By Scott Meeker
Globe Features Editor
Next summer, when — as the classic theme song puts it — the Autobots wage their battle to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons, Air Force Capt. F. Adam Doss will be right in the thick of it.
The Joplin native, now stationed in New Mexico, will be seen in the potential 2007 summer blockbuster “Transformers.”
Doss, 29, graduated from Joplin High School in 1995, and from Missouri Southern State University with a sociology degree in 2000. He enlisted in the Air Force in 2002, and is currently stationed at Hollomon Air Force Base in Alamagordo, New Mexico.
Directed by Michael Bay — who has helmed such action hits as “The Rock,” “Bad Boys” and “Armageddon” — the movie brings the classic toys to life on the big screen, with the Autobots and Decepticons waging war on Earth.
Doss, who serves as a public affairs representative for the 49th Material Maintenance Group, said he “happened to be in the right place at the right time” when representatives from Dreamworks visited the base.
He said that he provided some assistance to the film’s casting crew, and wound up playing an extra during the filming of an action scene in late May.
“I played an Army sergeant, running away from the giant robots,” Doss said.
But a chance meeting with the movie’s casting director for the New Mexico shoot at a local restaurant led to a larger role in the film when he told her that he’d had some theater experience at Missouri Southern.
“I told her that I used to be an actor, and the next day she asked me to come in and read for a role,” Doss said.
After a practice read-through for the role of a Navy petty officer, he was told he had the part.
“I play the scene opposite two other people,” he said. “Glenn Morshower plays Agent Pierce on ‘24,’ and Charlie Bodin has done a bunch of TV work. Both of the guys were great to work with.”
The role, while only several lines of dialogue in length, was large enough to get him an invitation to join the Screen Actors Guild.
Doss said that he hopes the experience on “Transformers” can lead to other opportunities.
“There’s a lot of stuff rolling into (New Mexico) right now, because there are a lot of different landscape opportunities,” he said. “I’m trying to get with some casting directors. If I can get a few small roles, who knows from there.”
Though the shape-shifting toys and the cartoon series date back to 1984, Doss said that the movie could lead to something of a revival for the robots in disguise.
“The toys have stayed around,” he said. “They’re still out there. Maybe not with the same fervor as when I was a kid, but I think we’re seeing a resurgence. I think this movie will be the thing that puts the Transformers back on the map.”
Release date
“Transformers” is scheduled to open in theaters on July 4, 2007.
