Celebrity Byte

So what do you think of next generation games today?

I'm all over it. I can't tell you how many games I have because I'd be ashamed of myself.

You mean there are too many?

I don't know how you roll, but it's to the point where you get a bunch of games and you don't even open them. It's like splurge buying. And I have a bunch of games that I haven't opened yet, which is sad. I'm really ashamed of myself. I get boxes of games from Activision and I'll give them out to my friends. It's great when you don't even have to buy games any more. Right when you get enough money where you can buy games, you don't have to buy them anymore.

Some actors we've interviewed have deals in their contracts that ensure they receive free games for life.

That's how I am with Activision. We don't have a contract, but it's clearly known that's a major reason I'm involved. I want free games and they know that. They're feeding my addiction.

A very lucky Shia hanging out with Zooey Deschanel at the premiere of Surf's Up. Photo by Charbonneau.

How did you get involved in the Transformers game?

I knew they were working on the game early on in the movie. Activision was getting our robot designs because some of them are different than the G1 designs from the movie. They had to get Mike Bay's designs so they were on set all the time. Just walking in to get your lunch, there'd be dudes sitting around talking about video games and playing their PSPs. All of a sudden I'm not at work any more. I was like, "Who are you people?" And then they broke down that they were Activision. It was like meeting Motley Crue. I told them that if they were going to use Sam in the game I wanted to be in it. There was no negotiation issue. It was like, you guys are doing the game and I want to be involved. And when I got involved, other actors got involved.

What was it like to work on Transformers: The Game?

For a person who's a gamer and for a person who's clearly involved in everything Transformers related, even if I wasn't in the movie I'd want to be in this game because I'm a game nerd and a Transformers nerd... and a nerd in general. To go in there and meet Peter Cullen and Frank Welker... I'd shot the whole movie and never saw those guys. They were in the room and that was my first time meeting THE Transformers. At that point, they weren't cast in the movie yet -- they jumped on board before Mike Bay had signed Cullen up for the film. I think that was a nice segue to get Cullen in the movie because they heard his voice work in the game, and then they cast him.

I told them that if they were going to use Sam in the game I wanted to be in it. There was no negotiation issue. It was like, you guys are doing the game and I want to be involved.

What was it like working on a big-budget summer blockbuster?

Making it, you knew what you were working on. We prepared for war every day. We didn't know what the action scenes would be because it was just free-flow. On the page, it'd say "action sequence in the city," and then Mike would just free-flow. He'd bring ideas on set. He'd say, "We're going to do this -- we're going to put three guys up there and catch them on fire; we're going to bring the helicopter in and blow it up; we're going to crash the car and crash it into the wall, and that building over there is going to fall. We're going to put land mines all over the place. We're going to do all this before lunch. Ready? Action."

Watch out Shia, it's Andy Samberg! Looks like the Dear Sister cohorts are keeping it civil this time. Mmmwhatchusaaay...

How did working on this video game compare to your Surf's Up movie?

Video games are much more rehearsed. I've only done one cartoon. When I did Surf's Up, there were no lines. It was just ad libbing the whole movie. With the video game, there are choices and different ways you can go, and different emotions and responses to each situation that your character can go through and whatnot. You have to go through it in different ways. It's weird. There's no real emotional continuity in a video game. It's puppetry.