The Telescope

Issue Date: 5/11/09

Action star lives childhood dream

By Crystal Evans

Media Credit: Courtesy Photo Tech Sergeant Epps (Tyrese Gibson) protects himself against alien robots in Dreamwork's film "Transformers."

Media Credit: Courtesy Photo Tyrese Gibson will reprise his role as Tech Sergeant Epps in the movie, "Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen."

In 2007 Tyrese Gibson starred in the box office hit based off one of his favorite childhood cartoons, "Transformers," as a member of the U.S. Air Force who attempts to fight off the Decepticons attacking the earth. On June 24 he'll be back in theaters in "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen."
Gibson said that acting in "Transformers" was more than just a job, it was a childhood dream come true.
"I was that kid in my drawers with a Lucky Charms bowl of cereal watching the Transformers every time they came on," Gibson said. "And for me, it's almost like a childhood dream to be a fan of a cartoon and the toys and then grow up and actually be acting in the same movie. It's kind of surreal."
Tyrese isn't the only one that grew up being a fan of the Transformers, thus there was a lot of pressure to deliver on this film, especially after the success of the first one.
"It wasn't necessarily fun to deal with the pressure," Gibson said. "You can't just say because somebody's spending a lot of money to do a film or you got a certain director attached that a film is going to do well."
But Director Michael Bay made sure that they all worked hard to make it the best film possible.
"Michael Bay is demanding all across the board, it's definitely not a rumor," Gibson said. "But I've been on the set when I've dealt with directors that are very relaxed, trying to be everybody's friend, and you never get anything doneā€¦ I respect how [Bay] keeps everybody on edge because it makes you perform at the highest level."
Despite setbacks that are bound to happen, Gibson said the movie was done ahead of schedule, thanks to Bay's persistence.
"We were filming a big huge firebomb explosion scene and a big important piece of the set caught on fire," Tyrese said. "Michael flipped out and we were all rushing to put the fire out. They had the fire department and everybody rushing, like, hurry up, save it, save itā€¦ it's all about continuity, and so everything has to look the same or the whole shot is ruined."
But Bay didn't let the accident get in the way of filming.
"When we came back to the set the next day after they put the fire out, they had built the thing overnight," Gibson said. "It was right back to looking the way it did before it caught on fire."
Being a fan of the show growing up, Gibson has a favorite Autobot.
"Optimus is my favorite," Gibson said. "When I had seen him on the first one and he said, 'I'm Optimus Prime,' I was like, 'yo.' You're talking about chills going through my body."
However a lot has changed from the cartoon he watched growing up and the film that he stars in, in particular the advancement of computer graphics technology.
"The big action scenes and drama in films back in the day had so many limitations compared to now. Sometimes you can't tell the difference from explosions in the film that's live action over what's in CG. The special effects are going to be mind blowing."
Though the overall effect of computer graphics is amazing, the acting done with elements that will be added digitally can be difficult.
"The robots that were on the set were actually a big tall stick that was like 15 to 30 feet high and it had a green tennis ball on the top of it," Gibson said. "That was the robot."
However, acting with a tall stick and a tennis ball isn't always a bad thing.
"Sometimes it's better to do a scene with a pole and a tennis ball than it is to do it with some of these actors I've had to work with in the past," Gibson said. "Sometimes you're doing the scene it's like, 'Man, could I get a stick and a ball right now?'"

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