life lessons

Life Lessons from Megan Fox

Megan Fox

Welcome to Life Lessons. This week, we revisit some highlights from our June/July 2010 cover story with Megan Fox. Before the actress fell for the punk rocker Machine Gun Kelly, she sat down with Zach Galifianakis for a deep dive into her Southern roots, the Hollywood machine, and getting knocked off of the celebrity pedestal. So sit back, and grab a pen—you just might learn a thing or two.

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“I find that it’s easier to disguise yourself when you go to Florida or places like that, because no one is expecting to see a celebrity there. When you throw on a hat and glasses, no one really looks at you twice—because why would you be in Florida?”

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“I’m not pretentious enough to just sit around and think about how I’m a tool for the whole Hollywood machine. But it has crossed my mind.”

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“I don’t know how any of this has happened. I mean, I don’t sit around and say, ‘Gosh, I have to do this movie with this person.’ I really, honestly, am much more focused on my personal life.”

Megan Fox

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“I know you can’t really put actors or celebrities into two categories, but I’m going to right now: There are the people who really, really enjoy being celebrities, and then there are the people who came by it maybe by accident. I’m one of those people who fiercely guards their privacy, so I hate doing interviews.”

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“It just happens so much that I don’t want to open my mouth or speak anymore, because everything I say becomes scandalous. It wears you out. So I’m a bit jaded.”

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“I’ve always at least tried to be self-deprecating when I say anything about myself. As long as you set the bar low, it will keep people from putting you on a pedestal, so they can’t knock you off.”

Megan Fox

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“When we were making the first Transformers—because it’s a movie about robots that’s based on a cartoon—I don’t think any of us realized that it would have the audience that it had. I just don’t think any of us expected it to be this huge. The second one had one of the biggest openings of all time, which is crazy. I didn’t ever anticipate being part of a blockbuster franchise, let alone one that’s made the kind of money that those movies made.”

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“I was raised in the South, in Tennessee, so I’m going to go with comfort food, soul food. I would probably start with collard greens and candied baby carrots and then have some biscuits and white gravy—and for dessert, probably blackberry cobbler.”

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“Having been in a relationship since I was 18, I’m very domestic, but I don’t enjoy cooking for myself. I don’t mind cooking for other people—and I like doing it for Brian [Austin Green] and his friends. But I don’t like cleaning or washing dishes, although I don’t mind doing laundry.”

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“As a kid, I wanted to be out in the world and seeing things, but looking back, I’m really glad that I was sheltered. It delayed my getting into the trouble I eventually got into when I was in high school.”

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Megan Fox