Optimus Prime Actor Recalls His Audition for Michael Bay's Transformers
Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime for years, remembers how he auditioned for director Michael Bay to play the character in Transformers. The film introduced the characters of the cartoon series to a completely new generation, revitalizing the '80s franchise for the 21st century. The action movie is celebrating the 15th anniversary of its 2007 release, which has since spawned many sequels as the characters and their world continue to grow.
Transformers follows the Autobots, led by the wise and noble Optimus Prime (Cullen), in their quest to find the AllSpark to rebuild their home planet of Cybertron. Fighting against them are the evil Decepticons, led by the villainous Megatron (voiced by Hugo Weaving), who want to use the AllSpark to build an army of machines on Earth. The alien robots fight and hide in plain sight by transforming into modern machines, mostly vehicles. Shia LaBeouf stars as Sam Witwicky, the teenager who gets caught up in the midst of the battle. Transformers also features Tyrese Gibson, Josh Duhamel, Anthony Anderson, and Megan Fox.
Related: Why Michael Bay's Transformers Movies Were So Popular (Despite Being Bad)
To celebrate the 15th anniversary of Transformers, Paramount Studios invited media members, including CBR, to tour the studio and see props from the film. Part of the event saw Cullen standing in front of Optimus Prime's big-rig form and sharing memories about his time working on the movie, including his experience auditioning for his famous role. Voicing Optimus Prime and Ironhide in the television series did not guarantee him either part in Bay's project. Read his comments below:
«When I first auditioned for Michael, a young gal was going to read the lines of the other character. We
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