Constantly teased about her name, Mikaela Banes, and the style with which she wears the mantle, Megan Fox is an all-around good sport.
In her first leading role in a major film, Megan Fox was thrust into the limelight of “Transformers,” in 2006, the actioner movie helmed by Michael Bay.
“Given that Michael's name was attached to the script and that it was planned as a summer release, I knew the movie was going to be huge,” Fox says, “I just had no idea how much of a part I was going to play in relation to the whole thing or what I was in for.”
Bay, along with his Platinum Dunes producing partners Andrew Form and Brad Fuller, had originally auditioned Megan Fox for their remake of “The Amityville Horror” (directed by Andrew Douglas). When she returned to Bay's offices two years later to audition for the role of Mikaela, he saw something beyond her obvious beauty that complemented the character.
“Even though Megan's relatively new to movies, she's incredibly poised and confident, and it's not phony,” said Bay. “I also liked that no one really knew about her, which can be scary when you think about giving such a big part to someone untested, but the pairing with Shia really worked. They had a great energy.”
“Michael Bay is kind of infamous,” said Fox. “But the more you are around him, the more obvious it becomes that he has this off-beat sense of humor. If he yells, it's more about entertaining himself and ribbing you. He's not a scary guy, he's funny.”
“Michael's a frat boy,” says her co-star LaBeouf, “and if you're going to have a relationship with Mike, you cannot be the sentimental actor. You cannot be fearful. You have to hold your own and be tough if you're going to play with that crowd. Michael needs people who can deal with that, who can hang in there and keep going, and Megan figured it out.”
“Michael's a phenomenal director,” Fox said. “Audiences are coming to this movie to see robots, explosions, and jets and helicopters screaming overhead, they want to see action. Shia and I were just along for the ride.”
As Mikaela, 20-year-old Fox plays the hottest girl in high school who is not engrossed in the usual girlie interests and pursuits. Instead, she is a thinker who, like Sam, is looking for the next adventure life has to offer.
“She's from the wrong side of the tracks,” Fox explains. “She's had a difficult family life and it's made her tough. But she's a sweet girl and when Sam is ridiculed by her boyfriend she sticks up for him and breaks up with her boyfriend over the incident; it's all very melodramatic.
“Mikaela's also a tomboy,” she continued, “she likes to work with cars, and she gets sucked into the whole robot world by accident. It's like she's stuck in the middle with Sam and she feels she has to protect him.”
