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A jolly Keegan-Michael Key is a good Keegan-Michael Key, as the Transformers One star was in a good mood during the junket. Of course, it helped that the day was moving and he was “ahead of schedule.”
“This has been a good day,” Key said of the glorified speed dating that press junkets are. “I'll tell you — people have been getting their questions in. Everyone has been excited. We've been having a good time.”
The former Key and Peele star has been heavily featured in the animated genre in recent years. With roles in Toy Story 4, The Lion King, Pinocchio, Wendell and Wild, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Migration, IF, and now Transformers One, Key has become a pro at voice acting.
Perhaps something is rewarding about the medium. Key described voice acting as “liberating.” This is because he has to go over the top to create the persona of his character.
“The way I describe it is that when you're voicing an animated character, a cartoon, typically those characters have some exaggerated quality about them,” he explained. “And what I like to do is ostensibly really go broad or overact to meet the visual.
“So I like to vocally meet the visual. And you wouldn't do that in live-action,” Key continued.
He further explained that live-action characters are based in, well, reality. As an actor, “you want to hold back a little bit or tone it down a touch so you can come across as real,” said Key.
Nicknaming Transformers One co-stars Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Brian Tyree Henry
In Transformers One, Key's character, B-127 (aka Bumblebee), loves to give nicknames to his friends. Upon meeting Orion Pax/Optimus Prime (Chris Hemsworth) and D-16/Megatron (Brian Tyree Henry), he is eager to give them nicknames.
Asking Key to give nicknames to his co-stars, he did not hesitate for two of the three leads.
“I would call Chris ‘Hemi,'” Key revealed. “Even though he's Australian, I'm from Detroit. That's where they make Dodges and the other Hemi engines.”
Henry and Johansson have equally simple nicknames. The former would be “BT” or “BTH,” as Key likes a three-namer as one himself. The latter was tougher for Key to come up with.
“You really can't beat ScarJo,” Key said, stammering. “So I don't have a better name for her.”
He still tried, claiming that “Johansson is a good last [name].” Key explained that “Johansson” is a “good bro name,” one that your close friends call you by.
“You know people who never call [you] by their first names? You just go, ‘Reynolds!'? Johansson is one of those names,” said Key. “Like, ‘Where's Johansson?' ‘I'll be talking to Johansson.' ‘Can't even start this party without Johansson.'”
For the record, my assigned nickname was “Drew-Drew” or “DK.” Key gave a shoutout to DK Metcalf when coming up with my nickname.
“I would call you ‘DK,'” he said. “‘DK' is not the worst name you could have with football season being here.”
Is an Oasis-like Key and Peele reunion in the cards for Keegan-Michael Key?
After about 15 years, Noel and Liam Gallagher of Oasis are reuniting to tour in 2025. The reunion is a monumental moment in rock and pop culture history. The band had a messy breakup, and the Gallagher brothers have taken shots at each other for years.
That said, Key and Peele, which came from the genius of Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, did not end under the same circumstances. Since Key and Peele ended in 2015, they have worked together on Keanu, Storks, Toy Story 4, and Wendell and Wild. Key also had a cameo in Peele's directorial debut, Get Out.
Still, it is impossible to rule out a Key and Peele reunion or revival. Both parties involved would be “really” game for a reunion, according to Key. However, it would be contingent on the timing and the circumstances being right.
“It's gonna have to be a very serendipitous, stars aligning-type of thing,” Key continued explaining. “So, I have no idea how that works because I know that Jordan is on his own path right now. And I'm on my own path.”
Despite Key and Peele's separate upward trajectories, “I would never count it out as a possibility, ever,” Key concluded.
Transformers One will be released on September 20.
