Via CBR.com we can share for your a nice interview with Peter Cullen who recounted his audition for the first Transformers live-action movie in 2007.
To celebrate the 15th anniversary of Michael Bay’s Transformers premiering in theaters, Paramount Studios invited some media to their studios to check out some props from the film as well as hear from Peter Cullen directly about his memories of joining the cast of the movie and his experience working with Michael Bay.
Mr. Cullen told us how he impressed Michael Bay during his audition (remarking he was no guaranteed to get the role) while playing both the voices of Optimus Prime and Ironhide. This and many more interesting details about his experience on this article. It’s great to read Mr. Cullen’s words on how he came back as the heroic Autobot leader now as part of this blockbuster project.
You can read a text-only version of Mr. Cullen’s comments after the jump and then let us know your impressions on the 2005 Boards!
After taking the Paramount Studio Tour and being led to one of the studio’s prop houses, Cullen joined the assembled press and spoke in front of a life-size version of Optimus in his big rig form. Noting that 15 years earlier his grandson had gotten the chance to ride inside Optimus, Cullen reflected on his memories with the character, noting, “Time goes by so fast. The nostalgia in here, when I think about how this has transgressed from a small movie back in 1986 to an action movie in 2007… It’s just as exciting as anything I’ve ever done in my life.”
Even though he had been the voice for Optimus in the original Transformers — as well as other characters, including fellow Autobot Ironhide — Cullen revealed he wasn’t initially guaranteed the role in the Michael Bay-directed reimagining of the franchise. “When I first auditioned for Michael,” Cullen explained, “a young gal was going to read the lines of the other character. We looked at the script, and it said Ironhide. I actually played Ironhide in the cartoon series as well. So I said, ‘Well, I’d like to do a take of Ironhide, too.’ Michael looked up and said, ‘You can do that?’ I said, ‘Yeah, all the time. Frank Welker, one of the great voice actors of all time, he’d do Megatron and like five other voices. So we always ended up talking to ourselves.”
According to Cullen, he then delivered a line in Ironhide’s voice to the surprise of the actress he was reading with, and Bay simply asked him to keep reading Prime’s dialogue instead. He left a positive impression on the director, though, who brought Cullen back for two more auditions and eventually gave him the part. “[Bay] always had a really big smile on his face,” Cullen recalled. “It was just interesting to see how [my voice] was going to fit how big Michael’s concept of a 45-foot statue, how it was going to fit my voice. He was like, ‘How are we going to make that adjustment?’ So I said, ‘We’ll just go lower.'”
The pair clearly found a happy collaboration together, as Cullen has remained a part of the franchise ever since in the part of Prime. Looking back at the experience, Cullen explained how “when we were in production with Michael Bay, who I thought was an incredible, incredibly creative guy, he was like a general, you know… putting all that together and then going into a small room and telling me about what’s going to happen, and I would come up with Optimus Prime. He would always be very happy. He didn’t know much about the characters beforehand, but he certainly learned quickly.”
Rob
So again, I'm not a fan of the Bay movies, BUT the voice work was pretty great. Welker's Galvatron/Megatron is outstanding.
TF Hot Rod
Video of it or of him talking about it.
He’s still got it (his Ironhide voice).
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FlutterPrime
I think everyone does
Ackar
oh i love 86 movie galvatron beore he went wacko hes genuinely more menacing than frank's g1 megs
FlutterPrime
Well, the guy was Spock in the Original Star Trek (and JJ`s Star Trek as "Old Spock") and Galvatron in the original 86 Transformers film (which I swear, next to nobody fucking remembers, like I get it, Spock was popular as all hell, but Nimoy did other roles too)
Though I do have to admit, the fact that Bay had the fragging OG Candyman (never watched any of the Candyman films, partially aware of them thanks to James A Janisse from Dead Meat, when he did the Kill Count for them), is downright hilarious and awesome to me
Ackar
things me no like lazy reeeeee
thats the TLDR of that they didnt just pick up street randos or celebrities that would sell seats like those meh cgi disney classic movies.
also Sentinel being Nimoy is one of the best voice actings in the entire franchise
80sforged
Given the type of character Optimus was, concerned, fatherly figure that projects authority. The route they went with here, Cullen was easily the most obvious choice. And since the Transformers would ultimately be such minor characters (in their own movie) the idea of anyone higher up in the Hollywood pecking order makes even less sense. I now wonder if the other seasoned voice actors have Peter to thank for the work because all of the sudden they discovered these people have the range that they have.
Also, thinking about John Goodman as Hound. As much as I love John Goodman, his was not the best take on the character. They really should have just come up with a different character than plastered on a name from a character who was like the exact opposite.
Heck, then they could have leaned hard on the 'Walter' schtick.
Shadow25
That's a fair issue to have, but that's an entirely different issue than voice casting.
80sforged
Actually looking at the cast listing, the robots were also not exactly the main characters (yet another problem with these films). With the exception of Optimus and Megs, the rest of the Transformers could for purposes of screen time be rather minor characters. Simpler designs would have allowed for easier rendering and allowed them to have more screen time. I had issue with someone like George Clooney playing Optimus, wrong fit unless doing a younger, more unseasoned, less fatherly figure Optimus. Hugo was all right. I would have preferred a more restrained Megs, but since they decided on the Decepticons being more beasty. I find it amusing how Frank could pull off the voice with hardly any vocal distortion. Adler would not have been my first choice, Chris McCulloch would have been fantastic, just watch his Sphinx Commander from the Venture Bros.
troglodyteman217
this so much. the voice acting might actually be the best part and its probably the only thing keeping a movie like aoe. hound, crosshairs and lockdown were an absolute treat alongside welkers galvatron sounding unironically terrifying. sadly it couldnt save tlk
Shadow25
Except they weren't. The voice casting across these movies has been top notch and overwhelmingly filled with career voice actors (like John DiMaggio, Jess Harnell, Charlie Adler, Tom Kenny, and of course Cullen and Welker).
Any time they did cast a known live action actor in a voice role, there was almost always a specific reason behind it and the actor actually had significant voice acting experience, like John Goodman, Tony Todd and Leonard Nimoy.
Even Hugo Weaving had a handful of voice credits to his name prior to playing Megatron, and again as part of the process of developing the movie and auditioning the actors they felt that the OG Welker voice wasn't going to cut it, and I can't say I blame them.
So voice acting never has been an issue in these movies.
80sforged
Well that just showed how lazy Bay and co. were in pre-production. Yet another sin to heap at their feet. You are doing a film that will require voice over work. But they were thinking A-list actors puts asses in seats when it really doesn't anymore.
When I was saying it was outmoded, I meant for the public it is outmoded. To that precious 18-34 year old demographic your average person can recite the whole Kardashian family tree but couldn't pick George Clooney out from a cast photo of 'Intolerable Cruelty'. Studios still think that way. Marvel, when they started (pre-Disney), did not want to dole out money for a-list, so did not follow that model. They got a former a-lister who was down on his luck (Robert Downey Jr.) and more unknown actors, with the exception of Sam Jackson, then later Scarlett. I think about the number animated films done, where they try and sell you on the cast even though seasoned voice actors would have done better jobs.
Their might have been 'politics' of various kinds going on in the background as to why Tim Allen didn't star in Lightyear.
Solrac333
What are you talking about about? I'm talking about voice actors doing voices for animated characters, not actors doing lave action characters. VOICE actors are trained to create characters using only their voices. Then when it's time to get actors to do voices, A list actors are always hired instead of the voice actor. Shoot! They'll even hire A-list actors over B-list actors. They hired Chris Evans over Tim Allen for "Lightyear". And Bay had NO IDEA that voice actors could do many voices as stated by Cullen.
MnemonicSyntax
I appreciate posts like this, because then I know who to just outright block, FFS.
Stygian360
Just my opinion, but Transformers wouldn't have been as hand in glove as it obviously was in 2007 without Cullen as the through line. Granted the SFX, sound/score and overall way that Bay put the film together was the true selling point, but having Cullen's Optimus Prime in the film was absolutely the cherry on top.
Rob
Assumming that is true, that would be a real shame.
mx-01 archon
Hudson really is just Winston IRL. The second stringer/"substitute", but becomes the franchise's biggest supporter and cheerleader (as long as there's a "steady paycheck" involved).
Magnus’ Mate
Doubt Cullen was offended, he hadn't played the role in almost twenty years. And others had also played an Optimus by this point.
All this talk reminds me of poor Ernie Hudson auditioning for the role of Winston in the Real Ghostbusters (a role he could definitely claim as uniquely his!)…and he didn't get it. Lost out to Arsenio Hall…
Decagon
Back on topic, have a gander at a 27 Year old Peter Cullen in a very old children's show!