The best audition stories usually involve the unexpected, like an unavoidable disaster or an accidental discovery. While some A-listers have humorous and appealing anecdotes about the early roles they auditioned for, regrettably, there are some who have experienced inappropriate casting couch behavior. One of the strangest audition stories came from a brief excerpt of an interview Megan Fox gave to The Guardian in 2009.
This is a tale of an audition, she attended for the film that led to her landing the groundbreaking role of Mikaela Banes in the action blockbuster Transformers (2007). Anthony Anderson, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Shia LaBeouf, and Michael Bay were among the actors who appeared in the Michael Bay-directed movie.
At the time, people found the audition tale amusing. It claimed that rather than going through the typical process of interviewing, Bay had allegedly asked Fox, a shortlisted candidate, to visit his mansion and perform a personal car service.
Did Megan Fox Wash Michael Bay’s Ferrari for the Transformers Audition?
Megan Fox started gaining recognition after her performance in the first Transformers film more than ten years ago. She has been the subject of several rumors and disputes throughout her career, but one specific tale involving her audition for Michael Bay’s 2007 sci-fi action film has consistently captured the public’s attention.
According to The Guardian, she stated that she needed to
“Wash [ Michael Bay’s] Ferrari while he filmed her.”
Following the publication of that information and the story of her audition while she was still a minor, the actress spoke out to address a few issues. She stated in an Instagram post that is no longer available (via ELLE):
“I was not underaged at the time and I was not made to ‘wash’ or work on someone’s cars in a way that was extraneous to the script. I did ‘work’ (me pretending to know how to hold a wrench) on one of Michael’s Ferraris during one of the audition scenes. It was at the Platinum Dunes studio parking lot, there were several other employees and crew members present and I was at no point undressed or anything similar.”
Later, the two worked together on the 2009 movie Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
Megan Fox Left the Transformers Film Series: Why?
After appearing in the first two Transformers films, Megan Fox has not appeared in any subsequent ones. In the 2007 Transformers, she took up the role of Mikaela Banes, Sam Witwicky’s (Shia LaBeouf) love interest, and later made a comeback in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
Mikaela confessed her love to Sam at the end of the sequel, which seemed to portend a happy ending for the couple. Transformers: Dark of the Moon did not feature her character again.
Well, the actress’ comments in a past interview with Wonderland may have been the cause of her removal. In a 2009 interview with Wonderland, Fox sparked debate by equating Transformers director Michael Bay’s attitude on the set to that of Adolf Hitler:
“God, I really wish I could go loose on this one. He’s like Napoleon and he wants to create this insane, infamous madman reputation. He wants to be like Hitler [Adolf] on his sets, and he is.”
Though Bay is “vulnerable and fragile in real life,” the Transformers actress said (via Wonderland):
“So he’s a nightmare to work for but when you get him away from set, and he’s not in director mode, I kind of really enjoy his personality because he’s so awkward, so hopelessly awkward. He has no social skills at all. And it’s endearing to watch him. He’s vulnerable and fragile in real life and then on set he’s a tyrant. Shia and I almost die when we make a ‘Transformers’ movie. He has you do some really insane things that insurance would never let you do.”
Deadline reported in May 2010 that Fox’s decision to not reprise her role as Mikaela Banes in Transformers 3 was
“Ultimately director Michael Bay’s decision”.
Following the report, her PR team informed Deadline that the actress’ decision to skip Transformers: Dark of the Moon was solely hers:
“It was her decision not to return. She wishes the franchise the best.”
The actress’ termination was not decided by Bay, who claimed as much to GQ in June 2011. Instead, the director, 58, claimed that Steven Spielberg, the film’s executive producer, had instructed him to let the actress go:
“She was in a different world, on her BlackBerry. You gotta stay focused. And you know, the Hitler thing. Steven [Spielberg] said, ‘Fire her right now.’”
The six films that followed Transformers were Revenge of the Fallen (2009), Dark of the Moon (2011), Age of Extinction (2014), The Last Knight (2017), Bumblebee (2018), and Rise of the Beasts (2023).
The latest Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is streaming on Paramount Plus, and the first Transformers is available on DIRECTV.
Source-The Guardian; ELLE; Wonderland ;Deadline ;GQ
