LITTLE-KNOWN Irish actor Jack Reynor will replace Shia LeBeouf in Transformers 4.
The 20-year-old takes on the male lead role after the Hollywood star quit following the last Transformers film, Dark of the Moon. Director and producer Michael Bay confirmed the news on his website yesterday. He will star opposite Mark Wahlberg who has also signed up.
He wrote: “Jack Reynor, he is an Irish kid that came to America with 30 bucks in his pocket. Pretty ballsy. “Seriously who does that? Anyway I spotted him in a great little Irish movie What Richard Did. This kid is the real deal.” Jack appeared in 2012’s Dollhouse and What Richard Did is out in UK cinemas on Friday.
Weeds star Hunter Parrish, Luke Grimes, Landon Liboiron, and Australian actor Brenton Thwaites all tested for the role but lost out to Jack. Shia LeBeouf left the Transformers franchise after Dark of the Moon. Mark Wahlberg has already been cast in the next instalment of Transformers.
Jack will play a race car driver who is dating Wahlberg’s on-screen daughter. That role has yet to be cast. Michael also denied reports Transformers 4 would be a remake of the previous films. He said: “Transformers 4, is not a reboot. That word has been floating around on the net. “This movie takes place exactly four years after the war in Chicago from Transformers 3.”
He added: “The story makes a very natural transition, and reason as to why we have a whole new cast. “This Transformers will feel very different than the last three. We are embarking on a new trilogy.” Transformers 4 is due out on June 27, 2014.
