Doug Jones in Abe Sapien makeup on the set of Hellboy 2 pictured with Neil Gaiman, creator of the graphic novels Stardust and Sandman. Maddy Gaiman, 2007

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With starring turns recently in some high grossing and other critically acclaimed films — Hellboy, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and Pan's Labyrinth among them — Doug Jones has cultivated a fanboy following. That said, you probably wouldn't recognize him in the street. But when Hollywood needs a performer with the acting chops to morph seamlessly into unearthly creatures with bizarre physicalities and mysterious inner motives, Jones is the go-to guy.

Having spent several months in 2003 in Prague shooting Hellboy (under the gills as Hellboy's best mate, the fish-man Abe Sapien), Jones is back in Eastern Europe. He's in Budapest until late October, working on a five-and-a-half-month labor of love for the sequel, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army.

"It is an even bigger production," he says. "The original production in Prague was from start to finish longer but I was on it for a shorter time. That was a three-month commitment for me because my role was smaller: Abe Sapien dipped out — for the last third of the film, you didn't see him. In this one, he is a major player from start to finish.

"It is not a TV sequel they just slapped together to just make some money. It is really a piece of art," the lanky actor says of the film and script, which further fleshes out the Abe Sapien character.

Keeping Up With Jones

In the follow-up, Hellboy and gang are on a mission to stop the prince of the woodland ghouls, who is hell-bent on retrieving three pieces of a key that will allow him to unlock the might of the Golden Army, a fighting force of invincible metallic soldiers. With two of the pieces already in hand, he must obtain the last from his sister. To divert a war, Hellboy and his troupe must protect the princess, but things get complicated when Abe falls in love with her.

"I think in the first movie," says Jones, "Abe Sapien was more of a one-note sort of character. In this one, he is showing more range of character traits. He has got a bit of a love interest this time, which is the first time Abe has ever felt that."

Though undeniably excited, Jones is also tired. "We've started filming and they are six-day weeks and the hours are," he exclaims in a high-pitched sing-song voice for added emphasis, "insane! This last week I had a forced call — which means it was less than the usual turn around from one day to the next. And the most I slept all of last week was five hours one night and the least I slept was two and a half hours." But he is not complaining. "Once I look at myself in the mirror, it is like: 'There's that blue fish-guy again.' It is like visiting an old friend. I just adore Abe."

Of course, getting to work again with director Guillermo del Toro is another big reason Jones is happy to be back.