Tyrese Gibson Dreams Of Being On A Steven Spielberg Set
Let the “controversy” continue. Weeks after Shia LaBeouf claimed that Megan Fox‘s “Spice Girl strength” and her desire to be more than drapery with breasts and a butt on the set of the “Transformers” movies eventually got her booted by director Michael Bay. But the helmer of the robots-fighting-each-other movies now has his own slightly different version of what went down.
“She was in a different world, on her Blackberry. You gotta stay focused. And you know, the Hitler thing. Steven [Spielberg] said, ‘Fire her right now.’ ” Bay told GQ (print edition). To refresh your memory, “the Hitler thing” in question is from way back in the fall of 2009, when Fox was doing press for “Jennifer’s Body” and after “Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen” had been a huge box office success (so probably not the best timing in the world). “[Michael] wants to create this insane, infamous mad-man reputation. He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is,” Fox said. “So he’s a nightmare to work for but when you get him away from set, and he’s not in director mode, I kind of really enjoy his personality because he’s so awkward, so hopelessly awkward. He has no social skills at all. It’s endearing to watch him. He’s so vulnerable and fragile in real life and then on set, he’s a tyrant.”
For his part, Bay makes no apologies for being demanding and says her comments didn’t really bother him. “I wasn’t hurt, because I know that’s just Megan. Megan loves to get a response. And she does it in the wrong way. I’m sorry Megan, I’m sorry I made you work twelve hours. I’m sorry that I’m making you show up on time. Movies are not all warm and fuzzy,” he said. And his dudes on the set back him up.
“She started shit-talking our captain. Which you can’t do,” LaBeouf said to the magazine perhaps explaining why he chose to throw Fox under the bus a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, screenwriter Ehren Kruger said that while Fox did show up in the early days of production on ‘Dark Of The Moon,’ she clearly wasn’t feeling it. “She was there for rehearsals. But she seemed like an actress who didn’t want to be part of it. She was saying she wanted to, but she wasn’t acting like it,” he told GQ.
So what to make of all this? We’re still mostly amazed the grudge has lasted nearly two years after the comments were first made. The Australian press depressingly notes that following her comments — which admittedly were probably not the right way to go about voicing her discontent with Bay — “drew the ire of the film’s crew, who compared her acting to that of a porn star.” Clearly, the immaturity on both sides was pretty high and in some ways, continues to be. Moreover, why Bay decided to invoke the name of the executive producer Spielberg is beyond us. Seems like the classier thing to do would be to move on from it. But it’s pretty understandable why the director of “Schindler’s List” and the founder of Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation might not be too happy to hear Hitler a comparison tossed around so easily. But whether or not that turned into an order to axe her from the film seems dubious, considering she showed up to work on it.
But it’s wasn’t all Nazi references and finger pointing on the set on ‘Dark Of The Moon.’ In fact Tyrese Gibson remains positively upbeat about everything and even has (absurdly unrealistic dreams) about who will direct an eventual fourth installment of the series should Bay move on.
“If Michael Bay decides to come back for ‘Transfomers 4,’ I’ll be there. We’ll make it happen. (Right now), I think we are all exhausted with the process. If this movie does what we are all assuming it’s going to do, then, I think its time to revisit this conversation. When it’s time. There are no concepts, no direction, no nothing for ‘Transfomers 4,’ because everyone has been so focused on ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon.’ But here is the safety net. Are you ready for this? Michael Bay decides to not come back for ‘Transfomers 4.’ There is always Steven Spielberg!,” Gibson exclaimed to MovieWeb. “I am not saying that Steven Spielberg is for a fact going to direct ‘Transfomers 4.’ But it is a beautiful safety net to know that one of the biggest, most respected directors in the world happens to be an executive producer on ‘Transformers.’ He is someone who knows this world. And he could easily step in and direct ‘Transfomers 4’ if he decided to.” We love the enthusiasm Tyrese, but it ain’t gonna happen.
But leave it the singer/model/rapper/actor to show everyone else how to handle an uncomfortable question with class. Asked about his thoughts on Mudflap and Skids, the “urban” borderline racist Transformers from the last film, Gibson said, “I never liked those characters, and I am glad they’re not back. I think that every nationality in the world deserves to walk out of a movie and still feel good about themselves. I think it’s a responsibility to the fans. I just didn’t like some of the things they were saying, and the way they were going about whatever it was they were doing in that film. To be honest, I didn’t think that they added to the movie at all. I guess [Michael Bay] was just feeling something out. Moving on, we’re here now.”
That’s how you answer a question folks. Direct, but without tossing anyone to the wolves. “Transfomers: The One Without Megan Fox In It” hits theaters on June 29th.
