Isabela Moner booked a huge role for Transformers: The Last Knight…and she’s now sharing the cool story behind her audition.

“I was nervous. I had just turned 14 and was intimidated by the fact that it’s such a big franchise and I’d be stepping into one of the leads,” she reveals, saying that her first audition was all on a self-tape.

After flying to Los Angeles for a screen test, she met with director Michael Bay where he gave her the scare of her life — “‘We might have to cut your hair,’ [he said]. I’m like, ‘What? Right now?’”

What happened next sounds majorly cool — they made a low-budget Transformers mini-film!

In a a studio parking lot, Michael asked her to “‘shout things at him [a pretend Transformer], be really mean and challenge him.’ So I did what he wanted me to do, and he did as much as he could without actually having to pay me to be there.”

Isabela adds, “What was supposed to be a 30-minute meeting turned into a three-hour fun day of just a low-budget Transformers.”

Be sure to check JJJ tomorrow to see Isabela at the MTV Awards!