Brian Tyree Henry on 'Transformers One' and joy of animation: It's the craziest, wildest ride

"Eternals" star Brian Tyree Henry says working on a movie like "Transformers One" was the "craziest, wildest ride" as it allowed him to use his imagination and convey emotions through his voice. Henry, best known for starring in films such as "Widows", "If Beale Street Could Talk", "Godzilla vs Kong", "Bullet Train" as well as TV show "Atlanta", is part of the star-studded voice cast for the animated title, which released in Indian theatres last week.
"Animation is the craziest, wildest ride. It is really great because you get to figure out who you want them (characters) to be but you just have your voice.
"It cracks into another part of who you are as an actor because you got to check your ego at the door. They're only asking you for your voice right but you're still using so many different parts of emotion and your personal life," the actor told PTI in a virtual interview.
"Transformers One" serves as the prequel to the franchise's earlier live-action movies that revolved around two factions of alien robots, the Autobots and the Decepticons, who have the ability to transform into vehicles and machines, and are engaged in an eternal war.
Besides Henry, the movie also features the voices of actors Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Keegan-Michael Key, Steve Buscemi, Laurence FishburnQe and Jon Hamm.
Touted as the "first-ever fully CG-animated 'Transformers' movie", the movie explores the untold story of Optimus Prime (Hemsworth) and Megatron's friendship before they became sworn enemies and leaders of their respective groups.
In the animated format, the opportunities are limitless, said Henry, who has voiced Megatron in the movie.
"The great part about animation is that the worlds are much more vast and wide. But the challenge of animation is that when you're doing it, there's no animation for you to see.
"So you pretty much have to come in and expand your imagination as much as possible, based on what you have in story and text, and what the relationships that the character shares," he added.
Another key element of animation, according to Henry, is that actors must be willing to try out different approaches, even if many of them don't work.
"You also have to be willing to look like an idiot, to be willing to go in there and just try a bunch of things, knowing that a bunch of them won't work. But you really are using your voice to convey character, heart and vulnerability," he added.

"Transformers One", a Paramount Pictures India film, is currently playing in theatres in English and Hindi, in 2D, 3D, 4DX and IMAX formats.
Also See: Best Hollywood Movies Of 2024 | Top Rated English Movies Of 2024 | Latest Hollywood Movies