For the second week of our newsletter, we will uncover the truth behind the most-heard voices from one of our favourite shows.
THE VOICE OF A PRIME
Peter Cullen was a Canadian-American voice actor who voiced Optimus Prime in many Transformers projects and is widely regarded as the most notable and iconic voice of the character. Even though he voiced many other characters across a wide variety of popular media, his voice was best known and recognized as the Autobot leader Optimus Prime.
Peter Cullen’s first appearances as the voice of Optimus Prime were in the animated TV series Transformers: Generation 1 and later the animated movie The Transformers: The Movie; he later came back to the role in 2007 in Transformers, the first live-action film.
Following the live-action film, Cullen also voiced Optimus in the sequels Revenge of the Fallen, Dark of the Moon, Age of Extinction, The Last Knight, Bumblebee, and Rise of the Beasts, as well as the video games based on the film series Transformers: War for Cybertron, Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, and Transformers: Devastation.
Cullen once again reprised his role as Optimus Prime in the television series Transformers: Prime, Transformers: Robots in Disguise, and Transformers: Rescue Bots, for which he was nominated for a 2011 Daytime Emmy Award in the Outstanding Performance in an Animated Program for his performance in Transformers: Prime.
Following his death this year on the 26th of August, Optimus Prime: Awakening will be his very last performance as the voice of Optimus Prime.
Now with all the formal information out of the way, back to the title at hand: the voice of a Prime. Voicing a hero, a leader of which someone like Optimus Prime, doesn't mean simply sounding courageous, yelling and shouting, and being confident, which was something Peter Cullen and his brother Larry before him understood.
So how did Peter Cullen come to voice such a character, which carried such meaning for not only the fans but all who have heard of him? The journey starts with Cullen’s first audition for the character Optimus Prime at a casting house in Burbank, California, which said he saw as the perfect opportunity after reading the character’s breakdown.
Getting ready to head out for the audition, Peter ran into his brother Larry, whom he was living with at the time. Larry was a Marine who had served in Vietnam. Answering his brother’s question of where he was going, Peter said: “I’m going to an audition; I’m gonna be a truck!” Larry started laughing. “But this is a leader; this is a hero.” Peter continued.
“If you’re going to be a hero, be a real hero; not a Hollywood hero with all the yelling and trying to act tough. If you're going to be a leader, be strong enough to be gentle.”
Cullen describes that as he was driving to the audition, Larry’s voice rang in his head, the way he talked, the way he sounded. As he arrived at the audition and read the copy, when he said the line “I am Optimus Prime, from planet Cybertron,” it didn't come out in bravado but in steadiness.
He sounded like Optimus Prime, a leader, a hero. And after a few days, Cullen’s agent called him to tell him that he got the role of Optimus Prime as well as the role of Ironhide.
So this is how Peter Cullen describes the creation of the voice of Optimus Prime. Which makes sense when you think about who Optimus Prime actually is, his story and personality.
From a simple mech to the legendary leader every bot looks up to. From now on, thank you, Peter Cullen, for giving life and voice to our beloved mech, and may he rest in peace, ‘till all are one.
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