- 8/17/2023
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PeopleTranscript
00:00 Dante Ramos with Shadow and Act.
00:01 So Brooklyn, baby.
00:04 Brooklyn Knights, born and raised.
00:06 Okay, I love that.
00:07 What is one thing you love about being a New Yorker
00:10 or that you love about New York?
00:12 - I love everything.
00:14 - I mean.
00:15 - Especially in the summertime.
00:15 - I think Brooklyn in the summer is the best summer
00:18 that you could have.
00:19 I think it's the swag and confidence.
00:23 I love New York swag.
00:24 Like even, okay, so in Soulja,
00:29 Beyonce says, she says,
00:31 "I need a guy up top from the BK."
00:34 And I think of like, like.
00:35 - And you give me Brooklyn vibes through and through.
00:37 I feel like through your characters,
00:39 I feel it, obviously with you,
00:41 I can tell too, all the way.
00:42 Especially when it was in the Heights.
00:44 But one thing that I have to ask you guys both is,
00:47 so what I love the most is that the unit
00:49 that you guys have on camera.
00:50 Especially the fact that, you know,
00:52 one is being anthropologist,
00:53 one is trying to find their way,
00:55 but still come to find this,
00:56 we're family, we're working with each other.
00:58 What went into you guys both building into that bond
01:01 to make it strong on camera?
01:02 - We've known each other for a while.
01:05 - We had kind of had a bond before that
01:06 and we really wanted to do something together.
01:09 Even if we had to write it,
01:10 we would sit in a cafe and be like,
01:12 all right, we gotta do something epic,
01:13 gotta be so Brooklyn. - Dom was gonna write it.
01:14 I wasn't gonna write it.
01:15 Dom was gonna write it.
01:16 She's an amazing writer.
01:17 - Thank you.
01:18 - Thank you.
01:19 We was like, it gotta be,
01:20 it gotta be so Brooklyn,
01:21 it gotta be real epic.
01:22 And then we both kind of got busy
01:24 and it did happen.
01:25 And then lo and behold,
01:27 like the universe guy
01:28 had always had Transformers in the work for us.
01:30 - Yes.
01:31 And then of course for you,
01:33 being the first black woman of this franchise,
01:35 congratulations.
01:36 And I know you've spoken previous
01:38 about being very specific on characters
01:39 that you choose 'cause of age.
01:42 So what did you wanna bring out on camera
01:44 to really show Alana's characteristics?
01:46 'Cause I really love that.
01:47 Smart, beautiful, strong personality.
01:50 So what was really important
01:51 about bringing that to camera for Alana?
01:53 - I think what was really important
01:54 was not changing the accent
01:56 and not softening up on the accent.
01:58 I think that you can have an idea
02:00 about what it means to be intelligent or a scientist.
02:03 And I think we can lean into,
02:06 you know, especially coming from theater,
02:08 enunciation, dialect work,
02:10 you know, you can actually do that.
02:11 So I could have very well made Alana speak
02:14 a little bit more, I don't know,
02:16 standard American English or whatever.
02:19 But I really, I didn't have to
02:21 and I didn't want to
02:22 because intelligence comes from all different places
02:24 and all different voices,
02:26 all the, like slang as well, you know what I mean?
02:28 So I wanna, I'm so glad that it's like felt and moved.
02:32 - Yeah, and Anthony, for you,
02:34 what I love about you and Pete Davidson,
02:36 I never knew I needed this Autobot and human duo,
02:38 like my favorite thus far.
02:40 But what I love the most is that
02:42 even though he was just a voice,
02:43 there was a connection there.
02:44 Like I felt the heart, I saw the action.
02:47 How did that work?
02:48 Because he wasn't there, right, on set with you.
02:50 - You know what, I'll be honest,
02:51 I gotta give it all to Pete.
02:53 - Really?
02:53 - I'm gonna give all the props to Pete.
02:54 - Of course.
02:55 (laughing)
02:57 - I cannot, I cannot.
02:59 - You're awesome.
03:00 - Bro.
03:01 (laughing)
03:03 - I was about to make you pause.
03:06 But yeah, nah, Pete killed it.
03:10 I was about to say Pete smashed it.
03:12 - Yeah, it was a perfect, perfect.
03:14 - Pete killed it.
03:15 - Stick it on home, go ahead.
03:16 - No, he did his thing, man.
03:17 He really got in there and
03:18 (laughing)
03:21 - He killed it.
03:22 - She's the villain right now.
03:25 - Nah, nah, Pete Davidson is an incredible actor.
03:30 Incredible.
03:31 - I was shocked, I loved it.
03:32 And my last question for you guys is
03:34 if you had to do life with any Autobot or Beast,
03:37 who are you doing it with?
03:38 Nah, I'm joking, I'm so sorry.
03:40 (laughing)
03:42 She needs a time out.
03:43 - I do, I really do.
03:44 It's early morning and I am delirious.
03:47 - I'm choosing Mirage or Bumblebee.
03:50 I love Bumblebee.
03:51 - That's why I gotta pick B.
03:52 - Yeah.
03:53 Anthony, what you going for?
03:54 - I think, yeah, Cheetor, Cheetor.
03:57 - Okay, all right.
03:58 Well, thank you so much, guys.
04:00 Congratulations, you guys are amazing.
04:02 I love both of your work.
04:03 Why was Pete Davidson a Porsche?
04:07 - Oh man, that's a great question.
04:08 I would have to say it went Porsche first,
04:10 then Pete Davidson.
04:11 - Okay, okay.
04:12 - I have to go add her out.
04:13 I wanted somebody who was flashy a bit,
04:17 but yet still in control.
04:18 Now I feel like I'm describing the car.
04:20 - No, please, I need to know.
04:21 I was like, I have all cars by Porsche.
04:23 - No, and I didn't know much about Porsche
04:26 until this project and doing my research.
04:29 Originally, it was a different car.
04:31 It was a Lamborghini at first, I'll tell you that.
04:34 But we switched it up.
04:35 It was hard.
04:36 The Lambo didn't make for the better robot
04:38 in terms of the G1 sort of aesthetic
04:41 that we're looking for.
04:42 And then I met with Porsche and they're like,
04:44 "You gotta test drive our cars, feel it out,
04:46 "and get a vibe."
04:47 And I was like, "Oh, this is crazy."
04:48 - Oh my God, I can't even believe
04:49 how much development you've made.
04:50 - Yeah, and it was also one nugget.
04:52 It was also homage to Michael Bay and Bad Boys.
04:55 That was like--
04:56 - Fave director?
04:58 - He's not my favorite director,
04:59 but he definitely inspired in terms of where I am today
05:03 'cause Bad Boys was a huge inspiration to me.
05:06 I ran out with a video camera
05:07 and reenacted Bad Boys so many times
05:10 'cause I saw people that--
05:11 (laughing)
05:12 No, I'm kidding. - I love that.
05:13 - I was inspired.
05:14 I saw people that looked like me on the big screen
05:15 and I was like, "This is crazy."
05:17 I didn't know Martin Lawrence and Will Smith
05:20 could pull off a big, huge action movie.
05:21 And so I was like, "Man."
05:23 So this was also a nugget for that too.
05:24 - Yeah, and then what I love the most
05:26 is that we have Anthony Ramos and Dominic Fishback,
05:28 like two-color representation,
05:30 whether it's black, Hispanic.
05:32 And what I love about their unit is very team-like,
05:35 but they're the Brooklyn Knights.
05:36 They're the Brooklyn team, you know what I mean?
05:38 So what made you want to have the basis in Brooklyn
05:42 and then going to Peru and the little tidbits
05:44 of like, "I'm never leaving Brooklyn."
05:45 I love that.
05:46 A lot of New Yorkers don't leave New York.
05:48 So what was that like?
05:49 Why them?
05:51 - That was all Dom.
05:53 I'm never leaving Brooklyn again.
05:54 She definitely made sure that I was alive
05:56 and we felt that Brooklyn-esque attitude throughout
06:00 and that love for it.
06:02 I think we always saw the films take place on the West Coast.
06:05 It was like California, Nevada,
06:07 those kind of places in the desert.
06:08 And it felt like, all right, how can we make this tough?
06:11 How can we add a level of grit to it?
06:12 New York was that city,
06:14 especially during the '90s and that era.
06:16 So for us, everything from the designs of the robots,
06:18 bringing them into that era
06:20 and then knowing how hard it was for them to transform.
06:23 They can't just transform anywhere
06:24 because it's one of the busiest cities ever.
06:26 So we had to really pinpoint special locations
06:28 that are like, "Okay, in these locations,
06:30 "we can have our autobots now be themselves."
06:33 So it felt congested for the robots,
06:35 enough for them to want to go home
06:36 and not stay on this planet.
06:37 That was crazy.
06:38 But for the humans, it's their home.
06:40 This is what they love.
06:41 This is what they want to protect.
06:42 So it created friction too,
06:44 between the autobots and the humans,
06:45 which I like 'cause that never wasn't in the offense.
06:47 - Ever, that was the first time, yeah.
06:48 - And they question everything.
06:50 It's like, New Yorkers,
06:52 we ain't just gonna say yes.
06:53 We're gonna ask our questions.
06:54 - You're gonna chop the rainbow,
06:55 you're gonna make me jump,
06:56 and I'm gonna go, "My last question for you is,
06:57 "any autobot you could do life with, who are you choosing?"
07:00 - If I can do what with?
07:01 - Life with, any autobot.
07:02 - Life with?
07:03 Ooh, I'd probably have to go with Optimus Prime on that one.
07:06 Mirage is my favorite right now,
07:08 but if I could have Prime have my back
07:09 and move through this thing called life,
07:10 yeah, that would be great.
07:11 - Bumblebee 'til I die.
07:13 - Bumblebee, there you go.
07:13 - 'Til I die, and thank you so much.
07:16 - Why was Peru the chosen exploration place?
07:19 - Well, we like to take our audience
07:21 on extraordinary sort of adventures
07:23 that they may not be able to go on.
07:25 Honestly, Machu Picchu is someplace
07:27 I really wanted to go to my whole life.
07:30 And so we found a story that took us to Machu Picchu.
07:33 It also has jungle, and jungle was so important
07:36 because we were wanting to bring in the Maximals,
07:38 but they can't really run around a city.
07:41 - Right.
07:43 - So we needed to find a story that had that.
07:45 So, you know, and then another culture
07:48 of the city there, Cusco, which brings in,
07:51 a lot of this movie is about cultures
07:54 and how do they intersect with one another.
07:56 - Yes.
07:57 So also, and I was gonna say that,
07:59 I love that the Autobots and that the Beast,
08:01 the Maximals are all together.
08:02 And I think that fans, diehard fans are gonna eat this up.
08:05 But what do you think is, or you're hoping is gonna be
08:08 the best thing that fans are gonna enjoy the most?
08:12 - Well, I think there's so much to like
08:15 in this movie for them.
08:16 I mean, they've been, fans have really been looking
08:18 for the Maximals to come in.
08:20 And so we've brought the Maximals in.
08:22 But I think there's a lot of characterization
08:24 that goes on in this movie that will connect.
08:27 I hope they find themselves more connected
08:30 to the humans and the robots than they have before.
08:32 - Oh, I have, because I never knew I needed Pete Davidson
08:35 and Anthony Ramos as our human Autobot like duo.
08:39 I was obsessed.
08:40 Now, what goes into that?
08:41 Because why was he a Porsche?
08:43 Out of all cars that could have been, why was the Porsche?
08:46 - Well, we've tried a lot of different cars.
08:48 1994 was also the year Bad Boys,
08:51 and they had the black Porsche.
08:54 So in a way, it's a little tip of the hat to Bad Boys.
08:57 And a lot of us growing up, it was sort of our dream car.
09:01 It was like, oh boy, I'd like to have one of those.
09:03 I certainly was one of those.
09:04 Actually, I had two cars I wanted.
09:06 I wanted a Camaro and a Porsche, and I got both.
09:09 - Wow. - So I'm doing okay.
09:10 - Kudos to you.
09:11 - I'm doing okay.
09:12 But it really, it's just a cool car.
09:19 And you wanted, the character always had a kind of a swagger.
09:23 - Yeah.
09:24 - And that feels right for that car.
09:27 - I like that.
09:28 I like that.
09:29 And then my last question for you is the suit.
09:32 It was like Iron Man, Transformers.
09:34 I loved it, but I was also like,
09:36 it symbolized for me kind of like the final straw
09:39 or like a sense of strength.
09:40 Like we're gonna come together and just go and kick ass.
09:43 So what, can we talk about the suit?
09:45 Like what was that for?
09:46 How did that creation come up into the story?
09:48 - Well, one of the hardest things to do in these movies
09:51 is how does a five or six foot creature
09:54 have anything meaningful to do
09:55 in a fight with 35 foot creatures, right?
09:58 And so it came out of that thinking.
10:00 It was like, how do you make the human
10:02 as important as possible?
10:04 That's where that came out of.
10:05 There's a need to give them an important pedestal
10:09 to stand on, you know, but I'm really glad you got that
10:11 because that was the idea of it all.
10:13 So it is, the story is about trying to unite
10:18 Anthony Ramos with robots, right?
10:21 And that's his struggle with Optimus.
10:23 And so it is symbolic that way for sure.
10:26 - Oh my God.
10:27 And I was so happy to see Bumblebee.
10:28 Great job.
10:29 I ate it up.
10:30 Thank you so much.
10:31 - Okay, good, great.
10:32 Glad you liked it so much.
10:33 - Nice to meet you.
10:33 - So you've been developing yourself into acting roles.
10:35 And I'm so used to you rapping and creating music.
10:37 - Yeah, for this one specifically,
10:40 Stephen Cable Jr. really helped me get into character.
10:45 I know I had to study a lot of movies
10:47 that I had seen in the past,
10:48 like "Paid in Full" and things along.
10:52 Yeah, I had to really tap into my
10:53 New York movie collection
10:58 to get active in the role.
11:01 But he really helped me lock in and not do too much.
11:05 You know, a lot of times people here in New York
11:08 and get overzealous.
11:10 - Yeah, yeah.
11:11 - Get overzealous.
11:12 - And you kept it.
11:13 It was clean.
11:14 - Come on, come on. - I loved it.
11:14 I loved it.
11:15 - I tried to stay in the pocket.
11:16 - Now, another thing with Reek is he's a mess, okay?
11:18 - Yeah, come on.
11:19 - Like you really left Noah in the dust.
11:21 So I have to ask you,
11:22 have you ever been in a situation like that
11:24 where maybe you were influenced by somebody
11:25 and it kind of left you in the dust or vice versa?
11:28 It's story time.
11:28 - Now, I guarantee you I've been in a position
11:31 where somebody has left me in the dust.
11:33 I don't really operate like that.
11:35 I'm one of those like, yeah, we ride together,
11:37 we die together type of people.
11:40 But everybody in the world ain't necessarily built like that
11:42 and I've had to learn that just through life,
11:45 life experiences and stuff like that.
11:46 So that's one of the things that ain't necessarily
11:50 a part of me that I had to act out in character.
11:55 But a lot of other stuff that, yeah, about Reek,
11:58 I truly stand 10 toes down on.
12:00 He really loves his friends and wants the best for them,
12:02 wants them to utilize their talents and skills
12:04 to put them in the best type of situation
12:06 that they can be in to provide for themselves.
12:08 I really believe that.
12:09 I really move in that like that on a day-to-day basis.
12:13 But all the rest of the stuff, it's like, not so much.
12:15 - Yeah, I can see that.
12:16 It was totally about team.
12:18 Speaking of teammates and people that you wanna better,
12:20 you and Noah were another duo
12:21 that I really enjoyed on screen.
12:23 Did you learn anything from your castmates?
12:26 - 100%.
12:26 - What did you take away the most?
12:28 - So Anthony is a phenomenal physical actor.
12:31 So was Dominique Fischbeck.
12:33 But he had a lot of acting and stuff that he was doing
12:36 that I was witnessing that didn't necessarily require lines.
12:40 But it was a lot of--
12:41 - Body movements, facial expressions.
12:42 - Yeah, yeah.
12:43 - I love Anthony Ramos.
12:45 - 100%.
12:46 But he's very, very talented.
12:48 But offscreen, he's a very, very well-meaning,
12:52 good person, wants the best for everybody around him.
12:53 No ego.
12:54 When we first met each other,
12:58 he came, saw my family in our trailer and stuff like that,
13:01 in our supporting cast trailer,
13:03 and saw we didn't have a lot of room like that,
13:05 and was like, "Hey, y'all can have my trailer."
13:07 - Wow.
13:07 - Yeah, come in, sit around,
13:09 kids can run around, grab whatever snacks that they want,
13:11 it don't matter.
13:12 And I was like, "Ah, yeah."
13:13 Because we both come from nothing,
13:14 it's like, yeah, he got a different level of appreciation
13:18 for things at this level and for people.
13:22 - Wow, that warms my heart.
13:23 - Come on.
13:24 - My last question for you is,
13:26 if you got any Autobot or beast to rock out every day with,
13:29 who are you choosing?
13:30 - I'm not gonna lie.
13:31 Now, Mirage would be, he just fun.
13:34 - He's a new Porsche, I'm loving him.
13:36 - Yeah, come on.
13:37 100%, like, yeah.
13:38 So, out of all of them,
13:41 he got the most entertaining personality.
13:43 I love the leadership qualities that Ms. Primal had.
13:47 - Always.
13:48 - Yeah, as a Maximal, like, even in,
13:51 I don't wanna spoil no film, but you understand,
13:54 but I just love his leadership qualities.
13:55 So, I'd rock out with him for a little bit,
13:57 but definitely between Primal and Mirage.
14:00 - Well, great job.
14:01 Congratulations to you.
14:02 You killed it.
14:02 - Thank you.
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