The director has acknowledged that he included a reference to this film in his new film in honor of the deceased actor.
Although Michael Bay has always had a reputation as a tough director who loves to give orders through a megaphone, there was also a time when he was a beginner in that of the world of cinema and he had to direct, nothing more and nothing less than Sean Connery in La Roca. An experience that Bay recognizes that, at first, it was terrifying.
“Okay, let me explain the first day I worked with Sean Connery. I was still a kid and Sean had done like 75 movies. For me this was my second film. We were shooting an interrogation scene, with his long gray hair and beard. I was so scared to give it the first address that we did a first take, we did a second…
“And I think, my God, I have to give him some guidelines, and I’m like, ‘Sean, can you say that without being so charming?’ and he’s like, ‘Sure, boy, sure.’ the world called me “boy” on set. He was a director-eater, he hated directors“, recalled Bay in an interview with Collider in which he acknowledges that in the end he ended up loving the actor.
“He was a tough guy to crack but he liked me. I learned a lot from him. And really, he taught me a lot, a lot. He was a true movie star, as well as a tireless worker with a great work ethic. I was very saddened by his death. That’s why he put the conversation about The Rock on Ambulance. Escape plan,” admitted the director.
Sean Connery passed away on October 31, 2020 at the age of 90 after nearly fifty years of film career where he had played such unforgettable roles as James Bond, the father of Indiana Jones in The Last Crusade or the maverick monk in The Name of the Rose.
At the time he met Michael Bay on The Rock, the director had just arrived in the world of cinema after spending years directing music videos. Bay had only done Bad Cops while Connery had already won his only Oscar for Elliot Ness’s The Untouchables.
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