Actors
WAMG’s Conversation With Mark Ryan (LOCKDOWN) From TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION
Director Michael Bay’s TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION opens in theaters this Friday, June 27th and it’s poised to have a mega-opening weekend.
Here’s what the early reviews are saying about the return of the colossal titans:
Variety –
“As the sine qua non of the franchise, it’s the robots — endowed here with character-rich physicality and almost human-scaled facial features — who give the film its emotional heft. Optimus Prime’s charismatic leadership of his team, as well as his unwavering compassion for the humans, again makes him the movie’s moral anchor. Drift, with his samurai getup and Watanabe’s dignified line readings, strikes a neat balance with Goodman’s cigar-chewing, wisecracking Hound. Still, the character most likely to be beloved by audiences, especially tykes, remains Bumblebee.”
HitFix –
“The giant scale action in this one is amazingly staged once again. There are few filmmakers alive who would even try to stage things on a scale like this, much less make it look like something that’s sort of effortless. Bayhem just keeps getting better.”
Photo credit: Industrial Light & Magic / Paramount. Left to right: Hound, Bingbing Li plays Su Yueming, Stanley Tucci plays Joshua Joyce, Bumblebee, Jack Reynor plays Shane Dyson, Nicola Peltz plays Tessa Yeager, Mark Wahlberg plays Cade Yeager, Optimus Prime, Drift, and Crosshairs. (c) 2014 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved. HASBRO, TRANSFORMERS, and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro. (c) 2014 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved.
TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION begins after an epic battle left a great city torn, but with the world saved. As humanity picks up the pieces, a shadowy group reveals itself in an attempt to control the direction of history…while an ancient, powerful new menace sets Earth in its crosshairs.
With help from a new cast of humans (led by Mark Wahlberg), Optimus Prime and the Autobots rise to meet their most fearsome challenge yet. In an incredible adventure, they are swept up in a war of good and evil, ultimately leading to a climactic battle across the world.
Photo credit: Industrial Light & Magic / Paramount. Optimus Prime (center) TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION, from Paramount Pictures. (c) 2014 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved. HASBRO, TRANSFORMERS, and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro. (c) 2014 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved.
A new chapter in the Transformers universe, TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION stars an all new live action cast lead by Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Li Bingbing , Kelsey Grammer, Sophia Myles, T. J. Miller, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor and Titus Welliver
In T4, John Goodman will play Autobot Hound, Ken Watanabe will play Drift, while Peter Cullen reprises his role as the voice of Optimus Prime, and Frank Welker takes on another new character, Galvatron.
Rounding out the voice-over cast are actors John DiMaggio, Robert Foxworth and Reno Wilson. DiMaggio will take on the new characters Crosshairs, while Foxworth reprises the role of Ratchet and Wilson returns as Brains.
Recently I spoke with British actor Mark Ryan, who provides the voice of LOCKDOWN, about the latest installment of the hugely successful TRANSFORMERS series.
According to Hasbro, LOCKDOWN is one of the most feared bounty hunters in the universe. He captures everything he tracks, collecting his prizes in his massive prison ship. Few of his targets have outmaneuvered him, and even fewer have escaped his jails.
In the film, LOCKDOWN is a bounty hunter who transforms into a grey 2013 Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Coupe who is capable of turning his own face into a cannon gun.
Mark Ryan has been combining his acting, singing, writing and directing talents in a successful international career for more than 30 years.
He performed in several major musicals in London’s West End, including four years in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s smash hit “Evita,” originating the role of Magaldi and then playing Ché. He originated the character of Nasir for the cult British TV series “Robin of Sherwood“ and has appeared in dozens of films and television series, both in the U.S. and UK.
He recently co-starred in the premiere season of “Black Sails,” Michael Bay’s television series for Starz.
WAMG: You previously voiced fan favorites Bumblebee and Jetfire for the TRANSFORMERS film franchise. What is it like to be involved in the new film?
Mark Ryan: I’m very excited about this particular one. I think the way the filmmakers have taken it and the way it’s evolved, makes this next chapter fantastic. The very fact that they have the Dinobots, and the way the story progresses in the movie, gives it a rollercoaster ride feel.
The cast is superb. Everybody involved, from Kelsey Grammer to Mark Wahlberg – who is such a lovely guy – it’s a great cast.
WAMG: You’re part of such a successful franchise.
MR: It’s one of those things in your lifetime, as an actor, you kind of – when I came to Hollywood, seventeen years ago, it was one of those things where I could do anything I wanted to do in England. I’ve been in the West End for seven or eight years in various shows, I was in a hit TV show there (“Robin Of Sherwood), I’ve toured.
As an actor, I’ve done all different kinds of things, so when I ended up coming here I thought it would be really nice to be involved in a large Hollywood-style franchise where you’re making epic-sized movies. It’s really is a dream come true.
Here we are seven years later and I’m still involved with Michael Bay’s movies. It’s a really amazing gift from the industry. I’ve travelled the world and been invited to these different conventions around the world. I really enjoy meeting and talking to the fans. I’m a fan myself. I grew up with Voyage To The Bottom of the Sea, Star Trek and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. I love hearing the fans reactions and what they think about the films. It’s an amazing privilege to be involved with the whole process.
WAMG: How cool is it that you’re LOCKDOWN – the new Lamborghini Aventador?
MR: It’s very cool! It’s a bit like when we did JETFIRE (TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN). I was actually in the studio with Mike and we were going through voices, seeing which one would work best for the character.
We were trying to round out the character and he was asking if this is how a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird would sound. What he didn’t know was that I was a SR 71 geek myself, so I almost exploded in the studio when I saw what it looked like and I went on about it.
Michael is looking at me, going, “You really do know about this aircraft.” It’s huge, with big iron spikes, sitting the Aerospace Museum. It’s an amazing piece of equipment.
I feel exactly the same about the Lamborghini. It’s one of the most beautiful cars I’ve ever seen.
If you reading this, Lamborghini, I’d really like to go in one.
WAMG: With all the new TV spots rolling out, audiences are beginning to get a good look at LOCKDOWN. It’s pretty neat.
MR: It’s very cool. I’ve been going around these past seven years, signing people’s Camaros. One guy owns the actual car from the first movie – the classic Camaro – while people around the country have the cars with the BUMBLEBEE paint job. People are very enthusiastic about their cars, so I’ve been going around signing those over the years.
I don’t know how many Lamborghinis I’ll be signing. I’m sure there will be the rare occasion when someone drives up.
Photo credit: Andrew Cooper. (c) 2014 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved. HASBRO, TRANSFORMERS, and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro. (c) 2014 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved.
WAMG: What sort of input did you get from Michael Bay as you were recording LOCKDOWN?
MR: It’s an interesting process. Now we’ve got this whole on set voice thing down to a fine art which, when we first started doing this, I don’t think it had been done quite like this way, but Michael was very smart and very wise. What he wanted was to have a voice on set with the actors so they could change their pacing, change the way they did it, where they had a reactive voice that could answer back to them. It feels more live and more real when you have a human being in front of you.
I’ve spoken to people who’ve acted in front of a green screen for special-effects driven films and they’ve said what’s the most difficult thing to do is when nobody is there, or it’s just a pole, and you’re trying to do the lines, but there’s nobody there to bounce it back off.
During the course of this is I have Michael on one side and I’m in the middle with a headset, so he can give me direction. He can change lines, we can adlib or throw things in. Plus he lets me know what’s going on in the scene as well as everyone on the set playing a Transformer.
For this film, LOCKDOWN’S voice grew out of me thinking about the character while on set. I wanted to bring something new and different to Michael because there are only so many voices that can come out of one head. This is just the result of that. It was the actual performance on set that stuck in Michael’s head.
Without giving any of it away, it’s all part of an evolution, both the technical way we filmed it, and the way the characters get fleshed out from the script during the filming.
WAMG: You’ve worked on Bay on the TV show “Black Sails.” It looked like a rigorous, but fun show to be a part of. I was really sad to see your character, Mr. Gates, go.
MR: So was I. (laughs). It’s a good show. It’s well put together, well produced, and well directed. There’s a whole movement online to resurrect my character. There are many who’d like for Mr. Gates to return in one form or another.
It was great working on the show. There are many from the show who are deserving of some Emmys and I’m very proud of the performances we gave over the course of filming. We had such great material to work with and brilliant actors to work with on set.
WAMG: Audiences know your books and your work in film and TV, especially “Robin Of Sherwood,” which I was a fan of. What’s it been like to meet the fans at conventions?
MR: Just a quick note of “Robin Of Sherwood,” we recently had the 30 year anniversary convention in Chepstow, Wales run by a chap called Barnaby Eaton-Jones. Thirty years later it was absolutely amazing. People who followed the show, brought their kids who are now following the show. Now there are new followers all over the world who watch the show on DVD. It’s incredible.
The show is a very deep part of my life and I’m very proud of the work we did on that.
I’ve written two books, I’ve been in theater and toured with Monty Python’s Eric Idle. When I meet people, I hear ‘Oh I like Monty Python, I like Transformers, I like Robin of Sherwood – it’s all very humbling. It’s very humbling to know something that you were involved with affected people’s lives and gave them that spark of entertainment.
People will ask me how did I manage to do all these things and I tell them, ‘don’t limit yourself. Everything you try in this life, give 110% effort.’ You can’t go wrong. Even if it doesn’t work out, you’ll take something from that experience that you’ll be able to apply in a different area or challenge. Life is an amazing adventure.
WAMG: Have you see any of TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION?
MR: I’ve seen a lot of it – I see the scenes as we’re recording the voiceover in the studio with Michael in the room. He’s very involved with every aspect of the movie. He’s hand on all the way through and I think that’s what makes him one of the most talented, dedicated filmmakers I’ve ever worked with.
Technically there isn’t anything on a set he doesn’t understand. He understands lighting and cameras, special effects, and stunts. He has an intense understanding of how everything works. The whole process of editing and CGI he knows so well. He knows what works and has an amazing eye. He looks at the film from the point of view of the audience and what will give them a spectacular ride to watch. He’s a tremendously gifted director.
(JUNE 23: Director Michael Bay poses for photos beside a Bumblebee Autobot at Pangu Hotel on June 23, 2014 in Beijing, China. Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images for Paramount)
WAMG: I love the visual look of his films – ARMAGEDDON, PEARL HARBOR and the TRANSFORMER series of films. No one thought the first movie would be received as well as it eventually was.
MR: It was an amazing achievement. Take OPTIMUS PRIME and BUMBLEBEE – you’re making a movie with two alien characters and giving them human traits where people sympathize with them and are rooting for them. It’s quite something. No one thought it would work and here we are four films later, with one of the most successful franchise in cinema history. That’s due to Michael Bay.
WAMG: What do you think about the footage we’ve seen in the trailers and TV commercials for the film? The film looks thrilling.
MR: You ain’t seen nothing yet!
TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION opens on
June 27th in theaters, Real D 3D & IMAX 3D
Official site: TransformersMovie.com
Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/transformersmovie
Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/transformers #Transformers
Photo credit: Andrew Cooper. The Autobots in TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION, from Paramount Pictures. (c) 2014 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved. HASBRO, TRANSFORMERS, and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro. (c) 2014 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved.
Photo credit: Andrew Cooper Left to right: Director/Executive Producer Michael Bay with Mark Wahlberg (as Cade Yeager) on the set of TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION, from Paramount Pictures. (c) 2014 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved. HASBRO, TRANSFORMERS, and all related characters are trademarks of Hasbro. (c) 2014 Hasbro. All Rights Reserved.
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