‘Jennifer’s Body’ Was Also Cathartic for Megan Fox

To this I say, where's the sequel?!

By Audra Heinrichs | October 28, 2025 | 3:54pm

Photo: Getty Images Celebrities Entertainment Latest

‘Jennifer’s Body’ Was Also Cathartic for Megan Fox

Over the weekend, Megan Fox dropped by a special screening of Jennifer’s Body in Los Angeles. Following the film, the actress sat for a Q&A in which she got heartbreakingly candid about how Diablo Cody’s 2009 cult classic changed her life for the better.

When Fox was cast in the titular role of every she, they, and gay’s favorite bisexual succubus, overnight fame (and a sex symbol title) had already been foisted upon her thanks to Transformers. Given all we know about how the industry and press treat women, you can imagine Fox wasn’t the happiest back then. Between the ceaseless objectification and speculation regarding her personal life, Fox told the audience she struggled to go out in public—especially for work commitments.

Most Popular

“I just left a premiere for something where I had to go—I’m obligated to go —I remember the paparazzi were so ruthless back then—the way they would talk to women,” Fox recalled. “And I walked out just to try to get to my car, and they’re all shooting. And one guy’s like, ‘Megan, why are you such a bitch?’ And another guy is like, ‘Megan, do you think you’re overrated? The internet says so,’ and I’m just trying to do my job.”

Fox added, “I was asked to be at this premiere. I’m trying to get to my car. And so I had all of this grief and sorrow and also anger and rage that needed a place to go.”

At the Q&A, Fox was joined by the film’s director (and horror legend), Karyn Kusama, who—like others in the industry—sang her praises.

“I think [comedy is] her secret weapon is, she’s really, really funny, and obviously, what’s behind that kind of humor is deep intelligence, and so she had both of those things but was clearly dismissed, attacked, mistrusted somehow for not just staying in her place,” Kusama said of Fox. “And I feel like this role spoke to something in her that she must have already been wanting to flex a little bit, given how up to that moment she had been treated in the press, and by her professional colleagues. That must have been incredibly wounding.”

Fortunately, she was able to channel some of that grief, sorrow, anger, and rage into her performance of Jennifer Check, a high school student who is sacrificed by a devil-worshipping indie band in their pursuit of stardom. Fox called Jennifer’s Body “very healing.”

“There’s something about that, whether it’s just perceived or not, I felt like I was being persecuted at that time in my career, and I was struggling a lot with fame and kind of traumatized by fame,” she said. “And so I resonated with those deeper layers of…before she becomes a monster, she’s just a teenage girl who gets sacrificed for somebody else’s gain. And that very much resonated because that’s kind of how I came into this industry. I think I was 19 when I made my first big movie, and that, I felt like, was reflecting back these energies that existed inside of myself.”

At that time in her life, Fox said the role gave her “permission to be unhinged even in between takes or maybe the entire time we were there, which was “cathartic.” Basically, Jennifer’s Body was as transformative for Fox as it was for all of us. To that I say: Happy Halloween! Now where’s the sequel???

Like what you just read? You’ve got great taste. Subscribe to Jezebel, and for $5 a month or $50 a year, you’ll get access to a bunch of subscriber benefits, including getting to read the next article (and all the ones after that) ad-free. Plus, you’ll be supporting independent journalism—which, can you even imagine not supporting independent journalism in times like these? Yikes.