Ever since it was announced last week that Megan Fox wouldn’t be in Transformers 3, speculation has run riot over why she wasn’t returning. Was it, as Paramount said, that the story had gone in a different direction and so they’d decided not to pick up her option for the third film? Had Michael Bay fired her after she made comments in interviews comparing him to Hitler? Or did Fox leave of her own accord?
Initially she said (or at least her people said) that she had indeed “left the project on her own and wishes the franchise well”, although some suggested hastily released statement was an attempt at fighting the inevitable PR fires the Transformers 3 snub would cause. However The Wrap says they’ve spoken to someone close to the actress, who says Megan quit because director Michael Bay was “verbally abusive” toward her and “she had enough and decided to get out early.” The site also says they spoke to another person close to Transformers 3, who said Bay “wants his actresses to look a certain way, and if they can’t meet his absurd standards of beauty, he gets rid of them.” Because of this, he’s very difficult to work with, and so Megan wanted out.
There were reports during the making of Pearl Harbor that he made Kate Beckinsale’s life hell, and all put together, it does seem it may have been Megan who decided she didn’t want to put herself through the experience of working with him again.
So who’s going to replace her? Well, Geek Week claims to know, and says it’ll be English underwear model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, who has pretty much no acting experience (although that’s not a problem for a woman in a Michael Bay movie), and is best known as Jason Statham’s girlfriend. Rosie’s name was first mentioned as a possible new love interest shortly after Fox left Transformers 3, suggesting the makers are at least looking at her, although I feel an announcement she’s already got the role may be more to do with promoting her than because it’s actually true. So while it could be Huntington-Whiteley, don’t bet on it, but with Transformers 3 starting to shoot soon, expect an official announcement on a new leading lady shortly.