Actor Brian Tyree Henry spoke about his love for villains and how there’s always more behind them than meets the eye. “Transformers 1” The film is scheduled for release in US theaters on September 20th.
Henry voices the young Megatron, also known as D-16. The film tells the origin story of rivals-turned-friends Megatron and Optimus Prime.
Henry, an Oscar-, Emmy- and Tony-nominated actor, said he has been fascinated with villainous roles for most of his life.
“Growing up, my parents always bought me toys with villains, and I played with them as if they were heroes. I always feel like villains are misunderstood,” he told “CBS Mornings.” “We always portray villains as dark and evil, but they got there somehow. What happened?”
That’s why it was so important for Henry to take on the role of young Megatron.
“I wanted to get to the heart of who Megatron was, so that people would walk out of the theater thinking, ‘Okay, I actually get it. I feel it. Maybe I’m a Decepticon now.'”
Henry said he believes audiences will meet Megatron and Optimus Prime when they are between the ages of 18 and 20, explaining that he tried to capture his characters as they were at that moment in their lives.
“In this film, you can actually hear the voices of their younger years – you can hear them laugh, you can hear them joke, you can hear their fears and their dreams.”
So as he prepared for the role, he thought back to when he was 18 and had moved to Atlanta and attended Morehouse College.
“I was just a young, precocious, incredibly stubborn kid trying to figure out how to become a man,” he said.
Henry, who also stars in “The Fire Inside,” due in theaters in December, said he tries to focus on the heart of whatever character he’s playing.
“Very often I play characters that you wouldn’t want to invite into your living room, or that you might want to kind of turn your back on,” Henley said. “All of the men that I’ve been lucky enough to play are people that we know and that I feel deserve to be reflected.”
“Transformers One” will be distributed by Paramount Pictures, a subsidiary of CBS parent company Paramount Global.
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