“Every time you’re a part of a franchise, you think, what hasn’t been done before?” Chris Hemsworth, who is filling the shoes of Peter Cullen’s Optimus Prime in the new film, told Blavity’s Shadow and Act.

“How can we make this fresh and unique?” he continued. “And when the script got sent to me, my first assumption was we know these characters inside out. What else could be done? And then realize it was an origin story. It was before they became Megatron and Optimus Prime. They’re just a couple of young guys trying to figure out their way in the world, and there was a sort of enthusiasm, playfulness, and friendship there that we hadn’t seen before. Then, I got excited because it was something unique and fresh, and that’s what I’m excited for audiences to see. We know where these characters end up, but how did they get there?”

For Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry (D-16/Megatron), transforming into these characters for the latest installment was an adventure-filled ride, which they admit ignited a fire through the inner children living within them.

“I still am in awe of a lot of the place and spaces I’ve been occupying, especially in the animated space,” said Henry. “I didn’t see a lot of characters that looked like me or sounded like me when I was coming up. And so now, it’s like to be able to go in there and just be a part of the fabric and rip it apart and make it whatever it is that I want to make it is a huge deal for me.”

He adds, “To be able to play Megatron, and not just Megatron, but like Megatron when he was D-16…not only is my seven-year-old self going crazy, but my 21-year-old self is going crazy, because it’s kind of like we’re meeting them in these formative years of their lives, trying to figure out who they are and who they want to be, and challenging the system, or realizing that the system isn’t what they wanted it to be.”

Henry says he poured a lot of who he was back then into D-16 to ensure that his character was an authentic reflection of him.

Similarly, Keegan-Michael Key shared how as a dedicated fan of Transformers from childhood to now, he was intentional in his approach to becoming B-127, the bot most fans know and love as Bumblebee.

“Transformers was one of my favorite cartoons, and I used to watch it during weekdays and also on Saturdays,” said Key. “I’d get home from school and put down my bookbag and watch the show. I was a dedicated fan of the show, so my younger self would just be like, ‘You’ve reached the mountaintop.’”

He also credited Transformers One director Josh Cooley for his collaborative spirit, which allowed him the freedom to improvise. Some of his lines even made their way into the film, calling it the “best part of this creative process.”

One lesson that audience members can take away from the effects B-127’s character had on Pax and D-16 is the power of blind optimism.

“Think about the fact that he’d been fired from every job he’d ever had, but he thought he was getting promoted, or that’s how he chose to see it, and then the fact that he’s stuck on Sub-Level 50. There’s nobody else around,” Key recalled. “He doesn’t have anybody to interact with, so instead of being depressed, what does he do? He builds friends. So I think that that optimism allows, maybe it buoys up the other people, certainly more in the first part of the film.”

Transformers One is in theaters now.