekick who definitely deserves his own spin-off movie. Even Universal went home happy with an over $59 million worldwide take from the film. It seems that sometimes, being a good guy can be rewarding.
