Remember the Time When Michael Bay Almost Melted Sean Connery's Face Off?

michael_bay_explosion-225.jpgYou simply never know what kind of treasures await you inside the Movieline Vault. Case in point: This 2001 interview with Michael Bay, where the notorious director talks not only about the wonders of Pearl Harbor, but also that time when Sean Connery called him a "f***head."

In a larger discussion about the way Bay's personality was presented over the years -- as a hard-line director who didn't get along with actors; weird, right? -- the director revealed this little bon mot about the filming of The Rock.

Well, on the last day, [Sean Connery] did call me a f***head. He had to hold his breath for 30 seconds in the water while a fireball blew over his head. He and Nic[olas Cage] couldn't come up, or they'd get burned badly. It took me a half hour to convince Nic to go down. He'd say, "OK, so like, if I come up, you're telling me my hair and face will melt?" I'm like, "Yeah, you can't come up." Sean did not like the water. He said, "We should have f***ing rehearsed this, f***head." I said, "How are you going to rehearse with a fireball? How do you want me to do that on a stage?" He was just tired. He wanted to go home.

Don't we all, Mike. Thankfully, Connery and Cage survived, faces unmelted.

In the 2001 interview, Bay also hilariously defends his decision to cast Kate Beckinsale in Pearl Harbor with the following: "I didn't want someone who was too beautiful. Women feel disturbed when they see someone's too pretty." Thus making Pearl Harbor the first time on record that Kate Beckinsale was hired because producers didn't want someone "too beautiful."

· Michael Bay: Bay Watch [The Vault]



Comments

  • Brian says:

    To be fair, Bay was talking about the pre Hollywood Kate Beckinsale. If you look at her work in the 90's, she was pretty, but not so much by Hollywood standards. In the 00's she hired trainers, started tanning, spending a lot on hair and makeup, etc. She's one of the few actresses who clearly looks better in her 30's than she did in her 20's.

  • Eric says:

    Yeah, Kate is a hotty. She looked awesome in the Underworld flicks. Beautiful face, nice butt. lol In the Special Features she did this bend over scene that was pretty spectacular, even though it was only for a few seconds. Nice. Hey Michael Bay....your opening to The Island was superb. Glad you insisted on it....it's my favorite of all time.

  • Bayishack says:

    I guess Bay meant that Beckinsale wasn't glamour girl beautiful. If you look at her in Shooting Fish and her verrrrry short hair cut and minimal make-up and compare her look to the long haired, made-up Evlen in PH, I guess that's what he's talking about.
    Although I doubt it. He really is taking a shot at her and women in general.

  • Savannah Coombe says:

    This is fucking disgusting. How could you find this funny? The misogynistic comments can go to hell too.