In Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts, a hero struggles to pay his bills

SINGAPORE – Big-budget action thrillers tend to steer clear of social issues for fear of causing offence. It is why characters also tend to be middle-of-the-road in everything, including income level.

But Noah Diaz is different.

Played by American actor Anthony Ramos, he is one of the lead characters in the upcoming film prequel Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts. The former army electronics specialist struggles to support his mother and sick younger brother.

Ramos tells The Straits Times that he is pleased to be part of a fantasy universe where real-world problems can exist. 

“So many human beings, no matter where you’re from, can relate to a situation like that. How am I going to eat? How are we going to pay that bill? That’s that human connection. People can relate,” says the 31-year-old, who is best known for originating the dual roles of John Laurens and Philip Hamilton in the hit Broadway musical Hamilton in 2015.

Ramos was speaking at a press event on Friday held at the Sands Expo & Convention Centre. He was in Singapore alongside fellow cast members Dominique Fishback and Tobe Nwigwe, director Steven Caple Jr and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura to promote Rise Of The Beasts, which opens in Singapore cinemas on June 8.

They also attended

the world premiere and red-carpet event at Marina Bay Sands

on Saturday, where the 4.5m life-size statue of Autobot Mirage made its Asian debut at the entrance of ArtScience Museum.

American actor Shia LeBeouf’s Sam Witwicky from the first three Transformers films (2007 to 2011) came from a perfect suburban neighbourhood, while Hailee Steinfeld’s Charlie Watson from Transformers spin-off Bumblebee (2018) had a comfortable Californian home. 

In contrast, Noah’s family make do in a cramped apartment in the New York borough of Brooklyn, and he does odd jobs to survive. 

Rise Of The Beasts is set in 1994, during which Noah encounters the shape-changing aliens, the Autobots, in the midst of doing something risky to help his family. Through Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) and Mirage (Pete Davidson), he meets a new faction, the animal-shaped Maximals (voiced by Michelle Yeoh and Ron Perlman, among others).

Noah and researcher Elena (Fishback) become embroiled in a battle to stop the world-devouring entity Unicron (Colman Domingo) from consuming Earth.

American actress Fishback, 32, credits director Caple for bringing tough truths into an otherwise sunny, all-ages action flick.

Ramos, who grew up in lower-income housing in Brooklyn with two siblings and was raised by a single mother from Puerto Rico, also brought his own experiences into his role, she says. 

“Steven is so specific about things – he wanted to bring that heart into the story, so you have this character struggling in a way that we don’t see in blockbusters,” adds Fishback, who last appeared in biographical drama Judas And The Black Messiah (2021) and Netflix sci-fi actioner Project Power (2020).

American director Caple says he wanted to shape characters that he knew something about. 

“Sam Witwicky had a perfect home, and so did Charlie. I didn’t grow up that way. I grew up in a single-parent home, with my mum working all the time,” says the 35-year-old film-maker who helmed the boxing drama Creed II (2018). 

His own feelings about wanting to rescue his mother and young sister from economic hardship were poured into Noah, he says. 

“I wanted Anthony’s character to become a hero, because I hoped to one day be a hero for my family,” he says.

Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts opens in cinemas on June 8.