Summary
There are many actors who get labels based on some of the films they have been in. Sometimes this can be a huge positive, and other times it becomes fairly negative. Megan Fox’s case is one of the latter. The actress started out with films like the Michael Bay-directedTransformersmovie and found a lot of blockbuster work for around a decade, but was often pigeonholed before the nature of her career changed somewhat.
More recently, Fox has taken on a number of smaller-budget action and thriller projects, mostly with her as the primary lead. This has allowed her to diversify, show off her acting chops a little more, and excite her fans in all sorts of new ways. Though not all of Megan Fox’s movies are winners, there are many memorable films she has appeared in over the years.
8Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Another Michael Bay Blockbuster Adventure
Although it wasn’t Megan Fox’s first time in a big Michael Bay blockbuster adaptation,Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtlesallowed her to move on from her image as “the girlfriend” character in the Transformers movies and into a more hard-hitting role. She played April O’Neil, the reporter who uncovers her own stories and gets into scrapes alongside the mutant turtles she discovers and befriends.
Although some might look down on thelive-action adaptations of theTMNTfranchise, this film had a lot of faithful elements to the animated series and comics which came before it. Additionally, Megan Fox’s performance as April gave the film widespread recognition after her previous blockbuster appearances, where the rest of the cast wasn’t as well-known.
7Confessions Of A Teenage Drama Queen
It is strange to think that Megan Fox’s film career already spans twenty years, but she did have a significant role in 2004’sConfessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. The Lindsay Lohan-led teen movie isn’t quite as iconic as herother major coming-of-age film,Mean Girls.Still, it is well-remembered by many millennials for Lohan’s performance, as well as Megan Fox’s first major film role as Carla Santini.
Lohan’s character moves from the big city to a smaller town and finds herself struggling in high school, particularly after making enemies with Queen Bee Carla. Megan Fox’s initial breakout into film roles showcases her mischievous tendencies, creating a memorable character in the midst of the noughties coming-of-age film craze.
6How To Lose Friends And Alienate People
An Early Look At Fox’s Comedic Chops
After her breakout role inTransformers, Megan Fox had her pick of a variety of roles in Hollywood. Unusually, perhaps, she took the role of Sophie Maes in Simon Pegg’s comedy based on a memoir about a man trying to make it in America as a journalist.
The role of Sophie Maes allowed Fox the opportunity to work alongside some seasoned actors in a strait-laced comedic role. Sophie is a young starlet who acts in crude and rude ways, prompting the leading character to eventually gain disdain for Hollywood and those working within it. She is the ultimate symbol of what he believes himself to want, but later realizes he doesn’t. Fox plays the role to perfection.
5Transformers
Fox’s Major Blockbuster Moment
Megan Fox’s biggest break in her film career came when she got the role of Mikaela Barnes, love interest to Shia LaBeouf’s Sam Witwicky, in thefirst major live-actionTransformersfranchise film. This role was that of an attractive girl who falls in with Sam, and then falls for him, during his action-packed adventure alongside the Autobots. It was a role that helped define her on the global stage.
Mikaela wasn’t an average female companion in an action film. She was a car expert, having worked in her father’s garage, making her rough-and-tough and sometimes better suited to such an adventure than Sam himself. Though the human characters felt like small pieces ina big puzzle in theTransformersfilms, Mikaela was a fantastic addition that left a hole when she left following the sequel.
4Subservience
Fox’s Latest Terrifying Leading Role
Megan Fox’s latest major release is something quite new to her. While Fox has had sci-fi experience in the past, and more recently has starred in a few thrillers, she is blending many elements ofher career in the newSubservience. This thriller is about a man who purchases a robot to help around the house while his wife is in the hospital, but is surprised to find the robot seducing him and trying to take his wife’s place.
Subserviencewas an excellent opportunity for Megan Fox to show off her acting chops in a bigger way than some blockbusters would allow her. As the seemingly submissive robot continues to claw her way further into her owner’s life, audiences are treated to Fox’s terrifying and electrifying performance, which is the very heart of this film’s thrills.
3The Battle of Jangsari
A Hugely Welcome Surprise
The last place fans of Megan Fox expected her to show up early in her career resurgence was a Korean War film, mostly in the Korean language. However, she did a great job as reporter Maggie, an American correspondent, attempting to get aid and rally the international community to assist the South Korean soldiers during the Korean War.
Although Fox was in an unusual place and role for her, this helped spark a career resurgence due to the emotion she brought to the role. Her performance helped her launch her career back to leading role heights, and showcased the reality of how much the West contributed to the Korean War.
2Jennifer’s Body
Fox’s Original Terrifying Masterpiece
Following her success in theTransformersfilms, Megan Fox took on something completely different as Jennifer. Her character is a popular high school student who is about to be sacrificed by a rock band, but becomes possessed by a demon, since she wasn’t actually a virgin as they intended. This leaves her incredibly powerful, and sheseeks out and eats various menover the course of the following weeks.
Fox’s powerful, terrifying presence on-screen as the demonically possessed Jennifer made for a film that was hugely underappreciated on release but hasmore recently become a feminist icon of a filmdue to the great themes and Fox’s devastatingly good turn as Jennifer. More relevant and fascinating every day,Jennifer’s Bodyis a great example of feminist cinema before the movement really began.
1Till Death
Fox’s Best Leading Turn To Date
Although it hasn’t received as much praise as it deserves,Till Deathis an incredible example of how truly great Megan Fox can be as an actor. The film follows a woman whose controlling husband kills himself, leaving her handcuffed to him and with a web of tricks to uncover before she can finally escape his clutches. The fascinating idea for this film works, but only with a strong leading performance. The film relies completely on Fox.
WhileTill Deathisn’t the best-known of Fox’s filmography, it is the film that relies the most completely on her as an actor, and the one she pulls off potentially her best performance of all. The taut thriller has little dialogue, particularly in the first half, leaving Fox to act in other ways. She showcases decades’ worth of abilities garnered and utilized to help create the most Megan Fox film to date.
