Megan Fox

Megan Denise Fox (born May 16, 1986) is an American actress. She made her acting debut in the family film Holiday in the Sun (2001), which was followed by numerous supporting roles in film and television, such as the teen musical comedy Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004), as well as a starring role in the ABC sitcom Hope & Faith (2004–2006). Her breakout role was as Mikaela Banes in the blockbuster action film Transformers (2007), which she reprised in its sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009).

Fox also portrayed the titular character in the horror comedy Jennifer's Body (2009), starred as April O'Neil in the superhero action film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) and its sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016), and appeared in the fifth and sixth seasons of the Fox sitcom New Girl (2016–2017).

Described as a sex symbol, Fox has made appearances in numerous magazines such as Maxim, Rolling Stone, and FHM. She has received two Scream Awards and four Teen Choice Awards.

Early life

Megan Denise Fox was born on May 16, 1986, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to parents Gloria Darlene (née Cisson) and Franklin Thomas Fox. She spent her early childhood in nearby Rockwood. Fox's father, a parole officer, and her mother divorced when Fox was three years old. Her mother later remarried, and Fox and her sister were raised by her mother and her stepfather, Tony Tonachio. She was raised "very strictly Pentecostal," but later attended Catholic school for 12 years. She said that her parents were "very strict" and that she was not allowed to have a boyfriend or invite friends to her house. Fox described her stepfather as being "verbally, mentally, and emotionally abusive" until his death. She revealed in an interview that she developed an eating disorder in her adolescence and struggled with manic depression, the latter of which "[ran] in my family, so there was definitely some wrestling with chemical imbalance going on." Fox lived with her mother until she made enough money to support herself.

Fox began her training in dance and drama at age five, in Kingston, Tennessee. She attended a dance class at the community center there and was involved in Kingston Elementary School's chorus and the Kingston Clippers swim team. At age 10, after moving to St. Petersburg, Florida, Fox continued her training. When she was 13 years old, Fox began modeling after winning several awards at the 1999 American Modeling and Talent Convention in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Fox attended high school at Morningside Academy in Port St. Lucie until her junior year when she attended St. Lucie West Centennial High School. When she was 17, she tested out of school via correspondence to move to Los Angeles, California.

Fox spoke freely about her time in school, stating that in middle school she was bullied and had to eat lunch in the bathroom to avoid being "pelted with ketchup packets." She said that the problem was not her looks, but that she had "always gotten along better with boys" and that "rubbed some people the wrong way." Fox also said that she was never popular in high school, and that "everyone hated me, and I was a total outcast, my friends were always guys, I have a very aggressive personality, and girls didn't like me for that. I've had only one great girlfriend my whole life." In the same interview, she mentions that she hated school and has "never been a big believer in formal education" and that "the education I was getting seemed irrelevant. So, I was sort of checked out on that part of it."

Career

2000s: Early roles and breakthrough

In 2001, Fox made her acting debut in the romantic comedy Holiday in the Sun, as spoiled heiress Brianna Wallace and rival of Alex Stewart (Ashley Olsen), which was released direct-to-DVD on November 20, 2001. In the next several years, she guest-starred on the sitcoms What I Like About You and Two and a Half Men. Fox also appeared as an uncredited extra in the action film Bad Boys II (2003).

In 2004, Fox made her feature film debut opposite Lindsay Lohan in the musical comedy Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, playing the supporting role of Carla Santini, a rival of Lola (Lohan). She was also cast in a regular role on the ABC sitcom Hope & Faith, in which she portrayed Sydney Shanowski, replacing Nicole Paggi. Fox appeared in the second and third seasons, until the series was canceled by ABC in May 2006.

In 2007, Fox won the lead female role of Mikaela Banes in the 2007 live-action film Transformers, based on the toy and cartoon saga of the same name. Fox played the love interest of Shia LaBeouf's character Sam Witwicky. Fox was nominated for an MTV Movie Award in the category of "Breakthrough Performance", and was also nominated for three Teen Choice Awards. She had signed on for two more Transformers sequels, reprising her role as Mikaela in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. There was controversy surrounding Fox's appearance while filming the sequel when Michael Bay, the film's director, ordered the actress to gain ten pounds. The film was released worldwide on June 24, 2009, to box office success.

Fox was to star in the third installment, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, but was not included because of her statements comparing working under director Bay to working for Hitler. She confessed on GQ Magazine that she had lost approximately 30 pounds during filming due to consuming a primary diet of water and vinegar, and reportedly had a dispute over her visible loss of weight with the director on set. Bay stated in June 2009 that Fox was fired on orders of executive producer Steven Spielberg, a claim Spielberg denied.

In 2009, Fox had her first lead role since the Transformers series; she portrayed the title character in Jennifer's Body, written by Academy Award–winning screenwriter Diablo Cody. The film initially earned mixed to average reviews upon its release, with Fox's performance earning praise. However, the film grew a cult following over time and was critically reassessed as a "forgotten feminist classic". According to Cody, the film was marketed incorrectly by executives who focused their efforts on the young male audience.

In April 2009, she began filming the western superhero film Jonah Hex, in which she portrayed Tallulah Black / Leila, a gun-wielding beauty and Jonah Hex's (Josh Brolin) love interest. The film was released on June 18, 2010. Despite receiving top billing, Fox described her role in the film as being a cameo. Jonah Hex was a critical and commercial failure in the US, with its international distribution canceled after its poor performance. The film was named the "worst picture of the year" by the Houston Film Critics Society.

2010s: Rise to prominence

Fox starred alongside Mickey Rourke in the drama Passion Play. After premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, its conventional theatrical distribution was bypassed for a direct-to-video release, with only two screens briefly showing the film to fulfill contractual obligations. Rourke remarked that the film was "terrible. Another terrible movie." Fox appeared with Dominic Monaghan in the music video for Eminem and Rihanna's single "Love the Way You Lie". In 2012, Fox appeared briefly in Sacha Baron Cohen's comedy film The Dictator and had a featured role in Judd Apatow's comedy film This Is 40. She voiced the role of Lois Lane in the animated comedy film Robot Chicken DC Comics Special, an episode of the television comedy series Robot Chicken that aired as a one-off special during Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block on September 9, 2012.

In January 2013, Fox was featured in a Brazilian television commercial for Brahma beer. In February 2013, Fox set aside her differences with her former director Michael Bay and worked again with him on his reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), starring as the lead human character of April O'Neil.

In 2015, Fox was cast in the role of Amelia Delthanis in the Plarium video game, Stormfall: Rise of Balur. In October 2015, it was confirmed that Fox would be temporarily replacing Zooey Deschanel in the television sitcom New Girl, following Deschanel's maternity leave. She starred as Reagan Lucas, appearing in the fifth and sixth seasons of the series. Her performance earned positive reviews from critics. In 2016, Fox reprised her role as April O'Neil in the sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.

On September 12, 2018, it was confirmed that Fox would star in the Korean War film The Battle of Jangsari, beside Korean actor Kim Myung-min. She played a lead role as Marguerite Higgins, an American news reporter.

In 2019, Fox starred in the mystery-fantasy film Above the Shadows opposite Olivia Thirlby and Alan Ritchson, directed by Claudia Myers. It was released on July 19, 2019, by Gravitas Ventures. That same year, Fox appeared in Zeroville directed by James Franco, which had been shot in 2014. The film was panned by critics and performed poorly at the box office.

2020s work

In 2020, Fox starred opposite Josh Duhamel in the family comedy film Think Like a Dog, which was released on video on demand on June 9, 2020. Also that year, she starred in the lead role of the action film Rogue, which was released on August 28, 2020.