The Tribune recently ran a feature on Don Jeanes, a long-time resident of Houston and a graduate of Humble High School, who will be playing Neil Armstrong in the blockbuster third installment of the Transformers movie franchise, titled Transformers: Dark Of The Moon.

After high school, Southwest Texas State University and some time slogging it out in the corporate world, Jeanes moved to New York City in 2004 to pursue acting and hone his craft. In 2006, Los Angeles beckoned, where Jeanes has since found some success, appearing in a number of TV shows and commercials.

The Tribune asked Jeanes about the perhaps-daunting task of portraying a true American hero on the big screen:

“To prepare for the role, Jeanes watched all of the footage of the moon landing and visited the space museum in Los Angeles. He said that it truly gave him a sense of how far away from home Armstrong really was when he made “one small step for man,” and he said that he “tried to bring that fear into the character.” ”

The Tribune article also points out Jeanes’ other ongoing projects, including the web series Alpha Planet and the short film production company Indiewood Collective, among others.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon is slated for release July 1.