In a recent interview with Collider, Hugo Weaving, the voice of Megatron in the live action Movie series, has revealed how he very nearly turned down the role and how he felt about being the leader of the Decepticons. In a frank and honest response, he reveals that he in fact never went on set and has never met Michael Bay – he had minimal involvement in the project. He goes on to say while he does not regret doing the role, he regrets doing something he felt was meaningless (though he does not mean that in a nasty way).
Check out the full interview here which also talks about Weaving’s role in The Hobbit and Captain America.
TylerMirage
Ah, well, then. Carry on.
(I edited my original quip to say "about the movies")
FatalT 71
For all we know it was a paycheck that kept him coming back, and/or name recognition. It can't hurt to have your name in the credits of a blockbuster. Weaving just really doesn't appear to be invested in the franchise, which is fine.
Rogzilla
Probably a contract that allowed him to do get paid for doing something quick (and meaningless) while freeing him to do other things that were more fullfilling but maybe paid less.
EDIT: And you know what, maybe it was working as the Red Skull that made him feel like this isn't the type of movie he wants to do in the future, which is fine.
Sso02V
Something made him come back to the role twice. He's pretty blunt about not coming back as Red Skull unless they twist his arm, so it's not like he's got this huge commitment to sticking with a franchise no matter what.
FatalT 71
But Weaving gives plenty of information as to why it was "meaningless" to him – as he said, he was doing a play at the time, and didn't even know if he'd have the time to do it. So he did a couple of hours of voice work, just reading the lines. He had no idea of what was in the script, no concept of the character…honestly, why should he attach much meaning to the role of Megatron? I see no attack on Michael Bay, no insult given. Weaving is simply saying he went in, read a few lines, and that was it. He truly has no reason to feel a connection to the Transformers franchise, as he views his involvement in it (correctly, I beleive) to be minimal.
Why Bay feels he has to respond to Weaving is beyond me – unless his ego just can't stand to think it has been poked.
Sso02V
Especially if all he was asked was if he had heard anything about the next movie.
Ephland
This is where I disagree. Now, I am not saying that Weaving is criticizing the films, but he absolutely is speaking about them. He specifically says "I didn't care about [the project]. It was meaningless to me."
Again, I know there are a lot of people on here who simply don't like/can't stand/hate Michael Bay (and probably shouldn't even be a part of the conversation as a result). But the fact remains: this is his franchise, and while he is very quick to tell people about how much work he puts into it (which, despite the unnecessary promotion, is considerable nonetheless), he is always quick to acknowledge and compliment the contributions of the vast crew that helps get these movies made.
In my opinion, he has every right to be pissed if someone comes along and says that their involvement was "meaningless" to them. Whether or not intended, it's an insult to the people that were there day after day, working nonstop and getting the job done.
Autovolt 127
Actually this thread is in the News forums TylerMirage.
JukeOutlander
Hugo Weaving as Megatron's voice? Great job, really.
Rogzilla
Thanks, I liked that too. But let me quote something you said earlier in this thread because it applies here:
Because my point here isn't that Michael Bay doesn't receive attacks. Of course he does, everyone does. The comment that I'm quoting from you was a personal attack on someone. Its life, you deal with it.
But, Hugo Weaving's comments were not personal towards Michael Bay or even the films, but towards his own experience and the general lack of fulfillment he received. Nothing to do with Bay but Bay MADE IT about him. Hence, my comment that he is a self-involved asshole.
Yes, that a personal attack. But why should he care? I'm stupid internet fan boy #3452523. I'm sure he will somehow survive as he sits upon his pile of money in any one of his several mansions, receiving sexual favors from models.
Megastar
The More You Know.
Incepticon
Yup, and that's exactly one of the main reasons I can & do still respect the guy as a person.
TylerMirage
Guys
Seriously
What if
Seriously Guys
What if we could have a discussion about the movies
No seriously
That doesn't devolve into pointless bickering?
Not in the film itself, but in the comic version, yes.
Also of note, Bay is an avid animal-activist. He loves animals and has on more than one occasion voiced his opinion on numerous animal activist-related things.
Ephland
I like how you rip Michael Bay for taking something as a personal attack, and then proceed to personally attack him in the very same sentence.
Incepticon
I'd say both of these posts sum up things pretty well. Even as someone who doesn't agree with a LOT of what Bay says or does, I get where he's coming from on this matter 100%. Seeing anyone get paid nearly a quarter million dollars for less than 2 hours "work" and then talk about its irrelevancy would be a hard pill to swallow, especially when that person (Weaving) was someone you (Bay) specifically sought out to play a role. And considering how many geek/nerd franchises Weaving has been a part of (V for Vendetta, The Matrix, LOTR, Captain America, The Hobbit, etc.), he could have swallowed his pretentious "I'm an actor" pride and just embraced his TF involvement for what it was: fun.
Rogzilla
You're right, a lot of people (including Bay) worked hard to make these movies (had they had better direction, thier hard work probably would have better more appreciated). Hugo Weaving said that he was not one of those people, that he was called in to do a voice, got his money and left and he regrets doing that because it isn't the way he wants to do things. He didn't get to intereact with anyone, he didn't get to challenge himself.
Michael Bay, however, took this as a personal attack because he is a self-involved asshole and any comment about these films are obviously a comment on him. Weaving didn't say anything negative about the films or Bay, just that it wasn't the type of acting experience that he usually sought out and probably wouldn't do it again.
ThatCrazyGuy
I think he is being a smartass. Because Megatron shoots an elephant in the DOTM IIRC? And if Hugo never watched the movies or cared, he wouldn't know that.
lol. I don't know. Bay can't let this slide!!
But, I see his point as well and know why he would be pissed.
I guess no Hugo for TF4, guaranteed.
Transbot90210
No, I got your point but it makes no sense. Michael Bay did not work hard. DO you want to know what working hard looks like? Go watch Hearts of Darkness. That there is working hard and giving up a piece of your soul to create a new immortal life (a film classic). What did Michael Bay do? Get handed a blank check to do whatever he wants? Shoot quickly so that the film has over 100 continuity errors? Make a film that will be forgotten once a real storyteller takes over? Make many pretty 'splosions?
The point is taken and Michael Bay is a hack. Don't believe me? Go read what the main stars of the movie think of him and the franchise.
Any money brought in by the TF franchise was done so because of Giant Robots on screen for the first time not because of what Michael Bay did. All he did was bring in a minimum any shit TF movie would bring in he did nto reach any maximums.
Ephland
I bet if you worked for years at it, you couldn't have missed my point any more than you did.
alldarker
I completely agree with everything you state here.
It seems that just to 'protect his artistic integrity', Hugo Weaving somehow feels a need to put as much distance between the Transformers voice-over he did, and his enormous, critically high-standing, list of movie-roles (as if), because I'm sure he rates himself as such a high-quality Shakespeare-esque actor ("hello, Red Skull!").
Hugo Weaving needs to just accept that he DID do that voice-over, it wasn't the best movie ever made, and he DID make a ton of money for a very easy 1 hour and 43 minutes of 'work', which I'm sure bought him some nice shoes and dinners in the last couple of years. He doesn't need to rip into it after the fact. I'm not demanding he need be proud of this role, and I'd accept him laughing it off if need be, but he just seems to be very petty about it.
Michael Bay's post is most definitely correlated to Hugo Weaving's comments, and directly refers to them. I guess Michael Bay doesn't write the most eloquent posts (and doesn't make the world's best movies), but I can certainly see his point in this case.