Megan Fox has always been candid about how Hollywood treated her, but during a recent screening of one of her best movies, Jennifer’s Body, she delivered one of her most unfiltered reflections yet. In a Q&A following the a screening of arguably one of the best 2000s movies, Fox opened up about the emotional toll fame took on her at the height of her popularity, and how that struggle bled into the filming of the now-iconic teen horror.
During a Q&A following a Jennifer’s Body screening at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures (via People), the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles actress revealed to the audience she was “really struggling” while promoting the movie back in 2009, calling out the industry and paparazzi for their harsh treatment, particularly toward young women. She explained:
Oh, I don’t know that I would give myself advice. I think where I was at that point in my life, so lost, so full of that rage that I had towards how I had been treated in the industry and how I was dealing with fame and the constant … at that time, before we started filming.
One incident that still lingers for the Transformers actress occurred during the Jennifer’s Body premiere. She recalled how paparazzi lined the exit, shouting at her as she tried to leave. Fox continued:
I just left a premiere for something where I had to go — I’m obligated to go — and I remember the paparazzi were so ruthless back then — the way they would talk to women. And I walked out just to try to get to my car, and they’re all shooting. And one guy’s like, ‘Megan, why are you such a bitch?’ And another guy is like, ‘Megan, do you think you’re overrated? The internet says so,’ and I’m just trying to do my job.
The 39-year-old star said those encounters left her with a mix of sorrow and fury, emotions she funneled directly into the role of the cheerleading succubus. Being allowed to be “unhinged” on set, she said, gave her space to process what she was going through. She added:
I was asked to be at this premiere. I’m trying to get to my car. And so I had all of this grief and sorrow and also anger and rage that needed a place to go. And like I said, being able to just have the permission to be unhinged even in between takes or maybe the entire time we were there, that was very cathartic for me.
The Hope & Faith alum also connected deeply with the character of Jennifer, a girl who’s sacrificed for someone else’s gain and transformed into something people fear. She said the script felt like it mirrored what she was going through as a young woman thrown into fame and chewed up by the machine. And ultimately, the joke is kind of on everyone else, because though Jennifer’s Body started as a box office flop before becoming a classic.
More than fifteen years later, Jennifer’s Body is finally getting its due and maybe more. Screenwriter Diablo Cody and star Amanda Seyfried have both teased a possible sequel. Seyfried has already given a “thumbs-up” for returning to the upcoming horror movies as Needy. For Fox, the film may once have been an emotional outlet, but now it’s also proof that her story resonates with so many.
As for recent work, Megan Fox joined the cast of Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, voicing Cica. The flick is set to hit the 2025 movie release schedule on December 5.