14 DAY TRIAL // Director Michael Bay is often criticized for the way he treats women in his films, in that they’re no more than pretty objects to him, serving a very clear purpose, that of being eyecandy for the young male audience. Megan Fox was too much of a feminist and a thinker to comply with that, Shia LaBeouf says.
When Fox was fired from the “Transformers” franchise, many assumed it was her big mouth and her nasty comments to the media that made her fall out of grace with Bay.
It wasn’t just that, former co-star LaBeouf, who will be seen in the next “Transformers” installment, “The Dark of the Moon,” opposite model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, says in a new interview for Hero Complex.
As he sees it, Fox never got accustomed to being just a pretty object for the camera and she would always argue with Bay during shooting, slowing things down.
“Megan developed this Spice Girl strength, this woman-empowerment [stuff] that made her feel awkward about her involvement with Michael, who some people think is a very lascivious filmmaker, the way he films women,” the actor says.
Bay’s films are made for 16-year-old boys, which means women will be shown in a certain way, which, obviously, didn’t sit well with Megan.
“It’s summer. It’s Michael’s style. And I think [Fox] never got comfortable with it,” Shia says.
Jumping from “a girl [plucked] from complete obscurity” to the hottest woman in the US who had to look and act the part was simply too much for Fox – and she eventually refused to do it.
“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’,” LaBeouf says.
Because Fox argued too much, she was booted from the franchise. Rosie, it would seem, has no problems whatsoever with arching her back just the way Michael Bay wants her to.
“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,” the actor adds.