Chris Hemsworth talks about his approach to playing Optimus Prime in TRANSFORMERS ONE

It was a big surprise to learn that Chris Hemsworth he would play Optimus Prime in the upcoming animated film Transformers One. Peter Cullen he’s been voicing this character for years and it’s hard to imagine anyone else stepping into that role because Cullen is Optimus Prime.

The reason Hemsworth was cast to play the character is that the version of Prime in this film is much younger and they needed a fresher younger voice for the role. During a recent interview with Collider, Hemsworth was asked how he is approaching the role of the iconic Autobot leader and said:

“No, I mean, we talked about it; the Optimus Prime you hear on screen in the movies is an older, mature… you know, he’s been around for many, many, many, many years. This is kind of an origin story, so it’s the younger version of him. So there are sorts of hints and colorways that hopefully resonate enough with the Optimus Prime that we know, but it’s a youthful and different version of him. But he won’t be Australian.

Producer Lawrence of Bonaventure she previously spoke about her excitement about Hemsworth playing Prime and praised his voice, saying:

“Plus, it’s the imagination of our artists and our director, and one of the great things is that you actually voice the characters. When we first hear Chris Hemsworth’s voice, you go, “God, he’s going to be a good Optimus!” Of course, he starts out as Orion Pax and you don’t become Optimus for a while, so he doesn’t play, for most of the movie, what we assume to be Optimus, Peter Cullen. So it’s that transition, and Chris’ voice has a timbre that… it makes sense for Peter Cullen to take over that voice, if you will, which is really cool, the fans are going to feel really great.

Scarlett Johansson she also stars in the film as Elita, and is joined by Brian Tiree Henry as Megatron, Keegan-Michael Key like hornet, Jon Hamm such as Sentinel Prime, e Laurence Fishburne such as Alpha Trion.

Transformers One is a prequel film revolving around the origins of Cybertron and the story will center on a young Optimus Prime and Megatron who are finding their way. It was previously revealed:

“This is… the origin story of young Megatron and young Optimus. If you know the origin, they started out as friends, and over time things changed for them and ended on two fronts. So we’re telling the young Optimus and the young Megatron story. We’re really telling the origin story of all Transformers, both who they were in the beginning, and how they grow up, and how they go their separate ways.”

This will be the first in what Di Bonaventura calls a “natural trilogy” and will explore “Cybertron in a way you’ve never seen it, that no one has ever seen it before.”

There is a lot to be excited about with this film! This is a story I’m excited to see come to life! The film is directed by Josh Cooley (Story of the toy 4) from a script he wrote with Andrew Barra AND Gabriel Ferrari.

Transformers One will be released in theaters on September 13, 2024.