Megan Fox ready for another career boost with 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'

Megan Fox star continues to grow along with the "Transformers" franchise.

Credit: AP Photo/Matt Dunham

What did a global superstar like Megan Fox do after a long day of shooting "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" in the New Mexico desert?  It's not what you'd think.

"What all of us did after a hard day at work is go drink at Chili's," Fox deadpans during a press conference for the film Friday.  "We drank a lot. To stay in shape, I didn't have the motivation to work out after we would shoot a 16-hour day.  So, whatever happens to me.."

"We don't shoot 16's.  We shoot 12's," director Michael Bay interjects.

Fox protests, "No, Mike..."

Reiterating, Bay says, "We shoot 12's.  We shoot 12's."

Almost with a sigh, Fox conforms, "We shoot 12 hour days.  So, after 12 hours I was too tired to work out.  How do you do it, Josh Duhamel you specimen of a human being?"

As the assembled journalists laugh, Duhamel, Fox's co-star in the franchise, gives the appropriate pause and answers, "Well Megan, honestly, you're out there sweating out there all day long and don't have a lot of energy. Running in the sand. Tyrese and I worked out."

Showing a new comedic timing, Fox sarcastically questions, "Together?"

"He's spot me. I'd spot him," Duhamel says playing along. "What's the big deal?"

Insert more laughter and and Tyrese's expected response, "That doesn't sound too good."

One thing was clear, after three years plus of shooting and promoting the first two "Transformers" films (and trust us, they'll eventually be a third one), Fox and her co-stars have developed a friendly shorthand.  What's changed in that period is that Fox went from being the least known among the cast, including the bizarrely absent Shia LaBeouf, to becoming a household name to every man under the age of 40.  And, duh, Fox admits the first flick had a huge affect on her rise in Hollywood.

Fox notes, "I think the movie it's success and how well it was received just opened a lot of doors for me career wise and I've been able to be part of some films that I really don't feel that I deserved to be apart of and that's due greatly or solely to the success of 'Transformers.'  Like I just did 'Jonah Hex' with Josh Brolin and Michael Fassbender and John Malkovich.  In general, actor's just don't get those opportunities.  For me to have that is a huge blessing and that's because of the success of this movie."

And as for the constant paparazzi attention?  Eh, there are worse things going on in the world.

"Sure, getting photographed at Whole Foods or coming out of Rite Aid with your shampoo bottle and stuff, that's new for me, but that's not that crazy," Fox says.  "You adjust, you acclimate to that pretty quickly."

The actress, who will also be seen this fall in the horror flick "Jennifer's Body," says working with robots who really weren't there was much easier the second time around because they actually knew what they looked like.

"At this point, we've seen Optimus and we've heard his voice and we know how he moves.  It's the same with all of the robots," Fox says. "So, once you are able to visualize something present, it's allows you to fake interact with it.  And I think those scenes are some of the easiest scenes to shoot.  I enjoy them, because we've gotten good at being able to synchronize an eye line and basically scream your dialogue at it and avoid the area where you know it is."

The most surprising revelation from Fox's rare Q&A  was the revelation that not only does she not like to see herself on screen, she doesn't like to look at photographs of herself either, describing it as a "phobia."  Her curiosity got the better of her last week, however, and she forced herself to watch "Revenge" at the London premiere.

"I basically shot an entire glass of champagne so I could get through the shitting of it and I was really, really pleasantly surprised. Halfway through I was over come with genuine emotion and I wanted to hug Michael because of my gratitude to him for making this movie," Fox says.  "LIke, it so far surpassed my expectations. I think the  character is sexy, but women in movies in general are sexy and especially Michael, he knows how to make movies that get people in the theaters. If that's part of the formula..."

Wanting to clarify, Bay adds, "If you look at the movie, we got that [sexy] shot out of the way, just to get it out for the young boys and move on.  The rest of the movie with her it's not about sexy."

Uh, right.  With Ms. Fox on screen, it's hard for anyone not to think "sexy." 

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" opens nationwide and in IMAX on Wednesday.

Gregory Ellwood
Editor-in-Chief, Co-Founder

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With over a decade of experience in the movie industry, Ellwood survived working for two major studios and has written for Variety, MSN and the LA Times. A co-founder of HitFix, Ellwood spends his time relaxing hitting 3’s on the basketball court and following his beloved Clippers.