The Energon Pub

That's what I meant, was the script, including the poorly-written Megatron character, was simply something that talented professionals like Weaving would not want to focus on.

I can't hate on the guy for being honest. Even though at first glance he sounds like he's being a dick, he's really not. He did the job he was approached to do, and all things considered did it well. The fault lies with Bay, for not giving enough of a crap about the characters or storyline. What should have been main characters were nothing but extras in a Degrassi episode. All Bay's Megatron required was what Weaving put in.

Looks like Michael Bay didn't appreciate the comments from Hugo Weaving regarding his role in the first Transformers movie trilogy. Bay apparently took to his official website and fired off the comments quoted below. The original posting on MichaelBay.com seems to have been removed, but Collider managed to snag the comments before they were taken down. See what Bay had to say below:

Do you ever get sick of actors that make $15 million a picture, or even $200,000 for voiceover work that took a brisk one hour and 43 minutes to complete, and then complain about their jobs? With all the problems facing our world today, do these grumbling thespians really think people reading the news actually care about trivial complaints that their job wasn’t ‘artistic enough” or “fulfilling enough”? I guess The Hollywood Reporter thinks so.

What happened to people who had integrity, who did a job, got paid for their hard work, and just smiled afterward? Be happy you even have a job – let alone a job that pays you more than 98% of the people in America.

I have a wonderful idea for all those whiners: They can give their “unhappy job money” to a wonderful Elephant Rescue. It’s the David Sheldrick WildlifeTrust in Africa. I will match the funds they donate.

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.