After a short break from its last installment, the Transformers franchise is back in action with a fourth chapter, Transformers: Age of Extinction. While the film focuses on all new characters this time around, director Michael Bay delivers plenty of signature action beats to balance out the movie’s 165 minute runtime.

Two of the new additions in Transformers: Age of Extinction are Nicola Peltz and Jack Reynor, younger counterparts to the film’s seasoned leads of Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci and Kelsey Grammer. On a recent press day to promote the film in San Francisco, the young duo made it very clear that while they’re new to making movies they are hungry to learn more. With all the chaos and excitement of a Michael Bay movie set, it seems they both landed in one of the best film schools possible.

The following is a transcription of my conversation with Nicola and Jack where we talk all things Transformers, including the tough shoot and working with the legendary Michael Bay.

Q: You’re obviously working with a lot of CG in this film. How do you keep things fresh with your reaction shots when you’re looking at the same marks and tennis balls all day?

Nicola Peltz: Going into this I thought there was going to be more green screen than there actually was. A lot of it is real but then when you’re talking to Bumblebee or Optimus it’s a pole if you’re lucky. Sometimes they cut out their face and put it on a stick. Each situation is different so you react differently. All the explosions were real so that was very helpful for us.

Q: It helps to run away from an actual explosion.

Peltz: Yes! It helps to run away from something. (laughs)

Q: When you’re on set with seasoned actors like Mark Wahlberg and Stanley Tucci, do you feel the need to learn from them?

Jack Reynor: Yes but you also have to go in there confident in your own ability. You’ve been cast for a reason and there are a lot of people who are expecting you to do the job that is in front of you. Not in a cocky or conceited way but every single actor on the planet is an individual and valid in what they do. Going in there with that mindset is very important. Watching how these actors shoot a $250 million movie for five months, how they cope with that, is an incredibly important thing to do as a young actor.

Q: I remember reading that the audition process for this film was very rigorous. What was that process like and what did each of you bring to the table to make yourselves stand out?

Reynor: I’m Irish. (laughs)

Peltz: It was a very long audition process and I remember not hearing anything for a while and not thinking anything of it. We didn’t even get the script for the first few auditions. Then I auditioned with Jack at Michael Bay’s office. It was the first time I met Michael, it was a long audition process but definitely worth it.

Reynor: For me it was the same thing. I was in New York shooting a movie called Delivery Man and hurricane Sandy happened right in the middle of that. I was on a two week break from shooting so I went to LA to take some meetings, which as it happened was enough time to let me do the Transformers audition in LA. So I met Michael one day and we sat down and had really good conversations, I really enjoyed hanging out with him. I knew it was down to me and one other guy and I was losing sleep every night. I then got an e-mail that said, “It’s Bay. Call me.” That’s really intimidating. (laughs)

Q: Are you both signed up for future sequels if they happen?

Reynor: It’s not for us to disclose that. (laughs) However, if there’s another Transformers and Michael is willing to have us back I’m sure Nicola and I will be back there in an instant.

Q: You two play a couple in the movie, how did you find the chemistry on set to work together?

Peltz: We had a lot of table reads and rehearsals. The chemistry totally worked.

Reynor: Yeah, it had to come organically. If you force it, it wouldn’t have worked.

Q: Is Michael Bay as much of a character and insane as he comes off in the press?

Peltz: He’s definitely a character.

Reynor: He’s all of those things but in a very positive way.

Peltz: He has to control and orchestrate hundreds of people on a set and the way he does it is amazing. He definitely has a lot of energy and growing up with six brothers I’m used to the testosterone.

Transformers: Age of Extinction is now playing in theatres nationwide.