Actor John Turturro is gaining fame for his performance as Irving Bailiff in the AppleTV+ series Severance. However, an entire generation of fans recognize the actor as Agent Seymour Simmons in the Transformers franchise. Turturro appeared in four out of the five live-action installments helmed by filmmaker Michael Bay.
During an interview, Turturro reflected on his experience working on the movies based on the popular Hasbro toy line of the same name. In the process, the actor recalled an instance where he got yelled at by the director for pulling out a Transformers toy during a scene. Here is what Turturro had to say about the incident and his experience working with Bay.
John Turturro admitted Michael Bay yelled at him while working on Transformers
Actor John Turturro played the role of Agent Seymour Simmons in the Transformers franchise, primarily in the installments directed by Michael Bay. He originated the role in the first installment released in 2008 and was last seen in 2017’s Transformers: The Last Knight.
During an interview with GQ, Turturro discussed the experience of working on the franchise. While Turturro did not reveal which movie he was shooting at the time, the actor did admit that Bay yelled at him for playing with the Transformers toys on the sets.
Michael Bay went out his mind. He was like you can’t do that. Cause I would do all kinds of crazy things. I said without this toy, I said there’s no movie. I said there’s no Michael Bay.
Turturro made the above statement, recalling transforming a toy during one scene where he made an overt and meta-reference to the franchise’s origin.
While Bay most likely lost his mind over the actor going off script, Turturro defended his actions by arguing that such a child-like spirit was necessary when working on the movie. Given that several die-hard fans of the franchise have taken issue with Bay’s lack of respect for the source material, they agreed (via Reddit) with Turturro’s sentiments.
John Turturro described the experience of working with Michael Bay on Transformers
In the same conversation, the Severance actor also discussed his overall experience of working on the franchise and by extension Bay. Turturro admitted that he had a lot of fun while working with the director, especially because of Bay’s energy.
At the same time, Turturro implied that he struggled with the believability aspect of the franchise. He stated the following, explaining his struggle:
It was exhausting because it’s not the most nuanced work. It’s sorta like a bold action painting or a sketch.
Furthermore, Turturro also revealed that he had a lot of freedom to improvise while working on the movie, which presumably made the process somewhat easier.
Ultimately, Turturro did not seem to mind Bay yelling at him and the two enjoyed collaborating, especially since the actor went on to reprise his role in multiple installments. Therefore, it is safe to say that Turturro had no hard feelings about the incident.
Transformers movies are streaming on Paramount+.
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