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Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox open up about Transformers robots and the trickiness of fame
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Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox
Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox just might never get used to the tabloid attention they get as two of the hottest young actors in Hollywood. LaBeouf and Fox play boyfriend and girlfriend in the blockbuster "Transformers" movies, but some of the gossip media have done stories saying that the two are romantically involved in real life. (LaBeouf and Fox have denied the rumors.) In the "Transformers" movies, their on-screen romance takes a back seat to the ongoing story about good robots (Autobots) at battle with bad robots (Decepticons) that want to take over the world.
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," the second film in the series, picks up where 2007’s "Transformers" left off, but this time, LaBeouf’s character (Sam Witwicky) and Fox’s character (Mikaela Banes) are dealing with a long-distance relationship since Sam has enrolled in college thousands of miles away from his hometown. Sam’s college life is interrupted when he once again finds himself to be the key in helping the Autobots defeat the Decepticons. At the London press conference for "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," LaBeouf, Fox and John Turturro (who plays Agent Simmons in the "Transformers" movies) talked about what it was like working with "Transformers" director Michael Bay again, what their favorite toys were when they were kids and how the "Transformers" movies have drastically changed the lives of LaBeouf and Fox.
John, did you actually climb one of the pyramids in Egypt?
Turturro: Yes, that’s why they hired me after the professional stuntmen. I kept climbing and I went a little too high one day, and I heard all this screaming in Arabic. I thought they were worried about me, but they were worried I was going too high and I was going to injure the pyramid. It was interesting.
Shia, you famously injured your hand in a car accident and went back to work on "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" with your hand in a cast. Besides your hand injury, did you get any other injuries while making this movie?
LaBeouf: Yeah, beyond my hand, I got injured in the movie a couple of times. We were filming in New Mexico, and it was a chaotic scene. I was in the middle of action scene winded up impaling my face on a spike. We were surrounded by seals, and I remember looking at seals with this thing in my face and stuff coming down my face the seals were like, Oh!"
We went to the military hospital and had a guy go like this after he sticked me up [he holds his right index finger and thumb to form a small hole] I said, "Oh, what is that?" And he said, "Blindness." Yeah, you get beat up doing these things, because that’s the way of this movie. It’s an aggressive movie; it’s an aggressive shoot.
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Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox at the Tokyo premiere of "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"
What kind of training did you do to prepare?
LaBeouf: I’m not playing a gladiator. I’m playing an ordinary kid in extraordinary situations. I smoke cigarettes [but because of the hand injury], I started chewing tobacco instead.
Megan, your "Transformers" character loves automobiles. Were you a car enthusiast before you started doing the "Transformers" movies?
Fox: Before I booked the first ["Transformers"] movie, part of my audition process was Michael [Bay] made me come to his studio and pretend to work on his Ferrari, and he was videotaping me the whole time. So I was on his Ferrari trying to figure it out. I still don’t know anything about cars though.
Have you watched that video?
Fox: Yeah, where is that tape?
LaBeouf: [He says jokingly] I have it at my house.
Can you talk about having to act to special effects?
LaBeouf: I think there’s more interaction [with the robots] this time, so it changed a little bit: movements like dialogue. It’s pantomime. [He says jokingly] We’re not the first to do it. Mister Ed did it. A guy named Alan Young.
There’s a "Marathon Man" interrogation scene with my chest, and we had to do this five count with the animators. On "one," this robot would pop out and go into my mind and still this information; on "two and three," it’s taking the information down to my throat … and you just memorize the count movements and what’s happening during those beats. It’s not "Elephant Man." It’s pantomime.
Shia LaBeouf in "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"
Shia, your hand injury was written into the "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" script. How did you deal with that injury while filming the movie?
When you break your hand, it’s hard to button your pants, but you’ve got to do it. You just buck up and get through it. There’s only so much you can fake. We had three cameras going at once. It takes a long time to rig some of these stunts. You’ve got to do it. I also had fantastic stuntmen. Vladmir [Tevlovski] took the brunt of the abuse.
Shia, early in your career, you said the movie industry is more about looks than talent. Do you still feel the same way now that you’re a really successful actor?
Talent just seems like a crazy-ass word. I think determination is a better word. Ever see boxers? These are ordinary men with extraordinary determination.
John, you had to more interaction with the robots in this movie compared to the first "Transformers" film. Can you talk about that?
Turturro: I was looking at Shia a lot in the first one, because he seemed to be doing it so easily. And I realized, "Why, it probably wasn’t that long ago that he was playing with the [Transformers] toys." I was really impressed that he could have this whole imaginary world. But then I just started thinking that I was playing with a little kid. It gets easier as you do it, but at first it was a little bizarre.
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Michael Bay and Shia LaBeouf on the set of "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"
Shia, Megan and John what was it like working with Michael Bay again?
Turturro: [He says jokingly] Dreadful.
LaBeouf: It’s not dreadful at all. Me and [Michael Bay] have a big brother/little brother type of thing. We get into it sometimes, and John [Turturro] becomes the liaison between us. He [Michael Bay] is like a football coach. He just doesn’t coddle you. That takes getting used to. Actors are used to being coddled. You get that in a sense. There’s a real masculine energy on these movies. I enjoy the hell out of it. It’s like skydiving for five months.
Fox: It’s like constant chaos. The crew named it Bay-os [as in chaos] and there’s also the term Bay-hem, which is an everyday thing working with him. It is exciting. He is rough on his actors on purpose. I think he likes the legend of being a tyrant.
Turturro: I just based my character on Michael. The key to making any movie is that you have to key into the sensibility of the guy [the director] who’s going to be there every day and who’s going to be working on the film after you’re long gone. And it took me a while to understand that when I first started out. But you really do have to look at that person and connect with their sensibility.
I had a lot of fun. He [Michael Bay] lets me try things. He has a lot of energy and he works very hard. You know the shots are going to be interesting, so you just have to be open to moments in working with him. I had a good time the first time, and I had a better time this time.
Megan Fox in "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"
Megan, in an interview with GQ magazine, you spoke about your recreational drug use. What kind of message do you think that sends to your impressionable fans?
Fox: I wouldn’t call it recreational drug use, because it makes it sounds like I’m going to clubs and doing cocaine and things like that. I talked about the legalization of marijuana, which in the United States, I think it should be. If alcohol is legal, I don’t see why we should have a ban on marijuana. That’s all. Are you asking me how it’s going to influence 12-year-old girls? Are they reading British GQ?
What was your worst day of shooting? Was it the spike through the eyeballs?
LaBeouf: That was probably the worst day for me. That was rough. The pace is the worst thing for me. It’s just nonstop.
Shia and Megan, you’ve both become a lot more famous since the first "Transformers" movie. How are you dealing with all the media attention and has your life changed for the better?
LaBeouf: My life’s great! The [on-set] trailer’s going to be bigger this time. I’m very fortunate and blessed. I’m not the most gifted performer in the world. I’m just very lucky with these opportunities and I’m happy to keep working.
Fox: I don’t know if you’re ever prepared for public scrutiny. I don’t know if it’s something you can mentally prepare yourself for, but it is part of the job. Maybe it’s not the most pleasant part, but I get to experience so many other things that are blessings that I shouldn’t be able to experience. So that’s the tradeoff.
Transformers toys are a favorite of a lot of kids. What were your favorite toys when you were children?
LaBeouf: I had a Bumblebee triple changer. I had some Yogi Bear stuff. That was the ‘80s. I was a Transformers fans. It was dude Barbie. Everybody had them.
Fox: I had My Little Pony and Strawberry Shortcake and Rainbow Brite and things like that.
Turturro: I was a big Zorro fan when I was a kid. I was also into G.I. Joe, which came out when I was younger. But I did have a female doll that was based on "Honey West," the show Anne Francis was in — they made a doll of her — and I had her with my James Bond doll … and she was always naked. My mother always used to say, "Why is Honey up in a tree on the clothes line?’ And I said, "Don’t worry, Mom. G.I. Joe is going to save her." But that doll I really liked. She had a little mole on the side of her face. I don’t know what happened to her.
John Turturro and Shia LaBeouf in "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"
John, what are the biggest changes you’ve seen in the movie industry since you’ve first started?
Turturro: I think there are certain kinds of films that are being made less and less nowadays: the sort of medium-sized, adult type of film, which I think has really shrunk. It’s [now] bigger films or really small films. Medium-sized films, I think, you’re seeing disappear more, such as films that are in the $15 million to $20 million range of budgets that are adult and less comedic. That’s one thing I’m aware of.
Megan, you’re known to be very outspoken in interviews. Is there anything you’ve said that you regret or want to clarify? And do you think you’ll mellow out as you get older?
Fox: That’s possible. It’s something that I struggle with, because I feel like I have the best intentions when I do these sorts of interviews and when I speak the way that I do, and it’s unfortunate when journalists or press choose to knowingly twist the meaning of my words — and that discourages me from being outspoken and being as honest, but I fell like it’s something that I just want to do. I hate reading or watching bullsh*t interviews and watching these created images that people present to you on television that you know are fake and manufactured. I’m trying not to be one of those.
Megan, can you talk more about how the first "Transformers" movie changed your life?
Fox: The movie was so successful and was such a global success and clearly had exposed me to people who had never seen me before … The movie made over $700 million, so a lot of people then knew my image and knew my name. Other actresses who are more successful actresses never get a chance to be a part of a film where their images are taken around the world like mine was in this movie.
John, how different would "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" have been if it were written by Barton Fink?
Turturro: I think a lot of it would’ve been [set] in a room. And I’m sure Michael [Bay] would’ve made a lot out of that room. I’m accepting your question as being facetious.
There’s a line in "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" saying that everything on the Internet is true, which is obviously meant as a joke. Is there anything you’ve read about yourself on the Internet that made you laugh or get outraged?
LaBeouf: I alluded to the fact that my mother is very attractive in an interview at one point, and I read online that we [my mother and I] were having sex. That was pretty hysterical. I laughed with her on Mother’s Day about it.
Fox: I don’t research my own press, because … I have anxiety about it. I have to pretend that none of it is real.
Megan Fox in "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"
Megan, you’re obviously stunningly attractive. Do you think your looks are limiting you from being taken seriously as an actress?
Fox: It’s not that it’s limiting. I just get really embarrassed. Have you ever been given a compliment and you just can’t take it because you don’t agree with it or just aren’t comfortable taking it? It’s like that nonstop, all day, every day. I’m just really embarrassed by it. I don’t know how to react to something like that.
Megan, you’ve said in an interview that you’re afraid of Hollywood because you think you’ll lose your privacy. Do you still feel that way?
Fox: In my head, I don’t know which exact quote you’re referencing. I was probably just talking about the inner workings of Hollywood, like young Hollywood, the Hollywood lifestyle. You sort of fear that, because you so quickly become overexposed.
And once people know too much about your private life, there’s no mystery and there’s no reason to pay to see you in a film. And I think that’s something that’s impossible to avoid in Hollywood currently. And maybe that’s why there are no real film stars anymore like there were in ‘50s. It’s a dying breed of movie star. That’s why there’s the overexposure on the Internet and the media and paparazzi and whatnot.
Shia, Megan and John, if you could transform into anything, what would it be and why?
LaBeouf: This question has been asked for two years now. I’d transform into an answer to that question.
Fox: I agree. There’s no good answer.
Turturro: I’d like to transform into Ann-Margret. That would make me happy.
What do you think about the romance in "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"? Do you think it alienates people who want to see a "Transformers" movie for the fights, special effects and action scenes?
Turturro: I think young boys like that [the romance], even though they don’t understand why.
Fox: You have to have some sort of romantic element in the movie, or else it’s just nonstop robot violence. Something else has to happen, so you feel like you’re part of something that can be real or believable. I don’t think any of the kissing scenes got too intense. The love scenes are very tame. They’re PG, they’re not even PG-13.
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