Alan Tudyk, an actor whose face or voice can be found in more than a hundred different movies and TV shows, recounted the tale of his casting as the beloved hero Optimus Prime in the latest Transformers series, Transformers: EarthSpark.
In an interview with SFX Magazine, Tudyk confessed that at first, he did not realize that he had been cast as the heroic leader of the Autobots in the new Paramount+ series Transformers: EarthSpark, which premiered on the streaming service in late 2022. Tudyk said that the day he learned of his casting, "I got an email asking if I wanted to do it. I read it and my brain rejected the idea." He continued to rationalize it, saying, "I saw Prime and I was like, 'Oh, right. There are other Primes... I’ll probably have like two lines an episode." Alternate Primes that Tudyk imagined he might be playing included "Optometrist Prime" and "Amazon Prime."
Tudyk's First Day on the Job as Optimus Prime
When it came time to record for his new Prime role, Tudyk recalled, "I started working on it and saw that all the lines in the script that were highlighted were Optimus, and I freaked out." When asked why, Tudyk laughed, claiming he was more of an "Uncomfortable Prime" or "Indecision Prime" than an Optimus. In the end, though, he said, "We really had a blast, I came in and worked on it, and we had a really good time." Tudyk described how he felt taking on the mantle of Optimus Prime, remarking, "The first time I got to say 'Autobots, roll out,' I got chills, literally chills," but he could not resist landing another joke, adding, "And then they turned up the heat. And then we continued the session."
Among his many screen credits, Tudyk had already been in a live-action Transformers installment in 2011's Dark Of The Moon, in which he played the character of Sentinel Prime, mentor to Optimus. The actor is known for fan-favorite performances in Firefly, A Knight’s Tale and Serenity, and was nominated for an Emmy for his lead role in the series Con Man. Tudyk has also had a prolific career as a voice actor, working alongside actors like Will Smith in I, Robot, and Felicity Jones and Diego Luna in Rogue One. He has voiced many animated characters, including Duke in Frozen, several characters in Ice Age and the nefarious King Candy in Wreck-It Ralph.
Transformers: EarthSpark is streaming now on Paramount+.
Source: SFX Magazine