Peter Cullen, who has voiced the leader of the Transformers for more than two decades, told SCI FI Wire that Optimus Prime's voice will have slightly more depth and a little bit more humor in Michael Bay's upcoming live-action movie.
"I, of course, am a bit older, so there will be more depth to my voice because of that naturally, but the sound of it will be only slightly different," Cullen said in an interview.
Cullen has been the only voice of the leader of the Autobots since the inception of the Transformers as an animated TV show in the 1980s. He also gave voice to other Transformers as well, including Ironhide and Slugslinger, and reprised the role of Optimus Prime in the 1986 animated feature film Transformers: The Movie and a subsequent video game.
When he was hired to voice the character in Bay's big-budget, live-action Transformers movie, Cullen said, "I had no problem coming back to do his voice. It was like riding a bicycle."
Cullen said that his older brother, Larry, inspired Optimus Prime's booming, commanding voice. "I was so impressed with him when he came back after a year with the Marines," Cullen recalled. "Larry was confident, strong, quiet, and that's the kind of demeanor I used when creating the role."
In the upcoming movie, Optimus may look a bit different, "but Optimus is still Optimus," Cullen said. "The changes are not revolutionary by any means. They're subtle. ... Maybe more than anything he has a bit more of a sense of humor."
Transformers opens July 3. It also stars Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, Jon Voight and Megan Fox. —Mike Szymanski