As the voice of the evil Megatron, Hugo Weaving was a key part of Michael Bay's "Transformers" trilogy. Not that he cares. Weaving told Collider, he never even read the script for the original "Transformers" film before recording his lines.
"That’s a weird job for me because it honestly was a two-hour voice job, initially," Weaving said. "It was one of the only things I’ve ever done where I had no knowledge of it, I didn’t care about it, I didn’t think about it. They wanted me to do it. In one way, I regret that bit. I don’t regret doing it, but I very rarely do something if it’s meaningless. It was meaningless to me, honestly. I don’t mean that in any nasty way. I did it. It was a two-hour voice job, while I was doing other things."
Weaving, who has also played villains in "The Matrix" trilogy, "Captain America: The First Avenger" and the upcoming film "Cloud Atlas," said that despite working on three "Transformers" films, he's never actually seen Bay in person.
"My link to that and to Michael Bay is so minimal. I have never met him," he said. "I was never on set. I’ve seen his face on Skype. I know nothing about him, really."
Weaving's experiences in the "Transformers" films are in direct opposition to Peter Cullen, who has famously voiced Optimus Prime since 1984, including for Bay.
"[Bay] was a very, very easy and understandable guy, and a brilliant talent to put together all the things that he does -- to keep in mind that huge thing," Cullen recalled in an interview with HuffPost Entertainment. "I've often compared him to being a general in a battle. But holding all those pieces together and under all that pressure, I was really glad that he actually didn't give me any trouble and respected my presentation of [the voice] and, certainly, my stubbornness to change anything."
Bay is currently working on "Transformers 4," a new chapter in the series. The film won't include star Shia LaBeouf and could be without Megatron as well, considering how "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" ended. Regardless of the changes, one thing will remain consistent: Cullen's dulcet tones.
"Of course!" Bay exclaimed when asked by HuffPost if Cullen would return. "Listen, when I heard his voice, it gave me chills."
No word whether Weaving's voice had the same effect.
For more on Weaving, including his equally opinionated thoughts on "Captain America," head over to Collider.
[via Collider]
