What exactly happened to Megan Fox? She was everywhere during the mid-late 2000s. She appeared in films, late-night shows, magazines and then all of a sudden... poof. She was seemingly gone for a number of years. She recently explained where her career went wrong in her own words. But before we get there, we have to take a look back on what brought her to that point.
Fox began acting when she was only 15 years old. She scored a regular role on the television series Hope & Faith and Ocean Ave. She kept busy, but her career wouldn't truly take off until 2007.
Fox landed a leading role in Transformers. Yes, the subsequent sequels have made it feel like Hollywood hates you. But while the quality of the films can be debated, there's no denying the original was a huge blockbuster.
Almost overnight Fox went from a working television actor to one of the hottest commodities in Hollywood. She appeared in every "Hottest 100" list and was in huge demand. She found herself able to star in movies all on her own.
Thanks to the higher profile she gained from starring in Transformers and its sequel, 2009's Revenge Of The Fallen, Fox starred in a bevy of other films. She had leading roles in Jennifer's Body and Jonah Hex, which were both commercial failures. But she could at least rely being in the profitable Transformer films, right?
Not exactly. She was cast to be in the third Transformers film, but was dramatically and publicly fired. There were several explanations given and rumors have swirled for years. Recently, Fox gave an interview to Cosmopolitan, explaining what went down in her own words.
People have strong opinions about Michael Bay and the way he handles remaking beloved childhood cartoons. Turns out, Megan Fox had some pretty strong feelings about the director as well. She wasn't shy about sharing her thoughts, and did so in an interview with Wonderland Magazine.
On Michael Bay, Fox said, "He wants to create this insane, infamous madman reputation. He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is."
Yeah, you... shouldn't say that about your boss. Yet Michael Bay wasn't even the one who fired her. It was a producer on the film who made the call. You may have heard of him. His name is Steven Spielberg.
Fox recalls the shame and embarrassment of being so publicly terminated from the film.
"That was absolutely the low point of my career. But without – ‘that thing’, I wouldn’t have learned as quickly as I did."
Of course, she didn't learn her lesson right away. She was young and stubborn and refused to blame herself.
"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."
But eventually, she did learn from it. While not happy with the decisions she made, she is at least grateful to take a positive from the experience.
"It hurt me and a lot of other people. However, that darkness that descended caused enormous and brisk spiritual growth. Once I realized I [had] brought it on myself, it was an invaluable learning experience, looking back on it."
So is there still bad blood between her and the director she once bad mouthed? If there is, you certainly can't tell. Especially considering how she starred as April O'Neil in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle reboot films that were produced by Bay.
So she's still acting, but not nearly as often as she used to. What happened? Well, she became a mother. She has decided to spend her energy on her three children.
Many celebrities have their own rules when it comes to parenting. For Fox, she wants to ensure her children get plenty of attention from their famous mother.
"I haven’t slept in almost a year. There’s not one night that I have slept through the night. I’m still breastfeeding and [Journey, the youngest] wakes up all the time and then the other two come and wake me up and get in bed also."
So that's the story behind Megan Fox being fired from Transformers 3. It was a low point of her life, but one she was thankfully able to learn from and overcome. She's still acting here and there, but has readjusted her priorities in a wonderful way... even if it has cost her more sleep than those remarks she made about Michael Bay.