Just when you thought you could trust any street vehicle or mechanical device to not come alive before your eyes, the Transformers movies are back with a seventh installment that takes us into the 1990s. Director Steven Caple Jr.’s prequel (which hits theaters today) not only brings back a couple of your favorite Autobots (including Bumblebee), but also introduces some other “robots in disguise,” as well as some new human friends into the cinematic franchise. Let’s talk about all the characters (new and old), the actors in the Transformers: Rise of the Beasts cast who portray them, and what else you may recognize the performers from.
Anthony Ramos (Noah Diaz)
The cast’s lead human character, struggling New Yorker Noah Diaz, is played by Anthony Ramos, who broke out as a theater performer by playing Usnavi in a 2012 production of In the Heights — which he reprised in the 2021 film adaptation — before reuniting with Lin-Manuel Miranda to originate the roles of John Laurens and Phillip Hamilton in the Hamilton cast. Some of his most notable screen acting credits include the crime drama, Monsters and Men, and Oscar-winning romance A Star is Born from 2018, and his next major gigs include the upcoming Marvel TV show, Ironheart, a Twister “sequel” called Twisters, and a sci-fi drama currently on the 2024 movies schedule called Distant.
Dominique Fishback (Elena Wallace)
Joining Noah on his adventure with the Transformers, where her archeological expertise comes in handy, is Elena Wallace — arguably the biggest role to date for Dominique Fishback, outside of her BAFTA-nominated role in the Judas and the Black Messiah cast as Deborah Johnson. Before then, she led the 2018 drama, Night Comes On, appearing in The Hate U Give the same year, starred in the Netflix original sci-fi movie, Project Power, in 2020, starred opposite Samuel L. Jackson in Apple TV+’s The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey in 2022, and led Amazon Prime’s Swarm cast the following year.
Dean Scott Vazquez (Kris Diaz)
As Noah’s younger brother, Kris, we have Dean Soctt Vazquez, who last worked with Ramos when he made his feature film debut in the In the Heights cast as Sedo, following small guest roles in hit TV shows like Manifest and Mr. Robot. In 2022, the up-and-comer starred in a crime thriller called 9 Bullets and began voicing the title role of Nickelodeon’s Santiago of the Seas before starring in the feature-length comedy, Theater Camp, which comes out July 2023.
Luna Lauren Velez (Mrs. Diaz)
Starring as Noah and Kris’ mother is Luna Lauren Velez, who has previous experience playing the mother of a blockbuster's heroic lead character, having voiced Rio Morales in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and its 2023 sequel, Across the Spider-Verse. The actor is even better known for her TV roles, such as Maria LaGuerta in the Dexter cast, Dr. Gloria Nathan on Oz, and her recurring stint on How to Get Away with Murder as Soraya Hargrove.
Tobe Nwigwe (Reek)
As Noah’s friend, Reek — a character inspired by Caple Jr.’s late friend, according to the director’s Instagram post — is Tobe Nwigwe in his feature film debut. The rapper’s previous acting credits include four episodes of the hit Netflix dramedy, Mo, and a role on creator Issa Rae’s funny Max original TV show, Rap Sh!t.
Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime)
Continuing his long-standing tenure as the voice of Optimus Prime is Peter Cullen, who is, undoubtedly, best known for playing the leader of the Autobots. However, the legendary voice actor has plenty more iconic roles to his name, having done vocal work for creatures like King Kong in the 1976 remake of the monster movie classic, the Predator in the 1987 original, and the Gremlins in the holiday horror movie classic from 1984, as well as the voice of Eeyore in countless Winnie the Pooh titles.
Ron Perlman (Optimus Primal)
Someone also known for lending his deep, distinct voice to many animated projects — most often as comic book villains like Clayface or Deathstroke — is Ron Perlman, who voices the gorilla-like leader of the Maximals, Optimus Primal. Some of the veteran actor’s best-known live-action roles include the title hero of Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy movies, Clay Morrow in FX’s Sons of Anarchy cast, and Sterling Frost, Sr. in Peacock’s Poker Face cast more recently, to name a few.
Pete Davidson (Mirage)
Voicing a scrappy, sometimes rebellious Autobot named Mirage is Pete Davidson, who already has some notable voice acting roles on his impressive resume, including security guard Jerry in The Angry Birds Movie 2 and the titular Great Dane from Netflix’s Marmaduke movie. Some of his biggest roles include making his comic book movie debut as Blackguard in 2021’s The Suicide Squad, as a victim of a party game gone horribly wrong in Bodies Bodies Bodies, and fictionalized versions of himself in both The King of Staten Island and the Bupkis cast.
Peter Dinklage (Scourge)
Voicing Scourge — the leader of the Terrorcons — is Peter Dinklage, who has also lent his voice to the Angry Birds Movie franchise as Mighty Eagle, as well as the Ice Age movies franchise as Captain Gutt, and The Croods: A New Age voice cast as Phil Betterman.
The four-time Emmy winner (all for his Game of Thrones cast stint as Tyrion Lannister) previously starred in live-action blockbusters like X-Men: Days of Future Past (in which he played the designer of a group of villainous robots) and Avengers: Infinity War (as a giant named Eitri), as well as giving memorable performances in smaller films like 2017’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Cyrano, as the title character, in 2021.
Michelle Yeoh (Airazor)
Voicing a winged Maximal named Airazor is Michelle Yeoh, whose previous blockbuster roles include two different MCU characters (Aleta Ogord in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Ying Nan in the Shang-Chi cast), while her voice acting roles include the Soothsayer in Kung Fu Panda 2 and Yuki in the Paws of Fury cast, more recently.
The Malaysian-born Academy Award winner (for the Best Picture Oscar winner, Everything Everywhere All At Once) rose to fame by kicking butt in great action movies like Supercop and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon before stealing the show in the Crazy Rich Asians cast and the Disney+ original TV show, American Born Chinese.
Liza Koshy (Arcee)
As a loyal Autobot named Arcee, we have accomplished dancer and Internet personality Liza Koshy, who last played a movie character based on a popular toyline when she voiced Zipp Storm in 2021’s My Little Pony: A New Generation, in addition to voicing herself on Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? As for her live-action roles, her first major big screen credit was 2016’s Boo! A Madea Halloween before being cast on Hulu’s horror TV show, Freakish, landing her own YouTube original TV show (Liza on Demand), starring in Netflix’s 2020 dance movie, Work It, and judging contestants on NBC’s Dancing with Myself.
Cristo Fernández (Wheeljack)
Wheeljack — an Autobot with ace mechanical skills — is voiced by Cristo Fernández, who is best known from Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso cast as Dani Rojas. Previously, he had a small role in 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home mid-credit scene as a bartender serving an out-of-place Eddie “venom” Brock (Tom Hardy) and, that same year, played a human taking on some very volatile aliens in the sci-fi comedy Creatures.
John DiMaggio (Stratosphere)
Stratosphere — an autobot disguised as a rickety military transport jet — is only the latest of many Transformers (on the big or small screen) played by accomplished voice actor John DiMaggio. He has far too many iconic roles to list here, but among the most notable include another haywire robot named Bender from Futurama (formerly), various DC characters (including one chilling depiction of the Joker), and Jake the Dog from Adventure Time, to name few.
Michaela Jaé Rodriguez (Nightbird)
One of Scourge’s most fearsome and skilled Terrorcons is Nightbird, who is voiced by Michaela Jaé Rodriguez — the first transgender actor to be a part of the Transformers franchise and first to be nominated for a Lead Actress Emmy for playing Bianca Rodriguez on Ryan Murphy’s ballroom culture-inspired drama, Pose. The successful stage actress also starred in Netflix’s tick, tick… BOOM! cast and later starred in Apple TV+’s Loot opposite Maya Rudolph in 2022.
Colman Domingo (Unicron)
As Unicron — the huge, planet-eating Transformer the Terrorcons answer to — we have Colman Domingo, who has never played such a frightening character before, but has starred in some frightening titles with his starring role in the Fear the Walking Dead cast and supporting role in the Candyman cast from 2021. The Emmy winner (for his guest spot in HBO’s Euphoria cast) has also starred in quite a few fact-based titles (such as Lincoln, 42, Selma, The Birth of a Nation, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and Zola), previously worked with Euphoria creator Sam Levinson for 2018’s Assassination Nation, and starred opposite Michael B. Jordan in the Amazon Prime original movie, Without Remorse.
Now that we have uncovered who plays the “robots in disguise” and their human allies/enemies, you are prepared to see Transformers: Rise of the Beast in theaters now!
