Megan Fox Had A Brutally Honest Take On Her Transformers 3 Exclusion
Megan Fox has been working as an actor since 2001 but gained significant prominence in 2007 when she co-starred in Michael Bay's "Transformers" alongside Shia LaBeouf. Despite not being loved by critics (the film only has a 58% on Rotten Tomatoes), "Transformers" made over $709 million at the box office (via Box Office Mojo).
With the film a box office success, it wasn't long before a sequel was in the works. The next movie, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," came out in 2009 and featured LaBeouf and Fox reprising their starring roles. The sequel soon led to another film — and so on — except that Fox did not return for the third installment, 2011's "Transformers: Dark of the Moon."
Despite Fox initially being attached to the film to reprise her role, she was ultimately fired from the production (via Deadline). The firing came after Fox compared Bay's on-set behavior to that of both Napoleon and Adolf Hitler in an interview with Wonderland Magazine, saying, "He's like Napoleon and he wants to create this insane, infamous mad man reputation. He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is. So he's a nightmare to work for but when you get him away from set, and he's not in director mode, I kind of really enjoy his personality." Bay then confirmed to GQ that producer Steven Spielberg instructed him to fire Fox for her comments.
Years later, in 2017, Fox addressed being fired from the series — here's what she had to say about the experience.
Fox admits she should have apologized
In a 2017 interview with Cosmopolitan UK, Megan Fox opened up about her very public firing from the "Transformers" franchise. Fox admitted that, while it was a tough moment for her, she is glad it happened, as it allowed her to grow and realize that she should have owned up to her mistake by apologizing.
Fox said, "That was absolutely the low point of my career. But without – 'that thing,' I wouldn't have learned as quickly as I did. All I had to do was apologize — and I refused. I was so self-righteous at 23, I couldn't see [that] it was for the greater good. I really thought I was Joan of Arc." The actress added that it was essential that she figure out that the situation had been her fault before she was able to move on and grow from the experience.
Before Fox spoke publicly to Cosmopolitan UK about the firing, she had already made amends with Michael Bay personally. Bay told GQ that Fox had reached out and revealed that he had forgiven his former collaborator. Bay explained, "She sent me a text three months ago. She said, 'I hope you're doing well.' I responded, 'Who is this?' She goes, 'Megan, you dork!' I said, 'Oh, well, thank you, hope you're well.' When you're days and months on a set, it's like a family. You say rude things and you make up."
Fox has also discussed the sexism she faced while working with Bay
Fox comparing Bay to Hitler is not the only criticism she has publicly made against the director. In the Wonderland interview, Fox also discussed how she wasn't taken as seriously on set due to being a woman — namely, she describes the ways in which she was sexualized for the film. Fox told Wonderland, "[Being a good actor doesn't matter] to Michael Bay because those are literally his directions some times. 'Be Hot.' I've had that note on set before. 'Mike,' I'll say, 'Who am I talking to? Where am I supposed to be looking at?' And he responds, 'Just be sexy.' I get mad when people talk to me like that."
The actress also spoke about receiving these kinds of directions from Bay on "Bad Boys II," in which a 15-year-old Fox played an extra role. In a 2009 interview, Fox told Jimmy Kimmel that, while working on "Bad Boys II," she was put in a bikini and heels and instructed to dance underneath a waterfall to the point of getting soaking wet. Fox revealed that this was Bay's solution as to what Fox should do in the scene since she was underage and couldn't sit at the bar. Fox concluded, "At 15. I was in 10th grade. That's kind of a microcosm of how Bay's mind works."
Kimmel responded by johing about how everyone's mind works like that — but failed to acknowledge Fox's point that she was too young to be put in that kind of sexualizing situation.
Fox also insists that she didn't feel preyed upon
When the Kimmel video resurfaced in 2020, social media users expressed criticism toward Bay and Kimmel while voicing support for Fox, with many stating that the actress deserved better treatment (via Insider). After a wave of online comments, Fox took to Instagram to clear up some of the details and thank those who expressed their support.
While Fox noted that the "Bad Boys II" story is true (and that she has spoken about it in several interviews), she disputed another story that had resurfaced. That account claimed that Bay had an underaged Fox wash his car in scantily clad clothing and filmed it as a part of the audition process for "Transformers." On this note, she wrote, "I was not underaged at the time and I was not made to 'wash' or work on someone's cars in a way that was extraneous from the material in the actual script." She clarified that she did pretend to work on the car (because her character was meant to) but that there were several other crew members around.
Fox then clarified that while she believes sexism was at play in her experiences (and that she finds Hollywood, in general, to be sexist in many ways), she didn't feel maliciously targeted by Bay. Fox wrote, "When it comes to my direct experiences with Michael [Bay], and Steven [Spielberg] for that matter, I was never assaulted or preyed upon in what I felt was a sexual matter."