Michael Bay Responds to Hugo Weaving's Comments Regarding His Voice Work in the Transformers Movies

What can I say? Michael Bay, a rich untalented director, poking fun at people who he is just like? I never thought what Mr Weaving said was ungrateful. I do, however, think Michael Bay has no credibility with his words. Considering his idea of finding a talented actress to play his lead is having her wash his car in a bikini.

You know, it's nice that Bay has some class sensitivity here, and some desire to give to a good cause, but his contempt for the idea of (gasp) artistic fulfillment says a lot about what was wrong with all of those movies.

Maybe Bay will be a bit smarter this time around and listen to Fans and Cast Frank Welker for Megs, we all know he's grateful for what the role has done for him.

Homerjay14522 wrote:Maybe Bay will be a bit smarter this time around and listen to Fans and Cast Frank Welker for Megs, we all know he's grateful for what the role has done for him.

No more Megatron, please!

I agree with Bay on this, Hugo got paid huge money for a small gig, that was easy. He even said so himself.

While most of America is falling into a debtful slump, these artists still get paid athlete money for short stints of work, where as production crews work for 9-12 months at a time for anywhere from 25K to 60K, Weaving made 137K an hour doing his job for less then two hours.




You can dislike Bay's movies, and how he directs them.
But you can not say he isn't the hardest working director in the Business.
Unless you want to look ignorant. This guy deserves every penny he has ever made. He's never worked Easy since his career started.

Hugo did say he wasn't being nasty about his comments. In a way I see Hugo's side of this whole thing. And I also see Bay's side to it, too. Hugo should have more appreciation for the recognition he is getting as Megatron's voice because it's no small thing to the TF community.

I don't know what Hugo Weaving should be complaining about. He provided the voice for the central villain for three enormous blockbusters, plus those aren't even the only big films he's done, and I see him more big roles now after his involvement in TF. I suppose I understand why he feels unappreciated though. The person who was probably the least talented in the first two movies is 50 times more famous than Hugo Weaving just because she's attractive. She most definitely got paid more, too: And for what? Looking pretty?

In all honesty, I don't think Hugo realizes how much the Transformers community appreciates him as the voice of Megatron and as an essential figure in the series. Just because he isn't in the tabloids all the time or isn't being interviewed by Oprah doesn't mean he's not appreciated.

reflector7 wrote:What can I say? Michael Bay, a rich untalented director, poking fun at people who he is just like? I never thought what Mr Weaving said was ungrateful. I do, however, think Michael Bay has no credibility with his words. Considering his idea of finding a talented actress to play his lead is having her wash his car in a bikini.

Untalented? I'd like to see you go out and do better.

Sabrblade wrote:

Homerjay14522 wrote:Maybe Bay will be a bit smarter this time around and listen to Fans and Cast Frank Welker for Megs, we all know he's grateful for what the role has done for him.

No more Megatron, please!

NO! There can be no Transformers without the glory of Megatron!!!

Not once did Hugo Weaving say or imply that he was ungrateful for the role or money. He just said it didn't mean anything to him, which is perfectly understandable given the reality of what his role was and required of him. That was apparently lost on Bay, who of course jumped at the chance to look like the peoples' champion and play to the whole recession thing. Bad form, Michael, bad form. (But it was funny, lol)

Hugo Weaving's comments never struck me as malicious. It was a meaningless role for him. He didn't say he wasn't grateful for the money or anything, but he wasn't attached to that role in any significant way, which is understandable the way he describes it. He got called in, he read his lines, he left and went on with other things that were more important to him. Now here comes Michael Bay, attacking him without naming him outright. I want to believe he realizes his mistake, since he removed his comment so quickly, but I'm still skeptical about him.

The fact that his original post was deleted demonstrates to me that he ran his mouth off THEN went back and thought things through.

Hugo Weaving is one of the best actors in the industry. He's worth the money, but all good actors need good scripts, so maybe fork out a bit of extra money for some better writers?

KenjaminLinus wrote:Not once did Hugo Weaving say or imply that he was ungrateful for the role or money. He just said it didn't mean anything to him, which is perfectly understandable given the reality of what his role was and required of him. That was apparently lost on Bay, who of course jumped at the chance to look like the peoples' champion and play to the whole recession thing. Bad form, Michael, bad form. (But it was funny, lol)

^^ This.

Plus, let's not forget that Mr. Weaving was provided with NOTHING regarding the character he was playing. No motivation, no description of things that he did not understand, probably not even a sketch in the booth for him to look at! That poor preparation falls on Bay and Co., not Mr. Weaving. He did what he could with what he had. If he were given the slightest clue of what that incarnation of the character was about, he would have had more appreciation for what he was doing. Plain and simple.

Mr. Bay, let me explain something to you that you obviously do not understand. there are several motivational factors to doing a job that make a person consider it a rewarding and enjoyable experience, money is about 3rd on that list of factors. The most common factors to a job being considered rewarding is to feel like their job matters, and to have some control over their work environment. These seem to be things Mr. Weaving did not feel he had. He didn't feel his job was important, and he didn't seem to feel he had any say in his duties. Money can't make up for hating a job. You've not exactly been characterized as the greatest of bosses by those that have worked with you, either.

Calling a Job Meaningless FYI is the same as not appreciating it.


I'll gladly do a meaningless Job for $137K an hour.

Mr. Weaving did a decent job in my opinion, but like my associates, Bay kinds messed up the character by making him everyone's, ah, servant, for lack of a more appropriate word. That really kinda bugged me. Again, I was largely dissapointed by DOTM, both because of a large amount of static characters and the toys' overall gimmick. I'm just hoping Bay doesn't screw up TF4.

RodimalToyota wrote:Calling a Job Meaningless FYI is the same as not appreciating it.


I'll gladly do a meaningless Job for $137K an hour.

Well Mr. Weaving isn't exactly starved for money. He said he recorded for Megatron in his off-time on some other projects. He's getting a large paycheck from somebody regardless. If he doesn't feel this role was fulfilling, then his loss is much less significant than if one of us were to do it (or not do it).

Given that Megatron, potentially one of the most amazing villians in all of fiction had practically ZERO character development across of Micheal Bays 3 Transformer films what does Mr. Bay expect?

I mean I didn't care that Hugo Weaving was Megatron. You could barely tell it was him after the effects were added to his voice, and Megatron has less than 30 lines throughout the franchise anyway.

Bay needs to stop taking everything so personally and maybe focus on the TRANSFORMING CHARACTERS with his next Transformers movie instead of making them all one-line delivering accessories to his human characters.

At least we saw Megatron die onscreen in DOTM, so he won't disappear offscreen like Mikaela did.

As for Frank Welker, he DID do Galvatron in the TV series...

Bay is the worst thing to happen to Transformers. Don't ever forget that.

I can see both sides of this. Weaving got paid a shitload to sit in a booth for and hour and 43 minutes and he did a pretty damn good job. So he has nothing to complain about. I don't see how that makes Bay a bad director, does he really need to babysit every actor?

On the other hand it was an easy gig, so I can understand how the role wouldn't mean much to him. Especially considering how involved his other roles have been.

This is just some he said-he said kind of thing. Hopefully Weaving will respond and clear it up before it gets too ugly.

Bay is the one who needs to grow up here. Weaving's remarks were justified. Bay's backlash is just a silly attempt at changing the topic. But hey, good luck rescuing those elephants.

OptiMagnus wrote:I don't know what Hugo Weaving should be complaining about. He provided the voice for the central villain for three enormous blockbusters, plus those aren't even the only big films he's done, and I see him more big roles now after his involvement in TF. I suppose I understand why he feels unappreciated though. The person who was probably the least talented in the first two movies is 50 times more famous than Hugo Weaving just because she's attractive. She most definitely got paid more, too: And for what? Looking pretty?

In all honesty, I don't think Hugo realizes how much the Transformers community appreciates him as the voice of Megatron and as an essential figure in the series. Just because he isn't in the tabloids all the time or isn't being interviewed by Oprah doesn't mean he's not appreciated.

I'm not sure the tf community knows how much the tf community appreciates Weaving's work, given that this and everynthread explodes with All Hail Welker!


Here's whT Weaving is griping about. What if Picasso or Van Gogh release a painting. Everyone bids onit because its from them, but even though they painted it, they liked enough to release it, it really din't tirn out the way they wanted it too. But the public doesn't care, its a Picasso. Should Picasso be proud of a painting because it made him a lot of money, even though in his eyes its not the painting he had hoped to paint, and may in fact be a bit of a failure to him?

Should Mr. Weaving put any less pride or faith into the art he paints with hos voicebecause we the public se e a success, but he sees the flaws and thenfailings?

Personlly, I iked his Megatron, and given some good scripting and a bettr opportunity, i think he could get a corner of the franchise lke Kaye did in thenaftermath of Welker's performance.

Meh, I've heard worse from a lead actor in a Transformers movie. Orson Wells hated the animated movie. Granted he was a living legend in the entertainment industry doing the voice for a cartoon planet eating monster in a 90 minute toy commercial, but I think we'll get over this dis just like we got over that one. Frank Welker will always be the voice to beat when it comes to Megatron, with David Kaye in a close second, and as long as they stay loyal to the fans what do we have to complain about?

Way to put words in Weavings mouth Bay, stop acting like a child and accept the fact that one of your "Actors" didnt like working on one of your movies. I just like how Weaving went about things tactfully & bay took the low road, way to act like a spoiled child there Michael and good job showing you have professionalism, well lack there of anyway.

SlyTF1 wrote:

reflector7 wrote:What can I say? Michael Bay, a rich untalented director, poking fun at people who he is just like? I never thought what Mr Weaving said was ungrateful. I do, however, think Michael Bay has no credibility with his words. Considering his idea of finding a talented actress to play his lead is having her wash his car in a bikini.

Untalented? I'd like to see you go out and do better.

I work in the same movie industry as Bay, I deal with directors and VFX. I have to agree with reflector7, he is rich and untalented. He's a terrible director in my opinion.

As much as I hate his movies (that I still paid to see... ) I do give him credit for revitalizing the Transformers franchise. The movies make money, and that's all Hollywood cares about.

That aside, he likes to film explosions and half naked women, that's about the extent of his abilities.

ive read alot of the reactions to this story, and while bay has no right after the mess of dotm, he makes a good point.

hugo weaving also said the same things of his role as the red skull in captain america.

he played some major villians and yet, he is whinning about them. seems like the only thing he really cares about is screen time. has he made any complaints about his role in the matrix? not to my knowledge. or the lotr trilogy?

could it be that he only feels worthy of trilogies or has he not said anything about lotr because of the hobbit movies being currently filmed?

there are many out of work actors who have proven their work on screen yet havent got a decent part in years.

hugo needs to realize that if he wants any future, he wont piss off the directors. example, wheres megan fox after jennifers body?

I could have sworn this was 2012... It seems as if I stepped into a time warp and when all the way back to 2008.

You crybabies still upset about michael bay? Time to let it go. You could all be reading a book right now.

Zetatron wrote:Meh, I've heard worse from a lead actor in a Transformers movie. Orson Wells hated the animated movie. Granted he was a living legend in the entertainment industry doing the voice for a cartoon planet eating monster in a 90 minute toy commercial, but I think we'll get over this dis just like we got over that one. Frank Welker will always be the voice to beat when it comes to Megatron, with David Kaye in a close second, and as long as they stay loyal to the fans what do we have to complain about?

wells was the size of a planet when he voiced unicron, and he got alot of bad press for the weight gain. lol. it seems like an irony to me.

freetouch wrote:I could have sworn this was 2012... It seems as if I stepped into a time warp and when all the way back to 2008.

You crybabies still upset about michael bay? Time to let it go. You could all be reading a book right now.

I like you. Others won't though. But I like you. You and I? We can laugh at them together.

Pretty funny... I love Movie Megatron but he needed a lot more screen time; and its not Weaving's fault he's not attached to a character he only had read a few lines for. I feel like this Megs lives on through Prime Megatron anyway and he does get plenty of screen time.

You can't ask eevryone to love every single thing the do in every single job they do. Weaving didn't do himself any favors by saying he was indifferent to the role, but Bay comes off even worse to me.

Weaving critisized the part. Bay made it personal. IMHO, Bay just comes off as worse for it. He didn't have to make it personal or take it as a personal attack.

I hate to say it but i agree with Bay, I'd kill for Weaving opportunities!

Bay is sooooo thinned-skin over this. After his bout with Megan Fox this makes two. Hugo said he never even met the guy and was given nothing about the character to go on. I think Mr. Weaving wins here and its justified.

Theres Shia's little rant as well, but who cares about him.

Burn wrote:

freetouch wrote:I could have sworn this was 2012... It seems as if I stepped into a time warp and when all the way back to 2008.

You crybabies still upset about michael bay? Time to let it go. You could all be reading a book right now.

I like you. Others won't though. But I like you. You and I? We can laugh at them together.

Can I join you?

KenjaminLinus wrote:Not once did Hugo Weaving say or imply that he was ungrateful for the role or money. He just said it didn't mean anything to him, which is perfectly understandable given the reality of what his role was and required of him. That was apparently lost on Bay, who of course jumped at the chance to look like the peoples' champion and play to the whole recession thing. Bad form, Michael, bad form. (But it was funny, lol)

Well struck, KenjaminLinus. The guy's definitely a bit of a prima donna. Fair play to Weaving for telling it how it was.

I honestly don't think Bay had to react the way he did--it was nothing personal. Weaving was only speaking as-a-matter-of-factly about his voicing Megatron. There wasn't any hint of an insult or derision about the movie or Bay as a director. He simply told it as it is--a two-hour job with next to no info on the character he was supposed to voice. What's more, he did a good job.

How is the role supposed to mean anything to him when he knows nothing about the character he was supposed to voice?

He was probably given a script with lines for a robotic villain named Magatron, and told to sound intimidating and cruel. Weaving probably doesn't know anything more about TF's than Bay did before the latter's "TF boot camp" at Hasbro's headquarters.

Maybe Bay feels it puts him in a bad light for not providing the necessary information on Megatron, but I don't think Weaving meant to do so.

Just my two cents' worth.

I didn't have a chance to read all your comments regarding bay's lil bitch comment, but its pretty retarded since reporters decide what to post regarding any interviews with an actor, so thats already something that needs to be seen with context. The next is the fact that Weaving didn't express any problems with the gig at all, he simply stated that he wasn't connected to the character or overall movie much. Big effin' whoop. Bay is a bitch. Here's the proof. Argue with me all you want, I don't care.

Hopefully this cements Frank Welker's role as a main Decepticon villain. I think he's more than proven himself with his amazing voice acting work in Transformers Prime.

Evil_the_Nub wrote:

Burn wrote:

freetouch wrote:I could have sworn this was 2012... It seems as if I stepped into a time warp and when all the way back to 2008.

You crybabies still upset about michael bay? Time to let it go. You could all be reading a book right now.

I like you. Others won't though. But I like you. You and I? We can laugh at them together.

Can I join you?

You're the ones professing your disagreeal with the negative comments, yet your taking the time to post here. You could be reading a book too. By suggesting our lack of anything better to do, you are suggesting the same for yourselves. And to a worse degree as it is in an attempt to one-up us and further segregate the fanbase.

well maybe Mr. Bay should have hired someone more familiar and appreciative of the franchise in the first place, some one currently playing megatron who does a killer job at it and does sound more bad ass than the G1 version and would make the movie megatron sound better ....you know who... lets hear it for Frank Welker!!

Ultra Markus wrote:well maybe Mr. Bay should have hired someone more familiar and appreciative of the franchise in the first place, some one currently playing megatron who does a killer job at it and does sound more bad ass than the G1 version and would make the movie megatron sound better ....you know who... lets hear it for Frank Welker!!

Amen to that!

MINDVVIPE wrote:

Evil_the_Nub wrote:

Burn wrote:

freetouch wrote:I could have sworn this was 2012... It seems as if I stepped into a time warp and when all the way back to 2008.

You crybabies still upset about michael bay? Time to let it go. You could all be reading a book right now.

I like you. Others won't though. But I like you. You and I? We can laugh at them together.

Can I join you?

You're the ones professing your disagreeal with the negative comments, yet your taking the time to post here. You could be reading a book too. By suggesting our lack of anything better to do, you are suggesting the same for yourselves. And to a worse degree as it is in an attempt to one-up us and further segregate the fanbase.

We're just sick of seeing the exact same hyperbolic whining for the last 5 years. You don't like the movies, we get it. Nobody is forcing you to see them yet you do anyway. Even though you know you won't like them. You just can't let anyone enjoy something you don't. Every time there's a news story about the movies you guys crawl out of your holes to ruin it for everyone with your stale antagonism. Let it go already.

They should bring megatron back to life to be galvatron and have frank welker voice him

MINDVVIPE wrote:

Evil_the_Nub wrote:

Burn wrote:

freetouch wrote:I could have sworn this was 2012... It seems as if I stepped into a time warp and when all the way back to 2008.

You crybabies still upset about michael bay? Time to let it go. You could all be reading a book right now.

I like you. Others won't though. But I like you. You and I? We can laugh at them together.

Can I join you?

You're the ones professing your disagreeal with the negative comments, yet your taking the time to post here. You could be reading a book too. By suggesting our lack of anything better to do, you are suggesting the same for yourselves. And to a worse degree as it is in an attempt to one-up us and further segregate the fanbase.

• I was on a 10 minute smoko break. If i'm going to read a book, I like to settle down and get comfortable for a minimum of half an hour.
• I'm a member of the staff, have to read things to make sure there's no nasty name calling going on and whatnot.
• The fanbase has been segregated for a very long time. Truck, monkey, flames, no flames ... don't see any of it changing any time soon for better or for worse.

And again, bring on Welker, but don't expect too much from him. He still has to read off a questionable script.

Evil_the_Nub wrote:

MINDVVIPE wrote:

Evil_the_Nub wrote:

Burn wrote:

freetouch wrote:I could have sworn this was 2012... It seems as if I stepped into a time warp and when all the way back to 2008.

You crybabies still upset about michael bay? Time to let it go. You could all be reading a book right now.

I like you. Others won't though. But I like you. You and I? We can laugh at them together.

Can I join you?

You're the ones professing your disagreeal with the negative comments, yet your taking the time to post here. You could be reading a book too. By suggesting our lack of anything better to do, you are suggesting the same for yourselves. And to a worse degree as it is in an attempt to one-up us and further segregate the fanbase.

We're just sick of seeing the exact same hyperbolic whining for the last 5 years. You don't like the movies, we get it. Nobody is forcing you to see them yet you do anyway. Even though you know you won't like them. You just can't let anyone enjoy something you don't. Every time there's a news story about the movies you guys crawl out of your holes to ruin it for everyone with your stale antagonism. Let it go already.

Hyperbolic whining? No one is forcing you to see them? Wow, thanks, I never knew these things.

The subject is regarding Bay being a moron. We're just members of a transformers board speaking on topic. Just because you don't like what we say, you get all personally offended (i'm sure). Theres enough hate thrown out there for hasbro, for animated, theres hate on just about anything on this forum. Stop tryin to act enlightened for having "moved on", which you haven't because, if I remember correctly, you like the movies.

There might be lots of different views on stuff in the fandom, truck not monkey, no flames, as you said, but this is about the only area where people seem to complain about the complainers at such a magnitude, and I am sick of reading it. Especially when many of us didn't even diss the movie, we were just dissing bay for what he said. WHICH IS ON TOPIC.

You don't see Ryan complaining about the complainers. People say their part and shovel on, if you can't do the same, thats your problem. I won't say anything else since this has been a huge derailment. I just wanted to bring light to it so you don't get away with your snarky quips that do nothing but hurt the fandom.

I think Michael wrote that in the heat of the moment,wich he must have regreted it,because he delete it shortly after.

Bay went just a bit crazy over this, i'd like to see a bunch of actors donate a heap of money to that elephant cause and make Bay go bankrupt since he said he would match it

TulioDude wrote:I think Michael wrote that in the heat of the moment,wich he must have regreted it,because he delete it shortly after.

And had the website not caught it, we wouldn't have known any better.

Be interesting to see if Bay makes another statement in a day or so.

Say what you will, but getting script from agent, auditioning, getting the part of megaton (most powerful villain in TF history) means little information? If that was so, as an actor (even novice actors let alone weaving) he needs to pick up and read supplementary materials for the part. There are tons of comics, novels, cartoons to go by. I may not like the directions of the second movie, but weaving needs to stop complaining. If he was just not happy about the artistic aspect of acting, then He shouldn't take the part. Artistic styles has to do with personal reflections not online ranting. Personally, I think weaving was just bitter he didn't expand his social network. Like he said, he "didn't even meet bay." If you're so concern with the artistic aspect of acting then who cares if you've met the director or not. It'll be nice and courteous if bay had met him, but not a requirement. We all know its about he money. Weaving doing a stunt he did t care about and getting 200,000. And bay makes millions.

fuck man bay is right! do your job and smile! stop complaining like a lil bitch...