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Megan Denise Fox (born May 16, 1986)
is an American actress and model. She began her acting career in 2001 with
several minor television and film roles, and played a recurring role on
Hope and Faith. In 2004, she launched her film career with a role in
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. In 2007, she was cast as Mikaela
Banes, the love interest of Shia LaBeouf's character in the blockbuster
film Transformers which became her breakout role and earned her various
Teen Choice Awards nominations. Fox reprised her role in the 2009 sequel,
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Later in 2009, she starred as the
titular lead character in the film Jennifer's Body.
Fox is considered a sex symbol and frequently appears in men's magazine
"Hot" lists. She was listed #18, #16, and #2 on Maxim magazine's yearly
Hot 100 list in 2007, 2008 and 2009 respectively, while FHM readers voted
her the "Sexiest Woman in the World" in 2008. She ranked number one on
Moviefone's "The 25 Hottest Actors Under 25" in 2008. In 2004, Fox began
dating Brian Austin Green, of Beverly Hills 90210 fame, after reportedly
having met on the set of Hope and Faith. The two have since been in an
on-and-off relationship.
Fox is of Irish, French and Native American ancestry and was born in Oak
Ridge, Tennessee to Darlene Tonachio and Franklin Foxx, who dropped an "x"
from his surname. She has one older sister. Fox's parents divorced when
she was young and she and her sister were raised by her mother and her
stepfather. She said that the two were "very strict" and that she wasn't
allowed to have a boyfriend. She lived with her mother until she made
enough money to support herself.
Fox began her training in drama and dance 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 10 years of age, 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 Morningside
Academy, a private Christian school, for her middle school years and
finished her high school education at St. Lucie West Centennial High
School, though at 17 she was tested out of school via correspondence.
Fox has spoken extensively of her time in education; that in middle school
she was bullied and picked on and she ate 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 of high school that she
was never popular 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".
At 16, Fox made her acting debut in the 2001 film Holiday in the Sun, as
spoiled heiress Brianna Wallace and rival of Alex Stewart (Ashley Olsen).
The film was released Direct-to-DVD on November 20, 2001. The following
year, Fox landed the lead main role as Ione Starr on the television series
Ocean Ave. The series lasted two seasons, from 2002–2003 and Fox appeared
in 122 one-hour-long episodes. Also in 2002, she guest-starred on What I
Like About You, appearing in the episode "Like a Virgin (Kinda)". She was
an uncredited extra in Bad Boys II in 2003. In 2004, Fox guest-starred on
Two and a Half Men in the episode "Camel Filters and Pheromones". In the
same year, Fox made her film debut in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
co-starring opposite Lindsay Lohan, playing the supporting role of Carla
Santi, a rival of Lola (Lindsay Lohan). Again in 2004, Fox was cast in
regular role on the ABC sitcom Hope & Faith, in which she portrayed Sydney
Shanowski, replacing Nicole Paggi in the role. Fox appeared in 36 episodes
from seasons 2 to 3, until the show was cancelled in 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, in the category of "Choice Movie Actress: Action Adventure",
"Choice Movie: Breakout Female", and "Choice Movie: Liplock". Fox has
signed on for two more Transformers sequels. In June 2007, Fox was cast in
a minor role in How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, starring alongside
Jeff Bridges, Simon Pegg and Kirsten Dunst. She portrayed Sophie Maes, a
love interest of Sydney Young (Simon Pegg). The film premiered on October
3, 2008, but was considered a box-office failure. In 2008, Fox appeared
alongside Rumer Willis as the character Lost in Whore. The film centers
around a group of young hopeful teenagers who have come to Hollywood in
the hopes of an acting career find that the business is harder than they
had ever imagined. The film was released October 20, 2008.
Fox reprised her role as Mikaela Banes in the Transformer sequel,
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. There was some controversy
surrounding Fox's appearance while filming the sequel of Transformers when
Michael Bay, the movie's director, ordered the actress to gain 10 pounds.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen premiered on June 8, 2009 in Tokyo,
Japan. The movie was released worldwide on June 24, 2009. Fox had her
first lead role playing the title character in Jennifer's Body, written by
Academy Award-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody. She played Jennifer Check,
a mean-girl cheerleader possessed by a demon who begins to feed off the
boys in a Minnesota farming town. The film was released on September 18,
2009 and co-stars Amanda Seyfried and Adam Brody.
In April, 2009 Fox began filming Jonah Hex, in which she will portray
Leila, a gun-wielding beauty and Jonah Hex's (Josh Brolin) love interest.
The film, currently in production, is set to be released on June 18, 2010.
The movie stars Josh Brolin and Will Arnett, and Fox described her role in
the film as being a cameo. In early April, 2009 Fox signed on to star as
the lead female role in the up-coming 2011 film The Crossing about a young
couple who get caught up in a drug trafficking scheme during their
vacation to Mexico. In March 2009 Variety reported that Fox was set to
star as the lead role of Aspen Matthews in the film adaption of the comic
books Fathom which she will also co-produce with Brian Austin Green.
Fathom is currently in pre-production.
Fox has said during an interview with The Times, on the topic of being a
role model that: "It depends on what your idea of a role model is," and
continued with, "If your idea of a role model is somebody who’s gonna
preach to your kids that sex before marriage is wrong and cursing is wrong
and women should be this and be that, then I’m not a role model. But if
you want your girls to feel strong and intelligent and be outspoken and
fight for what they think is right, then I want to be that type of role
model, yeah." Fox said in the same interview, on the topic of being
type-cast that: "Getting typecast as what? Attractive? How bad is that?"
She feels that it isn't a bad thing to be type-cast in this way and
considers it to be flattering. She also believes that it gives her an
advantage because people will not expect her to be more than simply
attractive and when she does give a good performance, people will be
surprised. Fox has shown interest in portraying a character less
sexualized than that of Mikaela Banes, whom she portrays in the
Transformers film series.
Fox said of being a popular media topic that, though she is not on the
same level as Jennifer Aniston, Britney Spears, or Lindsay Lohan, she does
find it difficult and that there have been times when people have avoided
being around her because they do not want to end up in the media's
spotlight. "I need to behave in a way and handle myself in a way that will
cause people to take me seriously," she said, "you can be sexy and be
intelligent and be taken seriously, or you can be sexy and you can be out
at clubs every night and not be taken seriously" but that she has not gone
"completely insane". Fox also said of going from being "relatively
unknown" to her current celebrity status that: "I definitely feel
ill-prepared; I mean, I don't know if anyone ever sits back and goes, 'Now
is the moment that I think I should be a famous celebrity,' – but I
definitely feel it's premature. I mean, I was in one movie that people
have seen."
Fox has appeared on the covers of many magazines. In 2007, she appeared in
Maxim; in 2008, the list had grown to include Cosmo Girl, Paw Print,[ Jack
(ITALY), FHM (UK), and GQ. In 2009, the list includes, USA Weekend,
Esquire, Empire, Maxim, GQ (UK), Entertainment Weekly and ELLE. Fox was
ranked #17 on interview magazines Hollywood faces to watch "Future Stars
of Tomorrow", ranked #16 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2008 list, named
#68 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006" supplement,
ranked #18 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2007 list, she was ranked #1
on Moviefone's 'The 25 Hottest Actors Under 25' in 2008, and was ranked #2
on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2009 list in 2009. FHM readers voted her
the "Sexiest Woman in the World" in 2008.
In late July 2009, Fox's overexposure in parts of the media caused several
men's websites to boycott her. AOL's man-blog Asylum dubbed August 4, 2009
"A Day Without Megan Fox" with the promise that the site would not mention
or feature her on this day; they asked other men's sites to copy this
stance, and several (such as AskMen.com, Just a Guy Thing, and Banned in
Hollywood) complied. "Listen, we love Megan," Eric Rogell of
TheBachelorGuy.com told New York Daily News. "She's responsible for
driving more eyeballs to our sites — just by getting photographed walking
down the street in a white T-shirt — than any other celeb alive. But it's
time to give another young actress a shot at the attention." In response
to this, Fox told magazine Nylon, in a September 2009 interview, that "the
media blitz" for Transformers resulted in an over-extension of her welcome
in the media. "I was part of a movie that the studio wanted to make sure
would make $700 million, so they oversaturated the media with their
stars," she said. "I don’t want to have people get completely sick of me
before I’ve ever even done something legitimate."
On September 11, 2009, an unsigned letter from crew members of
Transformers defended Michael Bay against accusations reportedly made by
Fox about his on-set behavior, including a comparison with Adolf Hitler.
The letter alleges that Fox is unpleasant to work with on set and makes
several accusations of ungracious behavior that are at variance with her
public persona. Bay defended Fox and has said that he does not "condone"
the letter. Anthony Steinhart, a production assistant who worked on the
Transformers, has also came out in her defense, stating that he had never
"...witnessed Ms Fox being rude or inconsiderate of people’s feelings or
the work to be done".
Fox has often been compared to actress Angelina Jolie, with the media
dubbing her as "next Angelina Jolie". Fox has been compared to Jolie
because they each have a "tattoo collection", and status as a "built in
sex-symbol". Fox commented that the comparisons indicate a lack of
creativity on the part of the media, and are simply due to the dark hair
and tattoos that she and Jolie have, and that both have been in action
movies. There were several unconfirmed rumors that Fox was to replace
Jolie in the next Lara Croft film. Fox also said of the comparisons that:
"I am a brunette with tattoos, I curse and I have made mention of sex
before. I joked about it which people find outrageous so they want to
constantly compare that to her." Fox has said that she had not had the
opportunity to meet Jolie, but has tried "to avoid that because I'm
afraid," because "she's a powerful person and I bet she would eat me
alive". Fox also continued with and remarked that, "I'm sure she has no
idea who I am. But if I were her, I'd be like, 'Who the fuck is this
little bullshit brat who was in Transformers that's going to be the next
me?' I don't want to meet her. I'd be embarrassed."
Fox has eight known tattoos, including her ex-fiancé's name "Brian" on her
lower hip and a picture of Marilyn Monroe's face on her right forearm. Fox
also has another tattoo on her right shoulder that reads, "We will all
laugh at gilded butterflies" a line adapted from William Shakespeare's
play King Lear, a yin and yang tattoo on her left inner wrist, a poem on
the left side of her rib cage that reads "there once was a little girl who
never knew love until a boy broke her HEART," and a Chinese word for
"strength" on her neck. Fox also has a crescent moon overlapping a five
pointed star on the inner aspect of her lower leg above her right ankle.
This tattoo is the only known colored tattoo that Fox has.
Fox said she has a Marilyn Monroe tattoo because, "she was one of the
first people I saw on television, like, literally moments after I was
born. Every time I heard her voice growing up I always would cry. I
wouldn't know why when I was younger but had my own theories" and that Fox
has always "empathized" with her. Fox had shown interest in getting her
yin/yang tattoo removed remarking that the tattoo artist "didn't do it
correctly" because he was under the influence of marijuana; however, Fox
still has that tattoo as of August 2009. Fox has said of her tattoos that
when she gets a tattoo, "It's a little 'fuck you' to anyone who tells me
not to."
Fox has been involved with actor Brian Austin Green since 2004, having
first met on the set of Hope & Faith. In 2006, the two got engaged, but
said they had not had any marriage plans. It was reported that the couple
had ended their relationship in July 2008 and in February 2009; however,
Fox and Green both confirmed on both occasions that the two are still in a
relationship. On June 15, 2009, at the UK premiere of Transformers:
Revenge of the Fallen, Fox stated that she was single; however, she was
later seen with Green and the media is reporting that the two are in a
relationship again. Green also appeared in the SNL Digital Short "Megan's
Roommate" in the Season 35 premiere episode of Saturday Night Live, which
Fox hosted.
Fox is good friends with Jennifer Blanc, Kellan Rhude, Jennifer's Body
co-star Amanda Seyfried, Michael Biehn and Transformers co-star Shia
LaBeouf. She is both a fan of comic books, anime, and video games, and has
said that her interest in art began at 12 years old, when she watched
animated shows during Adult Swim on the Cartoon Network. Fox's favorite
artist is Michael Turner whose Fathom comic she describes as a longtime
obsession. Fox has two dogs, including a Pomeranian named after the
punk-icon Sid Vicious. Fox has openly stated that she has taken drugs, and
that it has meant she knows she doesn't like them, adding that she knows a
few people who aren't on drugs, herself included. Fox has also openly
stated that she supports the legalization of marijuana, saying that she
does not consider it a drug and that she would be first in line to buy a
pack of joints.
In September 2008, Fox alluded to being bisexual; in an interview with GQ
magazine, she said that when she was 18 years old she fell in love with
and sought to establish a relationship with a female stripper. She used
this experience to illustrate her belief that "all humans are born with
the ability to be attracted to both sexes" and additionally showed
interest in Olivia Wilde and Jenna Jameson. In May 2009, she confirmed her
bisexuality. In the June 2009 issue of ELLE, however, she stated that she
somewhat distorted the events of her relationship with the stripper,
saying she has given certain male writers "an amped-up version" of her
past. "They’re boys; they’re easily toyed with," she said. "I tell stories
and have them eating out of my hand. Not all of it is true. In fact, most
of it is bullshit." Fox said, "I never said she was my girlfriend! I just
said that I loved her, and I did love her. The real story is more
sobering. It’s not a sexy, fun-time, fantasy story. But that’s not the
story you tell GQ." On June 15, 2009, at the UK premiere of Transformers:
Revenge of the Fallen, Fox revealed having a crush on Cheryl Cole and a
love for Cole's tattoos. During an appearance in June 2009, on the The
Kyle and Jackie O Show, she stated that she is interested in male Korean
pop singer Rain.
Fox has additionally been open about her insecurities, and self-harming.
She also acknowledges that she has low self-esteem:
“ Yeah. But I don't want to elaborate. I would never call myself a cutter.
Girls go through different phases when they're growing up, when they're
miserable and do different things, whether it's an eating disorder or they
dabble in cutting. I'm really insecure about everything. I see what I look
like, but there are things that I like and things that I dislike. My hair
is good. The color of my eyes is good, obviously. I'm too short. But
overall, I'm not super excited about the whole thing. I never think I'm
worthy of anything... I have a sick feeling of being mocked all the time.
I have a lot of self-loathing. Self-loathing doesn't keep me from being
happy. But that doesn't mean I don't struggle. I am very vulnerable. But I
can be aggressive, hurtful, domineering and selfish, too. I'm emotionally
unpredictable and all over the place. I'm a control freak.”
Further, Fox has a fear of flying; she said she developed this about the
time she turned 20. She has had to come up with ways to deal with it in
order to avoid having panic attacks when getting onto a plane, most
notably by listening to Britney Spears songs. In addition, she has
expressed a distrust of men. "I just don’t like them or trust them,"
stated Fox. |
