Marsden Transforms for Sequel
When it comes to Transformers 2, Brit happens.
Hot on the heels of news that Rainn Wilson will be joining the cast of the robot-happy sequel comes word that action-friendly British thesp Matthew Marsden has also come aboard.
According to MTV News, Marsden, who previously starred in Rambo and Resident Evil: Extinction, will play the role of Graham, a member of the British Special Forces.
While a plot for the Michael Bay flick is being kept under tight wrapsaside from Megan Fox’s promise at the MTV Movie Awards over the weekend that it will be “f—ing bad ass”Marsden’s character will reportedly join forces with the military men played in the original film by Josh Duhamel and Tyrese for a more global battle.
Shooting began on Monday.
Matthew Marsden Joins Transformers 2
Relatively unknown British actor Matthew Marsden has joined the cast of Transformers 2. Marsden was in a British soap around 10 years ago and then jetted off to the US and found acting jobs in Black Hawk Down, DOA: Dead or Alive, Resident Evil: Extinction and more recently Rambo.
MTV Movies Blog say that he will play the role of “Graham,” a character who is part of the British Special Forces.
In the sequel, Graham teams with Duhamel and Tyrese’s military characters, joining their efforts as they do battle with the evil Decepticons.
The casting of Graham, and the presence of the British Special Forces, would seem to indicate that Bay might do some filming in the U.K. Cameras are scheduled to begin rolling on the fast-forming flick in a matter of weeks.
Could it be that Transformers 2 will go down the ‘lets go to the UK for the sequel’ route? Agent Cody Banks did it, as did Mary Kate and Ashley, National Treasure, Fantastic Four 2 (briefly) and Garfield. I think its safe to assume that the whole film will not be set in the UK, but it just seems the Hollywood thing to do.
Anyway, its good to see Marsden finally landing a decent sized role in a big film, he’s been trying for 10 years!
MTV News has also learned that director Michael Bay was so impressed while meeting with Marsden that he has considerably beefed up the role of Graham from the original script, to accommodate the actor.
MTV has second thoughts about weed joke - VIDEO
There’s one thing to do a stupid joke that you shouldn’t have done, and then it’s another to not even have the balls to follow through on the joke.
Case in point: last night’s MTV Movie Awards. Seth Rogan and James Franco presented the award for Best Summer Movie of the Year So Far, and while doing it, they did a little plug for their new movie Pineapple Express. They pulled out a bag of fake (?) weed and smoked (?) it onstage, explaining more than once that it was fake and that kids shouldn’t smoke it. But take a look at the video after the jump below. As the joke starts, MTV’s cameras pull away to a shot that seems to be taken from across the street. You can’t even tell what Rogan and Franco are doing on stage, you can only hear them inhaling and introducing the nominees in the category.
Franco says that MTV is the one that came up with the idea, wrote the script, and supplied the weed, and then at the last minute pulled away because they had second thoughts about it. I applaud them, actually, for pulling away (come on, this is a stupid joke for a show a lot of kids watch and was just inviting trouble), though I do wonder what was real, the joking or the fake marijuana?
Wilson Rainns on Transformers Parade
Can’t believe that everyone’s favorite assistant (to the) regional manager has been cast in what’s shaping up to be one of the biggest blockbusters of next summer? Join the club.
“I’m going to be doing a role in Transformers 2,” Rainn Wilson spilled to MTV News. “Isn’t that crazy? Isn’t that ridiculous?”
Perhaps not quite as ridiculous as agreeing to a film, and a role, of which he has no real knowledge.
“It’s just a tiny little…just a cameo,” he said of his part. “I play a college professor that turns into a robot that then turns into a car…I don’t even know yet, some kind of professor. I haven’t even read it.”
Here’s hoping the role is more than meets the eye.
The sequel, which sees the return of Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox and Josh Duhamel, shoots this summer and is set for release next year.