Peter Cullen Shares His Experience Voicing Optimus Prime For The First Time

Peter Cullen has been voicing Optimus Prime in the Transformers franchise since the classic 80s cartoon series and he reprised his role again in the latest film in the franchise, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. Cullen’s voice is iconic and no one will ever really be able to play this fan-favorite character better than he has. He’s been doing it for 40 years!

During a recent interview with the voice actor, he shared his experience voicing the character for the very first time and what inspired how he played Prime. He said:

"When I voiced Prime for the very first time, I was living with my brother Larry, who was a Marine. I said, "I'm going to an audition. I'm gonna be a truck.' And he started to laugh and he said, 'A truck?!' And I said, 'This is a leader. This is a hero.' And his demeanor just changed. He just went, 'Peter. If you're going to be a leader, be strong enough to be gentle.' And I got to the audition and I said, 'My name is Optimus Prime, from the planet Cybertron.' I had no doubt that this is what a hero should sound like, and I was convinced I was gonna get that role."

And the rest is history. It’s really cool to hear that story from one of the most beloved voice actors ever. When talking about returning to play the character again in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, he said:

"Transformers: Rise of the Beasts has the same ingredients that were there at the beginning. There's that integrity, there's a dignity, there's courage. It's an honor to be able to do this character. I've talked to a lot of people who grew up with Transformers, and I don't take them for granted. I love you guys."

The next movie “will take audiences on a ‘90s globetrotting adventure with the Autobots and introduce a whole new faction of Transformers – the Maximals – to join them as allies in the existing battle for earth.”

Steven Caple Jr. (Creed II) directed the film, and it also stars Luna Lauren Valez, Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime, and Ron Perlman as Optimus Primal. The film also stars Peter Dinklage as Scourge, Michelle Yeoh as Airazor, Pete Davidson as Mirage, Liza Koshy, John DiMaggio, David Sobolov, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, and Cristo Fernández.

That film arrives in theaters on June 9th, 2023.