Keegan-Michael Key on using his real voice to bring authenticity to B-127 in “Transformers One”

Keegan-Michael Key is stepping into the Transformers universe, lending his voice to B-127 in the upcoming film, “Transformers One,” an origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron. 

The highly anticipated film, distributed by Paramount Pictures, tells the story of how the two legendary characters were once friends before becoming bitter enemies. Key’s character, B-127, joins forces with Elita, voiced by Scarlett Johansson, in a quest to save their planet billions of years before humans existed.

The voice of B-127, a younger version of the iconic Bumblebee, is very distinct. Despite sounding like it could have been computer synthesized, Key said the voice is 100% his.

“It is my voice, but it’s kind of a higher, younger, excitable version of me,” said Key. “I’ve done a lot of voiceover in my career where you’re almost trying to mask the voice so people don’t even recognize it, which is a compliment in and of itself. Yeah, this one, I really was able to bring myself to it.”

Key said he worked closely with the director to create the character’s voice and make sure it sounded like him.

The film also includes intense action scenes, and Key revealed his approach to making those moments sound realistic. Key said that when it comes to voicing action scenes like fights or running, he doesn’t just stand still in the booth. He said he physically acts out the movements, such as pretending to lift a heavy weight or mimicking a punch, to make the sounds more realistic. 

“I’ll lose weight when I’m in the booth,” said Key. 

In “Transformers One,” Bumblebee’s origin story begins with him at the lowest level in the universe, working in the depths of a corporation. Despite being in such a low position, his character remains optimistic and makes the best out of every situation, something Key found inspiring.

“He makes the best of every situation. And he doesn’t know necessarily, that he has been fired from like 50 jobs, he thinks ‘I did so great at this job, they moved me up,'” said Key. 

In addition to his voice work in “Transformers One,” Key mentioned a fun Easter egg in the film, giving a nod to his famous Key & Peele sketch, “Substitute Teacher.” 

“I don’t want to spoil anything, but there’s a little tip of the hat in ‘Transformers,'” he said. “That’s all we’ll say.”

“Transformers One,” will be released in theaters on Friday, Sept. 20.