Frances McDormand and Two Other Strange Bay Choices

Michael Bay is known to have a quirky sense of humour and this is best visible by some surprise names he has cast in his Transformers movies. The list of surprise Transformers appearances includes Oscar winners, late stand-up comedians, sitcom stars, and one of the first three men to have set foot on the Moon.

These characters are sometimes appearing only in cameo roles and sometimes have bigger impact on the plotline, but no matter in how big capacity they appear, they always play a significant part of how a Transformers film is perceived. Here are three actors who raised many eyebrows when they were first announced to play a part in a Transformers movie, but went on to fully justify their inclusion.

Frances McDormand

When you think of Frances McDormand, you are immediately thinking of a Coen brothers’ movie or of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri. The Fargo star is actually married to one of the brothers, Joel Coen, and is ever present in the brothers’ films.

That’s why it was somewhat of a surprise to see Marge Gunderson, play the US national intelligence director. Sure, Marge was a resilient cop in Fargo who managed to defeat a group of thugs and money embezzlers, but nobody in the Transformers fandom expected to see her appear in such an odd role. However, as all of her roles, the end result was understated brilliance.

Kelsey Grammer

The famous Frasier Crane from the hit sitcoms Frasier and Cheers is yet another surprisingly cast actor for a role of a high position intelligence officer. The winner of multiple Emmy awards and nominations, plays the role of a CIA director with an exceptional bravado and not even once had an argument over anyone’s living arrangements, something that was a constant issue while he was sharing the apartment with Martin and Niles in Frasier.

John Turturro

John Turturro is another Coen brothers’ favourite who is in Michael Bay’s good books as well. The excellent actor has played a wide variety of roles and characters throughout his illustrious career which have ranged from the pederast Jesus Quintana in the Big Lebowski to the writer with a writer’s block in the gloomy Barton Fink.

John Turturro seems to have a knack to play any character out there and all a director has to do is give him clear guidelines as to what is expected from him and he will do it perfectly. In the Transformers movies Turturro plays the role of Seymour Simmons, a former agent for the government who is now tormented by conspiracies, which in combination with his explosive character is a perfect combination of comic relief in between high intensity scenes.

Turturro played a similarly explosive character in O Brother, Where Art Thou, where he portrayed Pete Hogwallop’s love for money and things of value so well that you thought that if the movie was set in a different era, the Coen brothers would have had trouble taking Pete out of a place such as casino.netbet.ie or some other gambling establishment.

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About Simon Plumbe 494 Articles
Husband, father and lifelong geek. Originally from the West Midlands, now spending my days in South Wales with my family and a house full of animals. Passionate about video games, especially retro gaming, the Commodore 64 and PlayStation Vita. Love pro wrestling, sci-fi and I'm an animal lover and vegetarian. Enjoyed this and my other articles? Why not buy me a coffee: http://ko-fi.com/simonplumbe