Date of Birth: May 16, 1986
Place of birth: United States of America
Location: United States of America
Nationality: Italians - 25%, Irish - 25%, Cherokee - 25%, French - 25%
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 regular role on the Hope & Faith television show. In 2004, she made her film debut with a role in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. In 2007, she co-starred as Mikaela Banes, the love interest of Shia LaBeouf's character, in the blockbuster film, Transformers, which became her breakout role. Fox reprised her role in the 2009 sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Later in 2009, she starred as the eponymous lead in the film Jennifer's Body. Fox is also considered as one of the modern female sex symbols and has appeared in magazines such as Maxim and FHM.
Fox was born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the daughter of Gloria Darlene (née Cisson) and Franklin Thomas Fox. She has stated that she has Irish, French, and Native American ancestry. She was raised "very strictly Pentecostal", but later attended Catholic school for 12 years. Fox's parents divorced when she was young. Fox's mother later remarried, and she and her sister were raised by her mother and her stepfather, Tony Tonachio. She said that the two were "very strict" and that she was not allowed to have a boyfriend or invite friends to her house. 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. At age 17, she tested out of school via correspondence in order to move to Los Angeles.
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), which was released direct-to-DVD on November 20, 2001. In the next several years she guest-starred on What I Like About You and Two and a Half Men, as well as being an uncredited extra in Bad Boys II (2003). In 2004, she made her film debut in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen co-starring opposite Lindsay Lohan, playing the supporting role of Carla Santini, a rival of Lola (Lohan). Fox 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 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. Fox had signed on for two more Transformers sequels.
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 film's director, ordered the actress to gain 10 pounds. The film was released worldwide on June 24, 2009. 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 (see below). Co-star Shia LaBeouf said, "Criticism is one thing. Then there's public name-calling, which turns into high-school bashing. Which you can't do." Bay similarly amended his previous statements of support of Fox, and told GQ in June that Fox was fired on orders of executive producer Steven Spielberg.
After departing the Transformers franchise, Fox had her first lead role playing the title character in Jennifer's Body, written by Academy Award-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody.
In April 2009, Fox began filming Jonah Hex, in which she portrayed 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 U.S., with its international distribution cancelled after its poor performance. The film was named the "worst picture of the year by the Houston Film Critics Society. Fox next starred alongside Mickey Rourke in Passion Play. The film's poor reception at the Toronto Film festival led to its conventional theatrical distribution being bypassed for a direct-to-video release, with only two screens briefly showing the film to fulfill contractual obligations. Mickey Rourke remarked that Passion Play was "terrible. Another terrible movie". Fox was the voice of the Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins in the Na Nai'a Legend of the Dolphins, a 3D documentary film. The story is told by a cast including Kate Winslet, Ellen Page, Gerard Butler, James Franco, Julian Lennon, Diego Luna, Cheech Marin, Whoopi Goldberg, Isabella Rossellini and Daryl Hannah.
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 book Fathom which she will also co-produce with Brian Austin Green. Fox appeared with Dominic Monaghan in the music video for Eminem and Rihanna's single "Love the Way You Lie".
In 2012, she appeared briefly in Sacha Baron Cohen's comedy The Dictator and in a featured role Judd Apatow's comedy This Is 40. She was the voice of Lois Lane in the film Robot Chicken DC Comics Special, an episode of the television comedy series Robot Chicken, and it aired as a one-off special during Cartoon Network's Adult Swim on September 9, 2012.
During an interview with The Times, on the topic of being a role model, Fox stated: "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." In the same interview, Fox spoke of being typecast. "Getting typecast as what? Attractive? How bad is that?" she stated, feeling that it is not a bad thing to be typecast in this way. She said that she considers it flattering, and believes that it gives her an advantage to surprise people when she does give a good performance because they will not be expecting her to be more than simply attractive. Fox has shown interest in portraying a character less sexualized than that of Mikaela Banes, whom she portrayed 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" 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 No.17 on interview magazines Hollywood faces to watch "Future Stars of Tomorrow", ranked No.16 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2008 list, named No.68 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006" supplement, ranked No.18 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2007 list, she was ranked No.1 on Moviefone's 'The 25 Hottest Actors Under 25' in 2008, and was ranked No.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 2011, Men's Health named her one of the "100 Hottest Women of All-Time", ranking her at No. 14. People named her one of 2012 Most Beautiful at Every Age. In 2012, Fox revealed that making "most beautiful woman" lists is just a part of the job in Hollywood, and stated "You know, lists like this – and there are plenty – generally, we elect the girl who plays in the biggest blockbuster of the year."
In late July 2009, Fox's alleged 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. it's time to give another young actress a shot at the attention." Other sites, however, refused to boycott Fox, with Asylum's sister site Popeater declaring "we're posting things about Megan Fox that aren't even news, just because we know you want it, whether you'll admit it or not" and Coedmagazine calling the boycott a "publicity stunt" and "hypocritical", saying that they were the home of "The Megan Fox Boycott Boycott". The British newspaper The Sun declared August 4 to be "Megan Fox Day", saying that "She deserves a day dedicated to her". In response to the boycott, 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 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." By 2010, Fox became much less prominent in the media, after starring in the less commercially successful films Jonah Hex and Passion Play. Recent reports suggested that "it feels like it's been years since we've heard about"; however, her pregnancy in 2012 and her role in Friends with Kids brought her some attention in 2012.
On September 11, 2009, an unsigned letter from three 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 Transformers, 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 the "next Angelina Jolie". The actresses have been compared partly 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 remarked, "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 husband's name "Brian" on her lower hip, a picture of Marilyn Monroe's face on her right forearm, which she is now getting removed, and a crescent moon overlapping a five-pointed star above her right ankle. This tattoo is the only known colored tattoo that Fox has.
Fox has been involved with actor Brian Austin Green since 2004, having first met on the set of Hope & Faith when she was 18 years old and he was 30. In 2006, they became engaged, and then broke off their engagement in February 2009. Some time later in 2009, Fox was targeted by a group of fashion-motivated criminals known as "The Bling Ring", who robbed Green's home because she was living with him. Fox and Green announced they were engaged again in June 2010, and on June 24, 2010, the two wed in a private ceremony at the Four Seasons Resort on the Big Island of Hawaii. Fox and Green have a son, Noah Shannon Green, who was born on September 27, 2012. Through her marriage, Fox is also a stepmother to Green's son Kassius (born March 30, 2002), from his past relationship with actress Vanessa Marcil Giovinazzo.
Fox is a fan of comic books, anime, and video games, and her favorite artist is Michael Turner, whose Fathom comic she describes as a longtime obsession. She has two dogs, including a Pomeranian named after Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious. In 2007, she stated, "I've done drugs, and that's how I know I don't like them"; however, she supports the legalization of marijuana, openly admitting to smoking it, and saying that she does not consider it a drug and would be first in line to buy a pack of joints.
Fox has expressed a distrust and dislike of "all boys-slash-men" in general, stating, "Boys in their twenties are a waste of time. They have nothing to offer conversationally; they're immature." She has also expressed the same distrust for women in the industry: "I especially don’t trust girls in this industry, because it’s incredibly competitive, and I’m just not interested."
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. In May 2009, she confirmed her bisexuality, stating: "I have no question in my mind about being bisexual. But I'm also a hypocrite: I would never date a girl who was bisexual, because that means they also sleep with men, and men are so dirty that I'd never want to sleep with a girl who had slept with a man." In the June 2009 issue of ELLE, she revealed 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. 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."
Fox has revealed that she is not too social, stating, "You won’t believe this, but I never go out. I don’t like drunk, sweaty people whose only goal is to have sex. I stay home and play computer backgammon. Every once in a while, I go to Color Me Mine to do pottery." She later stated, "I could go days, weeks, without talking to another human being." She said, "I've never really socialized, I've always been anti-social and preferred to be at home. I was never, even my late teens and early twenties, into clubs and parties and stuff like that." She has also revealed that she's only been with two men her entire life – "My childhood sweetheart and Brian. I can never have sex with someone that I don't love, ever. The idea makes me sick. I've never even come close to having a one-night stand."
