Megan Fox: Crazy or Sly Like a Fox?

Sept. 18, 2009— -- Could the "Sexiest Woman on the Planet" also be a public relations mastermind?

Mixing sexuality, humor, crazy comments and horror, Megan Fox has taken to promotion of "Jennifer's Body," which hits theatres today, like, well a sex-obsessed, demon-possessed killer to its vulnerable male prey.

In an interview with ABC News Now's "Popcorn with Peter Travers,"  Fox said that movie studios "underestimate audiences in general and market to them as if they're stupid."

To wit, as if the legion of male fans weren't paying enough attention to her, the buildup to the film's opening has included releasing pictures of an on-screen girl-on-girl kiss with her co-star Amanda Seyfried; tales of fighting on the set of "Transformers;" and a tongue-in-cheek fake PSA where Fox appears as herself to speak out against bullying in high school.

Her message garnered millions of hits on the Web and offered an irreverent, if not original, solution:  "I say f*** 'em...what really matters is being yourself and if that means slowly killing and eating every boy at your school well then I say do it. Nothing is more important than just being who you are."

This dark humor and its strong leading lady are what differentiate "Jennifer's Body" from other horror films, and Megan Fox seems to relish her new role as a "psycho."

In most horror movies, female characters always end up slaughtered, Fox told Travers.

"In this movie the women are the predators; at least my character is. I get kind of psychotic. And there are some moments that people, I don't think, are going to expect to see from me," said Fox.

She does not like to see sex and violence in films because it makes her uncomfortable, which is an ironic statement from the star of a movie that embodies both. However, she would still see "Jennifer's Body" because "it's funny," she said.

"This is the kind of movie I love," she continued. "It's not like 'Shaun of the Dead,' but in the sense that there's a lot of comedy elements mixed in with the horror, it is like that."

"Jennifer's Body" is a sexy horror flick written by Diablo Cody, the stripper-turned-Academy-Award-winning Juno screenwriter. Fox plays Jennifer Check, a high school beauty queen, who is sacrificed in a satanic ritual by an indie rock band in the hopes of getting a record deal. The ritual fails and Jennifer is possessed by a Succubus, a demonic female spirit who seduces and devours men.

"Diablo and her manager Mason Novick all along had me in mind for the character," Fox told Travers. "People who've seen the movie have said they can't see anyone else playing it. It's tailored to my sense of humor."

"Diablo read some of my interviews and appreciated the irreverence that came across in them," she added.

Jennifer's Body is directed by Æon Flux's Karyn Kusama and co-stars Seyfried as Jennifer's best friend Needy, and Adam Brody as Nikolai the devil-worshiping rock singer.

Fox, of course, shot to fame in Michael Bay's "Transformers" blockbuster series and acknowledges that the first "Transformers" movie opened a lot of doors for her.

Recently, there were reports of tension between Fox and Bay especially when Fox, in a TV interview, negatively described the sequel Transformers, Revenge of the Fallen."

"I'm in the movie and I read the script and I watched the movie and I still didn't know what was happening. So I think if you haven't read the script and you go and see it and understand it, you may be a genius," she told a reporter.

She also criticized Bay's films for being special-effects-driven with less emphasis on acting.

Bay, the director of epics like "Armageddon" and "Pearl Harbor," dismissed her "ridiculous" comments because "she's 23 years old and she still has a lot of growing up to do," he told a reporter.

"Nobody in the world knew Megan Fox until I found her and put her in "Transformers,'" he said.

Things came to a head when Fox, in a subsequent interview, compared Bay to acting like Hitler on his sets. In retaliation, three alleged crewmembers of "Transformers" wrote an anonymous letter and posted it on Bay's Web site accusing Fox of being unprofessional, difficult to work with and "dumb as a rock."

Bay removed the letter from his site and released a statement saying he neither condoned the crew letter nor "Megan's outlandish quotes," but conceded they are "part of her crazy charm" and looked forward to "more crazy quotes from her on 'Transformers 3.'"

After hearing about the anonymous crew letter, Fox felt the urge to defend herself but didn't have an outlet.

"I know that that experience was not that way with my crew. It was an anonymous letter. It could be anyone. It's not true. My crew knows it's not true," she said emphatically. "And my producers know it's not true. I don't want people to ever think I'm difficult to work with, or that I'm a bitch, because I try to go out of my way to make people feel comfortable. I can't argue against every false thing that's said about me, because I would be doing nothing else with my day but refuting false stories.

Fox affirmed she would love to do "Transformers 3" and denied there was any rift between her and Bay. "There's always been peace," she said. "The media sensationalized it."

On the other hand, Fox believes that women face an unfortunate double standard especially in Hollywood.

"I've worked with people who are difficult and male and nothing is said, but if one of my female colleagues went to the set and didn't smile, then she's tagged as a bitch," she said. "That's unfortunate."

Fox believes that men, in general, are intimidated by strong women.

"The long explanation is related to their relationship with their mothers and how they're raised to be breadwinners, wear pants and the ridiculous idioms of being a man," she said. "It's hard for them to know how to handle you if you are as smart, as financially successful and as witty as them."

Fox does not believe in self-censorship. She admits to having a terrible temper, the brunt of which was felt by her former fiancé and on-again/off-again boyfriend actor Brian Austin Green.

Fox told Rolling Stone magazine that she threatened to physically harm Green. She was quoted telling him: "You have to go and stop talking to me, because I'm going to kill you. I'm going to stab you with something, please leave."

Unlike many of her colleagues in Hollywood, Fox has also been open in interviews about her sexuality. She told Esquire Magazine that she considers herself a bisexual woman who will not sleep with other bisexual women.

"I think people are born bisexual and they make subconscious choices based on the pressures of society," she told the magazine. "I have no question in my mind about being bisexual. But I'm also a hypocrite. I would never date a girl who was bisexual, because that means they also sleep with men, and men are so dirty that I'd never want to sleep with a girl who had slept with a man."

Fox made her first official screen debut with a role in the 2001 Olsen twins comedy "Holiday in the Sun."

"I didn't watch it," she confessed, "I've seen it on TV on ABC Family while making macaroni and cheese in the kitchen."

She claimed to hate watching herself on screen. "I watched the 'Transformers' films because I had to promote the movies. I'm petrified of watching with an audience," she added.  "For the most part, actors are very insecure, neurotic messes about our work and our magazine covers...you don't understand till you live it."

She described Britney Spears as "the walking and talking billboard of this."

Fox's favorite scene in "Jennifer's Body" typifies this insecurity. Jennifer is already undead and is getting ready for the prom.

"She's trying to cover up damage and restore herself -- that was a real moment for me as a girl trying to hide all your emotions and physical imperfections," she said.

Despite the perils of fame, Fox does not want her life to change:  "I'm so blessed with the opportunities I have. I basically hope I won't f*** up."