Anthony Ramos Almost Caught On Fire Filming Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts
Accidents will happen, but when it comes to setting off explosions on the set of a movie, it is vital to have an experienced crew that's thought ahead about everything that can go wrong and how to prevent even the smallest calamity from occurring. Fire is even more unpredictable, which is why stunts involving that volatile element are usually left to the professionals (or Lance Henriksen).
But when you're making a "Transformers" movie, for whatever reason, the risks seem greater — at least when Michael Bay is in charge. You need only look at the production of 2011's "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," where extra Gabriella Cedillo was hit by a snapped cable during a car sequence. Her lawyers claimed she lost "a third of the top of her head," which she fortunately survived (Cedillo received an $18.5 million settlement). On the same shoot, an off-duty Chicago cop driving an actual police SUV slammed into a yellow Chevrolet Camaro, aka Bumblebee. That's a whole lotta yikes!
Now that Bay has moved on from the franchise (and is directing far more entertaining fare, like last year's delightfully preposterous "Ambulance"), you might think a less ... aggressively exacting director would take greater caution around his actors. Perhaps Steven Caple Jr. did just that on the set of the forthcoming "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts." But there was still at least one semi-close call with star Anthony Ramos that could've left the actor portraying the Human Torch.
Anthony Ramos catches a spark
In an interview with SFX Magazine, Ramos, an immensely talented musical theater star best known for his superb work in "Hamilton" and "In the Heights," nearly literally caught fire. As he told SFX:
"The craziest day on set was I almost got burned by one of the fireworks that went off. In one of the scenes, there's a big battle on this lawn at a museum. You can see some of it in the trailer. My windbreaker starts to catch fire a little bit. You can see a spark go into my windbreaker. It's the actual take that they used."
There have been numerous on-set fire mishaps over the years (perhaps most famously with Michael Jackson on the set of a Pepsi commercial in 1984), so it's a relief that Ramos can joke about his near conflagration. We can't lose one of our most promising singing-and-dancing superstars to a fire on the set of the [checks Wiki] seventh "Transformers" movie.
We'll find out if Ramos' close call was worth it when "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" blazes into theaters on June 9, 2023.