The disappointing box office returns for Jennifer’s Body over the weekend was a contrast to the success with which its star, Megan Fox, commanded every TV show she chose to slink onto while promoting the movie last week. On Live With Regis and Kelly, she shimmied up on one of the hosts’ high stools in a tight dress and beige pumps and let Kelly Ripa talk about how she, Kelly, had spotted stardom in Fox way back when Megan played a ditzy teen on Ripa’s short-lived sitcom Hope and Faith.
On The Tonight Show — the one Conan O’Brien hosts, not the one Jay Leno does — Fox came out in a tight dress and black pumps to say that she loves to eat at chain restaurants like The Olive Garden and Red Lobster, reserving particular praise for the latter restaurant’s cheese biscuits:
“You’re the perfect woman!” joked Conan, meaning the perfect geek-fantasy woman: she’s hot-looking, and a cheap date!
Megan Fox sells sex and provocation with a knowing gleam. On TV and in magazines, it’s fun for an array of people — young and old straight men, girls who detect a dash of riot grrrl in her demeanor, gay men and women who recognize a present-and-future camp idol, if she lasts long enough to attract female impersonators — to relish her wanton kitty-in-stilettos image. She is, in short, great in interviews.
But actually paying a ticket to see her is another, ah, proposition. Fox attracted a big following in the Transformers movies because moviegoers were paying for the big shiny robot toys and also got a human Barbie doll as an extra added bonus. But it took TV and print interviews for the Barbie doll to establish that she was smart, funny, and self-aware. Well, aware enough to recognize that Diablo Cody had written her a terrific script in Jennifer’s Body. But (along with all the movie people who green-lit this project) not aware enough to foresee that asking citizens to utter the phrase, “I want to see Jennifer’s Body, please” was going to be sufficiently embarrassing to force a lot of them to opt with the more family-friendly sounding, “I want to see Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs, please.”
For millions of people, I’m guessing, Megan Fox is the very definition of a guilty pleasure. And a guilty pleasure is something you enjoy in the privacy of your own home. You don’t go out, drive to a theater, and ask for a ticket to see Jennifer’s Body if you think the person behind the ticket window knows you’re asking for a ticket to see Megan Fox’s body.
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She isn’t a movie star because she lacks talent. I just want her to go away.
She cant act and her skin is awful. She’s gonna look worse than Courtney Love when shes 30 too.
Yes, I completely agree. I am tired of hearing about Megan Fox.
i think all you girls are jealous because she is hot and maybe you guys just arent tne best
Oh Yeah! I completely agree with you. the Big question is will EW let her go away??????
I couldn’t agree more. Someone at EW must love her because they keep shoving her and her crappy attitude in our faces. Please just let her shrivel up and slither off into an open drainpipe.
I get a kick out of Megan Fox. I never understood why people hate her so much. She needs to work on her acting, but she has the charisma to last a while if she gets it together. She just has to pick the right projects.
first of all, eeww. i don’t need to hear a grown man drool over megan fox.
secondly, no one ever said fox was a movie star, other than publications like EW. however, movie audiences determine movie stars, not press.
any other actress could’ve played fox’s role in the transformers film, and she likely would’ve been hyped. megan fox got an extremely lucky break, but she’ll need talent to sustain her if she ever intends to be a movie star.
IMO, she’s the next sean young. who you ask? yea, that’s the point.
katherine heigl has more talent than fox (which isn’t saying much) and she’s not a movie star either.
I know!! This geezer is old enuff to be her father and he’s practically salivating over a young womans breasts. Disgusting
Same here! All Megan Fow related reviews need to be written by women. Men are possessed by her so-called powerful vag*na.
“…any other actress could’ve played fox’s role in the transformers film, and she likely would’ve been hyped. megan fox got an extremely lucky break, but she’ll need talent to sustain her if she ever intends to be a movie star.”
A truer statement has never been made–she just happened to get extremely lucky with the Transformers role! But from what I’ve seen, she doesn’t begin to have the talent nor personality that many of her young counterparts do. And, no, I don’t hold it against her that she’s a fairly attractive young woman, but there are a lot of more attractive young women I’d much rather watch and support! I just personally can’t see what all the hype is about.
I think Jessica Biel is thanking her lucky stars that Megan Fox came along. It freed her (Biel) up to do some more arthouse fare and prove that she can actually act in a script like that one she just did with Colin Firth, while all the “skinny hot girl” parts she was taking five years ago descend to Fox. Ol’ Megan, on the other hand, doesn’t have the chops to do that when the next, younger, hotter kid comes along in two years.
Try telling that to Katherine Heigl. She definitely thinks she’s a “movie star”.
Megan Fox is smart and funny?
I was going to say the same thing. Google “Megan Fox dumb quotes” and you’ll see exactly how unintelligent and humorless this porn-star wannabe actually is.
I thought she was good in the movie. I think younger audiences (17-20 year olds) were expecting this movie to be more horror-defined and have Megan Fox as the central character and so people were confused when they realized that its not a genre specific film. Have you seen the comments on twitter? The movie soared over the heads of people expecting a movie like Sorority Row. From what I can conclude: there was nothing benign about the movie – its an 80s cliche made in 2009, its about the underlying rivalry between the average girl (btw Seyfried was awesome) and the one who is popular, its suggesting that those feminine heroes in Halloween, etc., aren’t really heroes. with a line like “There’s no such thing as PMS. It’s a lie cooked up by the boy-run media to make girls seem crazy,” clearly this movie is geared mostly towards the thinking teenager/young 20-somethings
Gay men, really? You need to talk to more gay men. I don’t know a single gay man who likes her. The gays typically like women who have overcome some drama in their lives (Liza, Judy, Cher, Whitney, etc), not some talentless bimbo with a big mouth and an annoying personality.
Right. Because the gays just can’t stand Kathy Griffin.
Hey i just wanted to compliment your comeback, very good.
Kathy would be complimented by the bimbo comment.
Gay, and love her!
So do I!!!
Same here! Love herr & gay. What up.
Liza, Judy and Cher? Are you a time traveler from the year 1970?
I’m gay and I L-O-V-E Megan Fox!
well gay men like britney spears. she has had “life issues”, and is a talentless bimbo and has an annoying personality…so…yea.
“smart, funny, and self-aware” are you reading the same interviews i am?
Exactly – she is an idiot.
I think Ken just has a thing for her.
Am I missing something with this girl, because I have never seen one of her movies, know almost nothing about her, and would be hard pressed to recall what she looks like most of the time. Then again, I’m a straight female, and apparently (and slightly depressingly) not among the many target audiences of this fellow straight female.
Me too. I only see her on magazine covers. But she’s got a good publicist.
She “kneeled” her way to fame in many a casting directors back room.
That’s a little uncalled for.
you think people are embarrassed to buy a ticket to “jennifer’s body” because the ticket clerk might suspect they really want to “ogle” Megan Fox’s body? what the h*** are you even talking about? what has happened to EW?
and besides, i can’t remember the last time i asked an actual human for a movie ticket
They started hiring hacks who werent up to snuff to land a job at the Enquirer
Back off of Ken T! He’s been with EW since the beginning.
I think it’s the over promotion of Megan Fox in various media outlets (including this one) that’s causing this double edged sword effect. For one, it overrates the work she’s done so far (i.e., two Transformers films and a horror movie), and that doesn’t really signify great acting at all. Calling her the next Angelina Jolie is also digging her into a deeper hole. Maybe her publicists are to blame, but it’s not doing Megan Fox any favors if she wants to be respected as an actress.
On the other hand, her interviews are pretty entertaining, and without the attention, she wouldn’t conduct those interviews. Still, if Megan Fox is built up on nothing but media fueled hype, it’s only going to be used as ammo against her credibility, even if she does perform some knockout roles in the future.
There will never be another angelina jolie.
That’s part of the problem behind the promotion machine. Let Megan Fox be herself, for better or worse. Otherwise, even if she succeeds, most people will think of her as a wannabe Jolie, even if that was completely unintentional.
No, because Angelina can’t act either.
I had a good time watching Jennifer’s Body. I’m not a fan of horror films, but this wasn’t really one. There was nothing objectionable about Megan Fox’s performance. But the real star of the movie is Amanda Seyfried. She’s great and was the reason I wanted to see the movie in the first place.
Phirt.
I know who Sean Young is….
I also know who Sean Young is! I guess Fox is going to stalk Zac Efron! lol
I think a lot of people don’t “get” Megan Fox. Don’t forget she’s only 23. People dismiss her to readily as a talentless bimbo, yet, lets face it, Michael Bay films aren’t about acting.
“Don’t forget she’s only 23″ – there’s people in Med school at 23 – so what does that mean?
Err, those same 23 year old med students aren’t head surgeons, let alone had their first surgery. Sure, their tenacity shouldn’t be compared to Megan Fox, but Snarf’s point still stands for both: they’re/she’s only getting started, and won’t show their/her true potential until later (hopefully).
23 yo med students perform more difficult tasks on an hour to hour basis than I assume Fox will ever perform in her entire life. Plus, do you know how hard it is to get into medical school in the first place? I’m not saying being famous is easy (which, at this point, is her “talent”, not acting)–but it does not require much skill or intellect.
Reading comprehension, much? I never said that med students DON’T deserve to be in school. On the contrary, they’re only getting warmed up. Most revered surgeons and doctors stay in school for 8-10 years before they even start working. As great as they are to get into med school, they’re not going to be phenomenal until they reach their late 20s and 30s. No matter what you do in life, it’s rare to peak before reaching your 30s or later, whether it’s acting, going to med school, or whatever. That’s the point I made earlier.
Scarlett Johannson is only 24. Evan Rachel Wood is only 21.
Both of these women are far better actresses than Megan “I’m only 23″ Fox has proven herself to be.
That’s not to say she couldn’t break out – many do later in their careers.
I, for one, am a straight female, and don’t particularly hate her.
In 5 years she’ll be lucky to get a guest starring spot as a CSI corpse. Though that might require more acting than shes capable of.
lmao oh lori thats hilarious.
There are actors and singers younger, smart, dedicated and TALENTED.
Don´t make excuses.
Sean Young? Why slam her. Megan Fox is not the next anything except Megan Fox, and if she is simply high heels and a tight dress on a sofa or chair then she is really nothing at all except evidently an object for Ken to mastogle over at home in the dark.
Megan Fox is the new Denise Richards.
b/c she was considered the ubiquitous ‘it’ girl, until her terrible reputation condemned her to obscurity.
Really the media has been oversaturated with Megan Fox, from magazine covers, articles, radio, and TV show interviews. If her PR team was smarter they would have been more selective with who she talked to and when. Because it’s only a matter of time before we have seen too much of Megan Fox…or has that happened already?
Yes it has already happened.
A long time ago,there was another actress who was on every magazine cover,had her face all over tv,not to mention a best selling poster and she was called a talentless bimbo. When she bombed in movies,she took a step back,worked on her craft and came back and showed them that she was a pretty darn good actor. You know her,Farrah Fawcett.
You mean the Farrah Fawcett who couldnt get a job after 1984?
This article is so astute! I enjoyed reading it, number one, because I’m surprised a Diablo Cody flick didn’t do as well as it should have at the box office. Regardless of what Megan Fox is/isn’t in the eyes of the public, I’m confused why that should overshadow the talent of everyone else in that movie (Amanda Seyfried!), and the awesome writing (I hope) it contains. I know it happens, but shouldn’t people go see it and decide for themselves, instead of not liking her for very random reasons? Yeah, Transformers kind of sucked, but no one hates Shia LeBouf. It’s a weird dynamic to think about…
I didn’t even know Jennifer’s Body was a Diablo Cody movie. I just saw that it starred Megan Fox and immediately tuned out. Unfortunately, now that I know, it doesn’t make a bit of difference. The movie still stars Megan Fox. Hopefully, Cody will make sure her movies are cast differently in the future.
Shia Labeouf can act.he’s talent.
“Transformer 2″ wasn’t written very well.And there’s only so much a good actor can do with a bad script. but Megan Fox seriously can not act..:(
Shia can act. he’s talent.
Transformer 2 wasn’t written very well. And there’s only so much a good actor can do with a bad script.
But Megan can’t act.
Because Shia can act. but Megan can’t act.
No one hates on Shia? I hate on him big-time! He sucks. He ruined INDIANA JONES and was not that great in TRANSFORMERS either.
Diablo Cody sucks too. Honest to Blog! (Did you see what I just did there? Hardy-Har-Har!)
I can’t stand Shia LeBouf
She’s hot you can’t say she’s not. And although she hasn’t proved her acting yet, and she may have been a bitch to Michael Bay on the set of transformers. She was really good on Conan and those interviews. That’s all the EW writer was saying. And that is a skill in itself. Alot of hollywood actresses are bores in interviews. But not Megan.
I hate it when people say you don’t “get” certain stars. Like recently an acquaintance told me that I just don’t “get” Kanye and his recent actions. And now maybe everyone just doesn’t “get” Megan Fox. When are we finally going to realize there is nothing to “get” about these celebrities. Kanye and Megan may say clever things and be “edgy” and cool, but they are not personifying any kind of otherworldy, revolutionary figure. They are just the like any other vapid, pseudo intellectual star in Hollywood–entirely obsessed with themselves and thinks everyone else is too.
I haven’t seen Jennifer’s Body, but I have seen both Transformer films only to the delight of my fiance w/out which I wouldn’t have wasted my time. It was a hot chic sprawled over a few vehichles. So what? It’s not to me a true testament to what Megan will do in the future, because for all of us the future is unknown. I do agree with the article that she is like many of hollywood, is sort of a guilty pleasure, I like to look at her, and I am a straight woman. But isn’t that part of being a celebrity, people liking to look at you and read about you. Are we forgetting that this is normal and to be expected with the entertainment career choice….to be ogled and talked about profusely? She is doing what actors/aspiring or otherwise do…self promote. Give it a rest, people. She’s 23, a baby to me and I’m only 30, but she has lots of living and growing to do. A little leg room is not only required but deserved. Besides I’d much rather here and see her for a while, then the icky Gosselins, or that freak Octo whatever!
Megan Fox is just as much a creation and/or victim of the rabid media environment that has given us the Gosselins and the Octomom. It’s a TMZ world. Unfortunately, we have to live in it, too.
Megan Fox is too pretty. The women that hit it big on the big screen are pretty, but not drop dead gorgeous. Julia Roberts-very pretty, but also resembles her brother. Meg Ryan-cute, not pretty. Meryl Streep-definately a handsome woman, but not especially pretty. Halle Berry-gorgeous, never carried a movie on her own. Jennifer Anniston-looking a bit worn now, but stunning in her day, she never carried a movie by herself. I know what you’re saying, “what about Angelina Jolie?” Ok, good point, but aside from the Tomb Raider movies and Wanted, she’s never been able to carry a movie on her own, and those were hits largely because of their respective followings, video game and comic book. Her other hits she needed back up from Brad Pitt and…well, that’s pretty much her only other big hit. Bottom line, girls that look like Megan Fox don’t usually open movies because women are jealous and men find them too unattainable.
Are you crazy. Michelle Pheiffer, tooo pretty!!!!! Charlize Theron too pretty. You can just make stuff up and find examples to back it up but that doesn’t make it true.
I don’t know of any hit movies either of those actresses had that were on their own, without other big name stars in them. I suppose you could argue Monster for Theron, but she made herself look ugly in that, so my point still stands.
Just because you don’t know about it doesn’t make it so. Maybe you should learn other uses for the internet.
If you know of any, point them out. Perhaps I will reconsider my opinion. But if those movies do exist, they aren’t listed on their imdb pages.
Dangerous Minds for Michelle Pfeiffer. She carried that movie.
Michelle Pfeiffer has carried plenty of movies. She was a huge star in the late 80’s early 90’s. She carried one of my favorite movies Married to the Mob.
Halle never carried a movie on her own????? I think she carried Monster Ball. Um, didn’t she win an Oscar for that one?
She gave a great performance in Monster’s Ball, but Billy Bob Thornton was the main star.
No he wasn’t. I am going to stop speaking to you now. You are one of those who twists things just to support your unsupportable statement. Now that the Charlize example was used, you change it from gorgeous woman to gorgeous woman who plays an ugly woman doesn’t count. Whatevah (spelling on purpose, fool).
Monster’s Ball was about Thornton’s character, he was clearly the main star. Halle Berry gave an amazing performance, I wasn’t arguing that. My entire point is that exceptionally beautiful women don’t usually open movies, Theron was not beautiful in Monster. I don’t see what’s so hard to understand about the difference.
Micks, your point escapes me. The difference between Meryl and Megan is talent.
Meryl Streep is an amazing talent. I don’t know if Megan Fox is or not. My point is spelled out clearly in the original post.
I don’t know why everyone is on your case Micks. You make a point and defend it, while everyone else is like “Hey, you’re wrong, you don’t know what you’re talking about.” You’re not trashing Megan Fox, just saying that’s she’s pretty and a lot of girls hate on her because of her looks. I think it’s just going to take Megan some time to really break into the movie industry. Okay, Transformers was great, but what else can she do. America will be waiting patiently.
I’d just like to point out Cameron Diaz and Reese Witherspoon, consistently ranked among the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood, who can open films on their own. Do you not think they’re pretty enough?
Reese Witherspoon is cute, not beautiful. Cameron Diaz has never had a hit on her own. She’s a solid actress that has been in hits with other big names.
I agree. You are an idiot. I am especially interested in your credentials when it comes to beauty, cute, etc. If a movie was good and got good word of mouth and starred a beautiful woman, then then a beautiful woman would open the film. BTW, that is why Vivian Leigh was picked over Bette Davis in Gone With the Wind.
I’m talking about more modern films, indeed, back in those days it was very different. I don’t know why you’re getting so bent out of shape, it was actually a pretty obvious observation, I am far from the first person to take notice of this.
I completely agree with you Micks.
well.. if it weren’t for that face, body and.. idk whatvr guys like about her, she wouldn’t be a “celebrity” in the first place.
whtvr.. it’s visual stuff, b/c she obviously lacks talent.
I don’t know if she has talent or not sam. I’ve only seen her in the first Transformers movie, and talent is meaningless in that kind of movie. John Turturro was in it as well, and he’s a very talented actor, but you couldn’t tell it in that movie. Movies like that don’t require acting talent whatsoever. What I do know is that talented or not, she’s too beautiful to be an A-list actress that can open a movie, unless it’s something like a comic book/video game movie that the lead is interchangeable anyway.
Hey Mick, you can’t say Angelina does not carry a movie on her own… have you even watched her movies?!!??? her performance in’ Changeling’ was fantastic. Even during her early beginnings when she made ‘Girl interrupted’, she took all the attention and credits from the main character, Winona Ryder, due to her performance and not her looks. Therefore, I suggest you to do your homework before giving your uneducated opinion, particularly without lacking of any foundation whatsoever
the point is that many of jolie’s films don’t do well commercially. other than her action flicks (whose success is comparable to the success of many action films like transformers, etc, films whose success is independent of the actors in them): wanted, mr and mrs smith, tomb raider, her films bomb: i.e. changeling, a mighty heart, girl, interrupted, beyond borders, life or something like it, taking lives, etc. those films all did poorly at the box office.
Yikes. Wasn’t she on that Hope and Faith show. The girl we all thought looked tooo old and acted poorly? She blows (really how else did she get a job)?
Yes…she replaced the far more talented and, actually much older (although younger looking) Nicole Paggi because the producers wanted someone “hotter” – a definite jump the shark moment.
I do give Megan props for her Conan interview. She had that poor guy sweating like Wayne Knight in “Basic Instinct”.
Hey Mick, you can’t say Angelina does not carry a movie on her own… have you even watched her movies?!!??? her performance in’ Changeling’ was fantastic. Even during her early beginnings when she made ‘Girl interrupted’, she took all the attention and credits from the main character, Winona Ryder, due to her performance and not her looks. Therefore, I suggest you to do your homework before giving your uneducated opinion, particularly without lacking of any foundation whatsoever
let me try this. the point is that many of jolie’s films don’t do well commercially. other than her action flicks (whose success is comparable to the success of many action films like transformers, etc, films whose success is independent of the actors in them): wanted, mr and mrs smith, tomb raider, her films bomb: i.e. changeling, a mighty heart, girl, interrupted, beyond borders, life or something like it, taking lives, etc. those films all did poorly at the box office.
I didn’t say that she hasn’t played leads, or acted in them very well. But aside from the video game and comic book movies, her name above the title hasn’t led to a big opening weekend. Try some classes in reading comprehension Cecil.
Wow, you are an idiot. And rude.
Obviously I’m not an idiot, but you didn’t even know how to spell too, so it’s one of those consider the source things I guess. As far as rude, I was just responding in kind to Cecil.
O.K. you confirmed what an idiot you are. “Me” writing “to” Micks. That would be to, not too, you idiot. If it was Me too Micks I would be agreeing with you, which I don’t, because you are a rude idiot. Please do consider the source.
What do ya know, an old fashion flame war on EW, maybe you should take this to AICN
they did insult you first, but you shouldn’t have taken the bait. More importantly, I was all set to prove you wrong because I remembered that Ashley Judd had a string of hits back in the late 90s. Then I looked it up, and it was really only 2, and one had Morgan Freeman in it, and the other Tommy Lee Jones. Then I thought about Reese Witherspoon with those Blonde movies, but she’s really not super pretty, more the cute thing. I wonder if the Charlies Angels movies count? Probably not, its not one actress. I’m tempted to say Rita Hayworth, but its not fair to go back 60 years. So back to the drawing board, now I’m going to waste the rest of my sunday.
Yeah, I’m referring to more modern audiences, probably the 70’s on up. Back in those days, beautiful and glamorous women could open movies, Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe, Dorothy Lamour, Ava Gardner, etc.. Audiences changed and wanted to see more down to earth women in leads.
WOW… you ARE really STUPID Micks.
Me, I was referring to your earlier post where you misspelled “too.” But perhaps there is another person on the board going by that name, if so, you have my apologies. As for you Cecil…never mind, too easy.
Glad I could be of support. What a self serving boob Mick is. Read some of his earlier replies.
It’s weird how I made a post about the subject, you two reply with insults, and somehow I’m the “self serving boob.”
Only a moron argues with an idiot so I will go now. However, I wouldn’t call a typo of tooo not knowing how to spell too. Clearly “me” knew the difference between “to” and “too”.
Again, I made a post about the subject, not directed at anyone, and for some reason a couple of people responded with insults. I insulted them back, that you would decide that I’m the idiot in the situation says a lot about you.
Micks I don’t know why these posters are getting so bent out of shape with your observation. I agree with you. Sure there are exceptions, but generally, “hot/beautiful” women aren’t box office draws (note: please do not confuse this with talent; some of these ladies are extremely so. It’s just that very few of their movies actually turn much of a profit).
Megan Fox is stunning and is beautiful the first few times you see her.. but after a while she loses her appeal b/c it really doesnt seem like theres any mystery or depth to her.. I dont know, I just sense a fake quality to her and i get the sense shes never experienced or overcame anything at all… Perhaps when she comes into her own in her 40’s she’ll be truly enthralling but for now.. its just w/e and she leaves a bad taste in my mouth personally..
I agree she is pretty but I am not impressed. She looks diseased.
Exactly. Shes a one trick pony. Especially because she got her start picking up “tricks” and she has the teeth of a horse.
I know. She is really pretty but you see her one time and that’s enough. You can hate Jolie but you can watch her for hours..
Well, she might only be 23, but there are many other young actresses who already had critical acclaim at her age; Ellen Page, Keira Knightley, Scarlett Johansson and the list goes on. Megan has the looks, but she doesn’t have the talent of an Ellen, Keira or Scarlett…and these girls are still able to open even small movies to good box office, because of their talent. Megan’s movie bombed partially because she really is limited in the talent department and really cannot carry a movie on her own.
I think it’s still a little early to draw any conclusions about Megan Fox after this one movie.
The reason it bombed isn’t because of her, it’s because the movie looked REALLY lame and cheesy. Kids today (the main audience for these things) are used to MUCH darker and scarier stuff now, and this one was clearly playing it too safe.
In order for someone to have a bright future in TV or movies, wouldn’t a requirement be for them to be bright. I don’t see anything from Megan Fox that suggests that she is bright or talented.
i am so sick of everyone telling me how hot megan fox is. she’s only famous b/c she’s hot. what else does she have to offer besides her looks? it’s not her fault that she’s hot, but it is her fault that places so much emphasis on it. If she wants people to concentrate on her “acting ability” or her “intelligence”, she shouldn’t be appearing on the cover of so many men’s magazines.