COUNTDOWN: 10 MORE actors we still can’t believe starred in Transformers films (part 2)

We recently compiled a list of actors who we still couldn’t believe had starred in the live-action Transformers film series thus far. 

Many of these names were notable for how prestigious their reputation is or the kind of cinematic fare they typically favour over giant robots doing unspeakably horrible things to one another. Yet for whatever reason, they have all starred alongside the robots in disguise and participated in the big-screen phenomena known only as ‘Bayhem’.

Well, now we’re back with 10 more examples, once again ranked from least to most astonishing… although in this case, sometimes for very different reasons!

Be sure to check out part 1 first in case you missed it!

#5: Jon Voight

In many ways, I don’t know what’s the weirdest part of seeing Jon Vought in the first live-action Transformers film. Could it be that he’s an industry veteran heavyweight with an Academy Award for Best Actor to his name? Could it be that he’s historically more well-known for his turns in fare such as Deliverance, Heat, The Rainbow Warrior, The Rainmaker, Uprising or Ali (to name but a few from over the decades)? Could it be that this is actually the *second* time he worked with Michael Bay (after 2001’s Pearl Harbor)? Could it be that he frequently feels like he’s in an entirely different film whenever he’s on-screen somehow? Could it be that in the same year this film came out, he also starred in Bratz, National Treasure: Book of Secrets and September Dawn, and that Transformers is critically considered the best of all of them? Could it be that despite that, the four films combined were enough to earn the actor a Razor nomination? Whatever it might be, Jon Voight is in this movie, weird as it might be. 

#4: Leonard Nimoy

Old-school Transformers fans will frequently have difficulty separating the late Leonard Nimoy from his first turn as a robot in disguise, that being the ruthless Decepticon leader, Galvatron, in the 1986 animated movie. So in many ways, it was a real surprise to see him back again as an entirely different character in 2011’s Dark of the Moon,although few would argue it isn’t perfect casting! What’s even weirder is how it came about, especially as Nimoy had at least partially retired by the time of his casting (despite still popping up for the occasional spotlight or Star Trek appearance every odd year or so). It makes more sense when you discover that Nimoy’s wife was Susan Bay, who, you guessed it, is a cousin to Micheal Bay. The director leapt at the opportunity to see if the man most well-known for his turn as Mr Spock would voice an alien robot for him, and he had previously been considered in the role of The Fallen for the previous film. Even weirder, Nimoy also appears on-screen during Dark of the Moon, in a scene where the robots Brains and Wheelie are watching an old Star Trek episode. 

#3: Ken Watanabe

Ken Watanabe is no stranger to big-budget action fare. Although the Japanese actor has firmed a reputation for himself in films such as Letters from Iwo Jima, The Last Samurai, Memories of Tomorrow or Memoirs of a Geisha, he’s just as commonly known for Batman Begins, Inception, Godzilla and even Detective Pikachu. Yet somehow, it still feels odd to randomly remember that he popped up as the voice of a giant robot in not one but two Transformers movies. It could be because his character, Drift, is arguably underused throughout both storylines, never giving a solid reason to cast someone with the calibre of Ken Watanabe. Still, he gave us one of the best lines in the entire series: “I was expecting a giant car”.

#2: Li Bingbing

As far as most Western audiences go, Li Bingbing isn’t exactly a household name, despite appearing in films such as Resident Evil: Retribution, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and more recently, The Meg. However, the actor is distinctly more well-known in her native China, where she’s a formidable box office presence who has garnered vast amounts of critical acclaim for films such as A World Without Thieves, Waiting Alone, The Knot, The Forbidden Kingdom and The Message, amongst others. She has won numerous awards and has regularly been featured towards the top of the Forbes China Celebrity 100 list. To say she is a formidable force in Chinese cinema is an understatement. So, it was nothing shy of bizarre to see her popping up in the fourth Transformers film in 2014, especially when so much about her appearance was unusual, too. Ultimately, Li’s inclusion in the production seems part of a broader attempt to make the film appeal to a Chinese audience. Still, perhaps it’s her homeland star power which meant her character was afforded the kind of respect and credibility that virtually every other female part in the series cannot claim. Even behind the scenes, Li seemingly had some sway, even assuring her character name was changed from Liao Xiumei to Su Yueming after claiming the former was ‘weird’. 

#1: John Turturro

OK, hear me out. Sure, it’s not like anyone is about to forget the character of Agent Seymour Simmons from the Transformers film series. He’s been a major player in four out of the five main titles so far, hamming it up since he was being peed on by Bumblebee in 2007. Yet despite many hours of slapstick evidence to the contrary, it’s still somehow unimaginable that John freaking Turturro kept coming back for more. This is an actor whose CV includes Do the Right Thing, Mo Better Blues, Miller’s Crossing, Quiz Show, Clockers, Barton Fink, The Big Lebowski and O Brother, Where Art Thou? Why is he (quite literally) letting his arse hang out and uttering lines about enemy scrotums in these movies? Again, not once, not twice, not even three times… FOUR. Four Transformers films. To be fair to Turturro, he truly gives it his all, putting in, without a doubt, one of the most memorable performances in the entire series and providing more than a few genuine laughs along the way (even if some would never admit it). 

So that’s our list! Did we miss any other great actors from the series?

TTFN