Years after her unceremonious fall from Hollywood’s grace, Megan Fox is taking control of her narrative and her own redemption story.
While recently promoting her book of poetry, Pretty Boys Are Poisonous, the actress recalled fighting what “felt a losing battle” with the media and entertainment industry earlier in her career.
“I did feel oftentimes very alone,” said Fox at a reading, adding, “It felt like a losing battle, but I was confident in my truth and my integrity. I had to trust that it would be equalized at some point, and it feels like it eventually was.”
Long before Fox opened up about the abuse she’s faced in her relationships, the Jennifer’s Body star took aim at Hollywood and the very men who saddled her with her Sєx symbol status. Her outspoken approach ultimately resulted in lost roles and a harsh reception from the media and fans.
Take a look back at Fox’s rise to fame and how the world did her wrong.
A reluctant Sєx symbol
Growing up in a strict Pentecostal household in Tennessee and spending 12 years in Catholic school, Fox said at her reading that she was “not the cool girl,” which is why she “rejected” the “pretty label” that the media quickly thrust upon her.
Fox was only 15 when she landed a background role in Michael Bay’s Bad Boys II (2003) as a dancer in a nightclub. Since she was too young to drink at the bar, Bay had her dancing under a waterfall in a ʙικιɴι and six-inch heels.
“At 15, I was in 10th grade,” she told Jimmy Kimmel in 2009. “That’s kind of a microcosm of how Bay’s mind works.”
Since her breakout role in 2007’s Transformers, the actress has been frequently dubbed a “Sєx symbol,” a moniker that she reluctantly embraces, despite it often overshadowing her talent and comedic range.
In 2010, Fox told Harper’s Bazaar that her “biggest regret is that I’ve ᴀssisted the media in making me into a cartoon character. I don’t regret what has happened to me, but I regret the way I have dealt with it.”
Fox was also quoted in the 2011 book 21st-Century Hollywood: Movies in the Era of Transformation, explaining that she “created a character as an offering for the sacrifice… I’m not willing to give my true self up.”
The Michael Bay fallout
Fox admitted at her reading that she leans toward “dark, not PR-approved humor,” which has gotten her into trouble in the past.
“I was on the right side of the universe … [but] my delivery may not have been the best,” said Fox, adding: “[Maybe] I could’ve been more effective had I delivered it in a better way.”
In 2009, Fox said Bay was “a nightmare to work for” on the Transformers movies, comparing him to Adolf Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte in an interview with Wonderland.
The actress said she and co-star Shia LaBeouf would “almost die” while filming with Bay, adding that he had them “do some really insane things that insurance would never let you do.”
Despite having worked with her since she was 15, Bay dropped her from 2011’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon just ahead of production.
The Sun reported at the time that Fox quit after Bay told her to put on some weight, telling her she “lost too much weight and looks too frail.” Fox previously admitted to “getting sick” and losing hair after dropping 30 pounds from a cleanse of water and raw apple cider vinegar.
Bay later claimed that executive producer Steven Spielberg told him to “fire her right now” over the comments. Spielberg has denied giving that order.
Although she and Bay reconciled before he produced her in 2014’s live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as well as the 2016 sequel TMNT: Out of the Shadows, the damage was done.
Fox told the New York Post in 2021 of the public scrutiny she faced: “I was brought out and stoned and murdered at one point. And then suddenly everybody’s like, ‘Wait a second. We shouldn’t have done that. Let’s bring her back.'”
A tragically mismarketed movie
Poised to be a star vehicle for Fox after several supporting roles in major movies, 2009’s Jennifer’s Body united the star with writer Diablo Cody and director Karyn Kusama for a feminist horror that has since become a cult classic.
At the time, 20th Century Fox was intent on capitalizing off the star’s Sєx symbol status, marketing the movie to men and teen boys, the very demographic the film was critiquing. Kusama told IndieWire that the studio went as far as suggesting they host an amateur porn site to promote the movie.
“I kept sort of reminding everybody, ‘Guys, we can’t market this movie to boys,’ and then have them go to the theater expecting one thing and then seeing Megan Fox not really take off her clothes but rip a guy’s intestines out and eat them,” recounted Kusama.
Although the movie was initially met with mixed reviews and underwhelming box office numbers, Jennifer’s Body has since gained a pᴀssionate fandom deserving of Cody and Kusama’s vision.
A strong second act
After she was dropped from Transformers franchise ahead of its third installment, Fox went on to supporting roles next to Josh Brolin in Jonah Hex (2010) and Mickey Rourke in Pᴀssion Play, both of which were critical and box office flops.
Fox then served standout performances in the 2011 ensemble comedy Friends with Kids and Judd Apatow’s This Is 40 (2012), as well as a recurring role on New Girl.
Over the years, Fox has appeared in several indie тιтles, including a few with fiancé Machine Gun Kelly. Most recently, she joined the star-studded cast of Expend4bles.
Fox told the Post that her “whole life changed” after deciding not to live from a place of fear. “I got a divorce [from Brian Austin Green], and I started working more and doing more things. Then literally everything exploded from there,” she said.
Megan Fox’s Pretty Boys Are Poisonous is now available for purchase.