Shortly after The O.C. ended its run on Fox, Adam Brody ventured back into the movies. And this time, he encounters Megan Fox, an actress ready to take on a lead role after starring (and doing most of her stunts) in Michael Bay’s Transformers.
And so, both actors agree to work on Jennifer’s Body (Fox portrayed the titular character), a film that came with high expectations since it was written by Diablo Cody, the Oscar-winner behind Juno. Unfortunately, it fell flat. And now, several years later, some are still wondering what has become of the relationship between Brody and Fox.
Adam Brody Knows There’s More To Megan Fox Than Transformers
After working with Fox on Jennifer’s Body, Brody knew that Fox had more range than anyone probably thought at that time. “She looks great in this movie. She’s not all Michael Bay’d out,” Brody explained while speaking with HuffPost. “She’s really pretty, with less make-up and smaller hair. She’s really good-looking in this film and it’s the most vulnerable you’ve seen her so far.”
At the same time, the actor also spoke of Fox’s “in-your-face personality” and how he’s come to respect it. “She’s very much a take it or leave it girl,” Brody remarked. “She comes full of attitude but I’ll take a personality like that over something safe and vanilla.”
They Were Together When ‘Hitler-Gate’ Happened
As many would recall, Fox got into a lot of trouble after giving some nasty remarks about Bay (she compared him to Napoleon and Hitler) during an interview. Soon after the interview was published, it didn’t take long for the backlash to start. And as it turns out, Fox was with Brody when the situation unraveled.
“We landed in New York. I was doing the VMAs with Adam I think, and my publicist and agent come into the room and were like, ‘So there’s a problem. We’ve gotten like 600 phone calls from Steven Spielberg,’” Fox recalled while speaking at Beyond Fest with Vulture. “If you don’t remember, this was something we referred to as Hitler-gate.”
Years later, Fox claimed that her controversy may have led to the failure of Jennifer’s Body. “A lot of it was just about my image at the time and who I was in the media at the time and the backlash to that,” the actress said on Eli Roth’s History of Horror: Uncut podcast. “The movie never really stood a chance.” If you ask Brody though, Fox is absolutely not to blame for the failed performance of their horror movie.
He Believes Megan Fox Was ‘Crucified’ By Hollywood
It’s been over a decade since the film came out and Brody still strongly believes that Jennifer’s Body had all the necessary elements of a good film. “I thought, you know, you have a movie starring two women about misogyny and female friendship and directed by a woman, written by a woman, who won the Oscar for screenwriting that year,” the actor explained during an interview with AV Club. “Megan Fox is in her most human and sympathetic role to date at that time.”
In his view, Hollywood just didn’t market it properly, insisting that “they just buried all of that.” Moreover, Brody believes that they were wrong to market the film “just for the dudes.” "'This is about Megan Fox being hot and that’s all you need to know. Oh, and there’s a lesbian kiss.' I think guys were disappointed,” he explained. “I remember seeing it for the first time before the ads came out and thought that, honestly, the thing I was most struck by was how much I liked the look of it, like the palette, and then I saw the poster. I was like, ‘This isn’t even in the movie! It’s not remotely in the movie. This looks like Goosebumps! Sexy Goosebumps!’”
Brody also believed that the treatment of Fox at that time was not right. “I think Megan Fox, in general, has been a little bit of a… I don’t know what you’d call it, I don’t know if martyr is exactly the right word,” the actor remarked. “But she certainly was a little crucified.” Fortunately, Hollywood is starting to see Fox in a whole new light and that is something that Brody is supportive of. “I think she’s having some of the same reappraisal that Britney Spears is having right now,” the actor explained. “Everyone really ripped into a young woman surrounded by toxic men that skated off scot-free. I think it’s like so wonderful and exciting, what’s happening with the culture right now.”
At the same time, Brody is also glad that there is more appreciation for Jennifer’s Body. “It’s overdue, and it would’ve helped back then,” he remarked. “At least it’s getting some of its due now.” Meanwhile, Fox herself has expressed interest in turning Jennifer’s Body into a series. If that were to happen, a reunion between these former co-stars is certainly possible.
