I interviewed Megan Fox on the red carpet at TIFF 2009. She was promoting Jennifer’s Body. She was just 23 at the time. She’d been shooting her mouth off for 2 years since Transformers. It was easy to dislike her. I disliked her. But after talking to her I disliked her less. Click here for the original article. (Remember when Amanda Seyfried was the lesser star back then?) It turned out Megan Fox was just really young and really insecure.

Last year when Fox was dumped from Transformers 3, a lot of people were quick to say she was a dumbass. That her career would be over. That she’d f-cked it all up. My thoughts then are what they are now: Michael Bay doesn’t run Hollywood.

There were a few more stumbles after Fox broke up with Bay and Transformers. That Jonah Hex mess was blamed on her, rather unfairly. And Passion Play sucked. But she steadied herself, pimped out her wedding, stayed low, and secured some new interesting work – on Friends With Kids with Jennifer Westfeldt and her main Hamm, and also in the Judd Apatow sequel to Knocked Up. Both are supporting roles, but they’re smart picks, and she’s working with good, dependable, loyal people who will reward you if you deserve it.

Now, just a month out from the release of Transformers 3, as Shia LaBeouf prepares to shoulder much of the responsibility of promoting it, Megan Fox’s departure and absence are inevitably being addressed. As is the comparison between her and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. Last week I posited that Rosie’s acting actually made me MISS Megan. That article is here.

Shia’s taken it one step further. The way Shia speaks about Megan, I’m actually starting to LIKE her. Shia was asked by the LA Times about why Megan and Michael Bay could no longer co-exist. Here’s what I love about Shia too – he’s actually not that slick with the press thing in that he doesn’t throw off practised and rehearsed soundbites that offend no one. Oftentimes his candour provides some amazing insight.

“Megan developed this Spice Girl strength, this woman-empowerment [stuff] that made her feel awkward about her involvement with Michael (Bay), who some people think is a very lascivious filmmaker, the way he films women. Mike films women in a way that appeals to a 16-year-old sexuality. It’s summer. It’s Michael’s style. And I think (Megan) never got comfortable with it. This is a girl who was taken from complete obscurity and placed in a sex-driven role in front of the whole world and told she was the sexiest woman in America. And she had a hard time accepting it. When Mike would ask her to do specific things, there was no time for fluffy talk. We’re on the run. And the one thing Mike lacks is tact. There’s no time for [LaBeouf assumes a gentle voice] ‘I would like you to just arch your back 70 degrees.’”

Right???

I f-cking ADORE Shia for this. One statement, SO MUCH information!

Megan Fox went through two rounds of Transformers with Michael Bay who essentially just wanted her to arch her back the whole time. This is not a problem though for Rosie Huntington-Whiteley:

“Rosie comes with this Victoria’s Secret background, and she’s comfortable with it, so she can get down with Mike’s way of working and it makes the whole set vibe very different.”

Look, I’m not trying to pretend that Megan Fox and her Pretend Face aren’t a “fapper’s” delight. But at the same time, if being made to feel like that by a director was starting to get inside her head, and she pushed back, well, I can’t rag on that. In fact, I might actually respect it.

Yeah, I just put Megan Fox and respect in the same sentence. F-ck you Michael Bay.

Oh and by the way, just to drive the point home, this is Shia’s description of Megan’s Transformers character vs Rosie’s as it relates to his character Sam:

“Sam’s sort of frustrated. He has no purpose in life. When he was with the Autobots, he had purpose. He was needed. But he’s got this very supportive girl [Huntington-Whitley's Carly Miller] who’s having him go to these job interviews and trying to nurture him, get him back on his feet. It’s a different female energy than he experienced with Mikaela, who was a very cold biker chick. This woman’s more of a maternal, loving type. Sam wants a domestic, eggs-in-the-morning kind of a thing.”

I’m not saying you have to fangirl on Megan Fox. Please. Let’s have some restraint here. She says the stupidest sh-t sometimes. But don’t hold this one against her. You put that all on Michael Bay.

Click here for more of Shia at the LA Times.

Attached – Megan Fox photos from yesterday.


Photos from Bauergriffinonline.com