What’s more challenging: singing and dancing in “In the Heights” or training to fight robots in the next “Transformers” movie?
“I just started ‘Transformers,’ so hopefully I’ll talk to you in a few months and I’ll let you know which one ended up being more difficult,” Anthony Ramos, the star of both films, told Variations Marc Malkin at the Tribeca Festival premiere of “In the Heights.”
Ramos will helm Paramount Pictures’ next “Transformers” film, which he noted would be different from previous installments in terms of diversity.
“It was Shia LaBeouf, Mark Wahlberg and Hallie Steinfeld and (now) me,“ he said. “It is very different. Dominique Fishback — it’s very different. “Transformers” has transformed!”
The actor added that he is excited for fans to see the film, which is directed by Steven Caple Jr. (“Creed II”).
“Steven Caple Jr. is a visionary, I can’t wait for people to see this man bend down and really show everyone the fullness of his glory,” Ramos said. “We have some things in store for you, you don’t even know.”
At the Tribeca premiere, Ramos said it was a dream to have “In The Heights” debut where it was filmed.
“That’s all,” Ramos said. “It’s not just the premiere here, but we shot here. Every scene was here, and this movie was born here. We shot it at the location it’s about, we premiered it at the location it’s about, that’s the dream. “
He also revealed his favorite songs from the film, directed by Jon M. Chu and adapted from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical.
“My favorite number is ‘Paciencia y Fe,'” Ramos said. “I didn’t shoot ‘Paciencia y Fe’ but my favorite number that I was in was ‘Carnaval del Barrio’. It was crazy. It was a number that probably should have been shot over the course of two or three days, but thanks to Jon Chu and the incredible crew and the amazing cast, we could do it in a day.”
After the shoot was completed, he said the cast and crew erupted in celebration.
“We were all in this alley between four buildings and did this number in eight minutes,” Ramos said. “I think everyone was so excited about what we had just done that Jon called cut for the day and everyone ran to the middle of the alley. Everyone just started jumping on each other like we won the championship game or the Super Bowl or something and just chanted ‘New York! New York!’ It was just this moment of solidarity and pride.”