STACK #224 June 2023

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Words Glenn Cochrane

Anthony Ramos is a seasoned actor whose extensive body of work on stage and screen includes Hamilton (2020), In the Heights (2021) and A Star Is Born (2018). Upon scoring the lead role in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts , he made sure to dive deep into the catalogue.

C hatting with STACK over Zoom, the In the movie he plays Noah, an ex-military electronics expert supporting his family in Brooklyn.

Anthony Ramos

Brooklyn native discusses stepping into one of the world’s biggest franchises.

magnitude of the whole undertaking! “Oh, I was definitely s—ing myself!” Ramos confesses after a moment more thought. “Yeah, I was nervous more than anything. And I kept thinking, ‘I don’t want to mess this up!’” Recalling the early stages of development and his part in the process, Ramos elaborates on his working relationship with Steven Caple Jr. “Steve asked me straight up, ‘Yo, why do you want to be a part of this franchise?’, and it’s that I want to bring a heart to these movies. I wanted to take the heart that we saw in Bumblebee - you know, those beautiful, intimate and moving scenes between Bumblebee and Hailey [Steinfeld] - take the sentiment of those, and mix it with the big-a– visual effects, and the crazy stuff that audiences expect.”

“I definitely went back to all the movies again,” he admits. “And I really tried to figure out what this world was going to be like for these characters, especially for the human characters, and for Noah specifically. I had to think ‘OK, if it’s set in New York then where in New York. OK,

DYK?

Dominique Fishback & Anthony Ramos

Peter Cullen has provided the voice of Optimus Prime since the original animated TV series in the 1980s. He also provided voices for the rival franchise Voltron .

prospect, Ramos says he was totally comfortable with it, responding: “Nah! Because, you know, it is what it is. I mean, I have no control over what the movie does or what people think. The only thing I had control over was my performance. And, again, working with Steven to develop the script and the character as much as I could.” If we were him, we’d be freaking out by the

Brooklyn, but where in Brooklyn? And it’s Bushwick, which is actually where I’m from. I worked with director Steven Caple Jr. to really figure out where this guy was on a personal level.” When we asked whether or not stepping into such a colossal franchise was a daunting

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE The Transformers franchise - encompassing film and television properties, toys, video games and more - is amongst the highest grossing media franchises of all time. The storyline as we know it, with Autobots versus Decepticons, began in 1984 with the original toy line. Their release launched a fanfare, and no schoolyard was without its lunchtime battles. Most Generation Xers will attest to the hierarchy which dominated classrooms: kids with the biggest, most expensive Transformers were the envy of others, while those less fortunate were stuck with cheap knock-offs. Of course, the only way to distinguish authenticity was by the toy’s rubsign: a heat sensitive sticker, marking its superiority.

JUNE 2023

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