Summary
Transformers Onestar Keegan-Michael Key is teaming up with Lysol to support the company’s Here for Healthy Schools initiative. Key rose to prominence through his work on the beloved sketch showKey & Peele, but has seemingly only grown busier since the series ended, constantly appearing in live-action and animation projects alike. Key’s voice can be heard in projects likeThe Super Mario Bros. MovieandIF, and has starred in films and shows including Mike Birbiglia’sDon’t Think Twiceand the cancelled Apple TV+ musical comedySchmigadoon!
In collaboration with Lysol, Key announced the creation ofLysol Minilabs Science Kits, which are designed to teach elementary school children about germ safety. The kits include hands-on activities that help show how germs spread and help children understand how to counter it. TheTransformers Oneactor even helped kids in New York City assemble the kits. Lysol will ultimately donate kits to Title I schools nationwide.
Every Autobot & Decepticon Who Appears In Transformers One
Ahead of its release date later this year, Transformers One confirms the return of familiar Autobots and Decepticons from the franchise.
In conversation withScreen Rant, Key spoke enthusiastically about his participation in Lysol’s Here for Healthy Schools initiative. Key reflected on his own teaching background, revealing a love for educating that, at one point, briefly threatened to steal him away from the world of professional acting. The actor also shared more about his role as Bumblebee inTransformers One, and discussed his interest in aSchmigadoon!revival.
Keegan-Michael Key Shares His Excitement About Working With Lysol On The HERE For Healthy Schools Initiative
Screen Rant: You’re working with them for the HERE for Healthy Schools Initiative. Can you run through what you’re up to with them and how you got involved?
Keegan-Michael Key: I am teaming up with Lysol for the creation of their new Lysol Minilabs Science Kits. That’s what they’re doing this year for the HERE for Healthy Schools Initiative—putting together these kits. We’re actually putting them together today. All of the ingredients and things that are going into the kits are going to help teachers and educators from Title I schools across the nation teach children about germ education and healthy habits. They’re going to do that through interactive hands-on learning, and the kits will promote that. I’ve been an educator for children in my past, so this was something that I was interested in doing, and so Lysol and I got together.
What’s in the kits?
Keegan-Michael Key: The kits are going to contain interactive, hands-on, almost gameplay things. There will be cards that have different types of germs so kids can recognize what the germs are and know what the names of the germs are and what they do. There are also going to be worksheets and lesson plans for the teachers that they can implement in the classroom, and stickers for the kids so that the kids can put stickers on germ hotspots. A kid might be able to put a sticker on a door handle, a countertop, or their desktop and know where [someone] can be using Lysol’s disinfecting wipes or a disinfectant spray. The focus is on hands-on learning, because kids, I think, learn more effectively when they get to have some aspect of play in their learning.
I was about to say, that sounds like it’s making it fun. I wish I had that as a kid.
Keegan-Michael Key: Me too. All you really heard was, “Wash your hands for 20 seconds.” And what kid doesn’t like stickers? I think to have that aspect be part of this educational paradigm that they’re using is going to be really helpful. It’s interesting. The paradox is that hands-on learning is very helpful for kids, but that’s also how you transmit and spread germs. It’s almost like, “I’m doing some hands-on learning and then [we’ll] use a disinfecting wipe.” They’ll learn these healthy habits so that they can hopefully learn and succeed in a clean environment. Hopefully, that will also promote cleanliness at home, so everywhere they are, they can be relatively germ-free.
Key Reflects On Teaching And “Probably Never” Living Down His Key & Peele “Substitute Teacher” Sketch
You said a second ago that you have done some education work in the past. I watched this amazing interview you did with Sam Jones where you were talking about what it’s like to do improv, and I was thinking you would be an incredible teacher. Have you ever considered that as a path at any point in your life?
Keegan-Michael Key: I did for a while. I taught Fundamentals of Acting for non-majors at Penn State while I was doing my graduate studies there, and there was a short amount of time right after I graduated where I thought about doing some post-doctorate studies in theater and maybe becoming a teacher or a professor. For like three minutes I thought about this, and then I went, “No, I like performing. I have a lot of fun performing.”
So, yes. The answer to the question is yes. I did think about doing that for a while. And when I finished school and I went back home to my hometown in Detroit, I worked at the Mosaic Youth Theater. And I used to do improv workshops for kids in local schools, and that was very fulfilling. So, I was flirting with that. I taught at universities, I did a lot of teaching as I was also acting. But the acting bug has never gone away. That’s my true passion.
One of the most iconic things that I think you’ve been a part of is the “Substitute Teacher”Key & Peelesketch. When you’ve been in teaching environments since then, how hard is it to live that down in front of a classroom?
Keegan-Michael Key: I’m probably never going to live it down, and that’s fine. Because the “Substitute Teacher” has opened up a lot of avenues for me in my career and it keeps me busy as I go around the nation apologizing to everybody named Aaron. So, it’s something I happily will never live down.
Key “Would Be Interested” In A Schmigadoon! Revival
I keep reading articles about why [Schmigadoon!] should return and why it could return. I know information has come out about what season three would be. Do you have any hopes or knowledge about what could happen?
Keegan-Michael Key: I don’t have any further knowledge right now about what is next, or if there is a next. But in the world of entertainment, in our industry and in the theater, anything can happen. Anything can happen. So, I wish I had more information for you, but at this present moment in time, I don’t. It’s something that I would be interested in if there was a continuation.
Bumblebee Is “The Most Talkative” Character In Transformers One
You haveTransformers Onecoming out very soon. I know Bumblebee [from the live-action movies] as someone who can’t speak. What can you say about his personality in this movie?
Keegan-Michael Key: This film is the origin story of Optimist Prime and Megatron and Bumblebee. So this is prior to—if you remember from the lore of the films—the accident that happens to Bumblebee that keeps him from being able to speak. Interestingly enough, he’s the most talkative character in the film, which we use to comedic effect. I think you’ll find it interesting because he actually comes across as a very loquacious character. It’s interesting to see, because then it’s going to inform those later movies that have already happened. You’re going, “Oh my gosh, he actually talked all the time, and now he’s essentially a silent comedian or a mute in the live action film.” So, it’s exciting and it’s very interesting.
About Transformers One
Transformers One is an animated action-adventure movie that marks the first animated feature-length film for the series in decades. The film will be a prequel to the franchise, and will tell the story of Optimus Prime and Megatron in their early years, how they met, and a closer look at the war on their home planet, Cybertron.
