With her new movie Rogue set to be released digitally on Friday, Megan Fox is reflecting on how she was treated early in her career.
The 34-year-old actress skyrocketed to fame after starring in 2007’s Transformers, though a string of box office flops like Jennifer’s Body and Jonah Hex altered her trajectory, even though Jennifer’s Body is considered a cult classic today.
The actress spoke with Refinery 29 where she reflected on her career, and how others are starting to re-examine it in a new light.
Career: With her new movie Rogue set to be released digitally on Friday, Megan Fox is reflecting on how she was treated early in her career
Fox made her big studio movie debut as a bikini-clad extra when she was just a teenager in Michael Bay’s Bad Boys II, four years before starring as Mikaela Banes in Transformers.
The actress revealing how she was cast in a 2009 interview with Jimmy Kimmel re-surfaced earlier this year and had fans outraged about how she was treated.
She was reportedly fired from the Transformers franchise after she publicly compared Michael Bay’s directing style to Hitler, but now fans have been coming to her defense more and more.
Teenager: Fox made her big studio movie debut as a bikini-clad extra when she was just a teenager in Michael Bay’s Bad Boys II, four years before starring as Mikaela Banes in Transformers.
When asked if it’s gratifying to have that kind of support now, or if it’s, ‘too little, too late,’ the actress opened up and said, ‘At the time, I would have appreciated some support; I was just stranded in open water on my own for so long.’
‘However, that built up so much strength. To have to go through a challenge like that, the resiliency that I have and the ability to survive really negative things with no support from outside forces made me a better person. So, I don’t regret it,’ she added.
Still, she added that it would have been nice if fans could have seen this, ‘bandwagon of absolute toxicity being spewed at me for years,’ though she appreciates how the culture is changing.
Support: When asked if it’s gratifying to have that kind of support now, or if it’s, ‘too little, too late,’ the actress opened up and said, ‘At the time, I would have appreciated some support; I was just stranded in open water on my own for so long’
‘But I appreciate the reversal of it. The culture is changing and society is changing, and a movie like [Rogue] now has a place to shine and be appreciated,’ she added.
When asked if she had any regrets, she plainly stated, ‘“Why did I let myself get s**t on for something I knew wasn’t true? Why did I succumb to that?’
She added that while she was shooting Rogue, she came across one of her movies was playing on TV in South Africa, when she realized the movie (which she didn’t identify) wasn’t as bad as the critics lead people to believe.
Reversal: ‘But I appreciate the reversal of it. The culture is changing and society is changing, and a movie like [Rogue] now has a place to shine and be appreciated,’ she added
‘When you tell someone that they’re not good at something or that they’re deficient, they can absorb that and it can become their reality, and create a life that reflects that negative shit that you spoke about them!’ she added.
‘We have to be careful with our words — they’re powerful. That’s something I wish most people would understand. We live in a culture where it’s a game to be the most hateful to get the most attention,’ the actress said.
She added, ‘It’s not funny. You’re speaking words over real people, who are permeable, who have hearts. Your negativity can influence them. Especially the sensitive ones!’
Not funny: She added, ‘It’s not funny. You’re speaking words over real people, who are permeable, who have hearts. Your negativity can influence them. Especially the sensitive ones!’
She made it clear that she is influenced by the negativity because she’s ‘so open,’ adding, ‘those things affect me really deeply.’
Fox said that she didn’t change how she looked for roles, but her ‘vibration changed’ and the roles coming to her are different, like Rogue, where she plays a battle-hardened mercenary trapped in Africa after a mission gone awry.
The film follows her character Samantha O’Hara as she has to fight off not only a gang of rebels but a horde of deadly lions.
Rogue: Fox said that she didn’t change how she looked for roles, but her ‘vibration changed’ and the roles coming to her are different, like Rogue, where she plays a battle-hardened mercenary trapped in Africa after a mission gone awry