Rosie Huntington-Whiteley makes her feature film acting debut in the action film ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’ directed by Michael Bay and starring Shia LaBeouf.
Can you talk about being on a Michael Bay set and being around all those big set pieces?
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley: “Being on a Michael Bay set is… well, it’s the only set I’ve ever been on. But I would imagine there’s no set that’s run quite like it. It’s big, it’s loud, it’s powerful, it’s intense, it’s dirty, it’s hot, it’s sweaty – and it’s really exciting. There’s never a dull moment; there’s never a quiet moment. You are always on to the next thing, no time is wasted. It was an amazing first experience for me.”
What’s it like being on a set with 300 people around?
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley: “You know, I think that modeling and acting kind of go hand-in-hand in many ways, and they also are completely different. I had to unlearn all the things of being a great model. As a great model, you have to be very self-conscious and aware of your body. And as an actress, you have to just lose all of those things.
The set of course is… a Michael Bay set may be 50 times the set of an average photo-shoot or commercial, so that was a little daunting to start with, of course. I mean, there’s a lot of people to say hello to in the morning, and there’s a lot of noise and chaos. We were shooting in Chicago all summer and Detroit. I got a trip all over America which was great because we went to Detroit, Florida, D.C., Milwaukee, and those were places I definitely never got to go to as a model, so it was great for me.”
Do you get to do a lot of action? What is your part like in this Transformers?
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley: “My part is Sam’s new girlfriend. I’m called Carly in the movie and she is very new around the Decepticons and the Autobots, so she’s a little bit nervous. But I did – I got to do a lot of action, which was my favorite part of the whole experience was just to loss myself in the sets and the explosions. The fear was really real, and so it was great. It was definitely my favorite part of filming. And to get to be involved with the stunts was great. I like to be as hands-on as I could be. I like to get my hands dirty and try everything at least once, maybe twice if I’m crazy.”
Was there any particular day on set when you recall thinking you might have gotten yourself in over your head?
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley: “No, because I didn’t really get that opportunity to ever think about it. Things happened so fast and before you know it you’re in a harness, you’re flying down a room on a skateboard headfirst, all this gunfire going on around you and then an explosion. I loved that. I’m a bit of a tomboy, so I just really loved to do all of that action stuff.”
You seem so relaxed, even taking over this big franchise.
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley: “You think so? Well, thank you. Maybe I’m a better actress… Of course, it was a beautiful opportunity that’s been given to me by Michael and by Paramount. It was an intense time and a nerve-wracking time for me. I mean, this is my first movie. I never in a million years thought I’d make a movie, and definitely never thought I’d make a movie like this. And so the only thing I could really do was take it a day as it comes and just try and stay in the now. That’s the most important thing for me, to stay like that. Otherwise, you’d just lose it.”
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