Megan Fox skyrocketed to superstardom when she starred as the feisty and mechanically-inclined Mikaela Banes in Michael Bay's 2007 epic sci-fi action extravaganza Transformers, with the actress emerging as a sought-after leading lady after appearing alongside Shia LaBeouf in the thrilling flick. Fox would go on to star in the rip-roaring sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, though things would eventually go sour between the talented movie star and famous filmmaker after she infamously compared him to Hitler.
Though fans came to largely know Fox because of her scene-stealing performance in Transformers, she actually collaborated with the big-budget-loving director in another high-profile hit: 2003's Bad Boys II. The action comedy featured Fox in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo that has stirred up some serious controversy in recent years, with audiences being shocked to learn how young the actress was when she made the appearance. Let's explore why her brief role was so shocking.
Michael Bay's Rip-Roaring Action Comedy Sequel
Eight years after the butt-kicking dynamic duo Will Smith and Martin Lawrence first collaborated on screen in the 1995 box-office hit, they reprised their roles as the wise-cracking, perpetually-bickering detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett in 2003's action comedy extravaganza Bad Boys II. The highly-anticipated follow-up focuses on the Miami lawmen as they square off against the dangerous Cuban drug kingpin Johnny Tapia (Jordi Mollà), who is smuggling ecstasy into the country and causing a drug pandemic within the city.
As Marcus begins to have second-thoughts about being partnered with Mike over his recklessness and bold antics during missions, he has no idea that his longtime buddy is also secretly romancing his younger sister Sydney (Gabrielle Union), a DEA Special Agent who is going undercover as a money launderer in order to infiltrate Tapia's organization. Not only must the determined detectives work through their own emotional baggage with one another amid the high-profile case, but they also find themselves in an all-out war with Tapia and his rival Haitian and Russian mobsters looking to claim his lucrative territory.
Megan Fox's Brief-Yet-Controversial Cameo
In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, future Hollywood superstar Megan Fox makes a very brief cameo in the big-budget flick, with the actress appearing as a partygoer at a club where the ecstasy is being sold and consumed. Fox is seen dancing provocatively in a red cowboy hat and bikini while techno music blares in the background, and she is only seen for a split second while the camera pans to the helicopter Mike and Marcus are traveling in after Mike accidentally shoots his partner in the butt after they infiltrate a Klan meeting.
Despite Fox's appearance in Bad Boys II being extremely short, it still caused quite a bit of controversy because she was just 16-years-old when she filmed the scene, as the action movie was shot between July and December 2002. The fact that Fox was dressed scantily and dancing overtly sexy while being underage and a teenager retrospectively left audiences deeply uncomfortable, who largely became aware of the actress' young age at the time following an interview with Jimmy Kimmel on his late-night show in 2009. Since Fox was just 16 (despite initially claiming she was 15), she wasn't allowed to sit in the bar area, with the actress saying:
"[Bay’s] solution to that problem was to then have me dancing under a waterfall, getting soaking wet. At 15, I was in 10th grade. That’s sort of a microcosm of how Bay’s mind works."
There is no denying that Fox was exploited and sexualized in her small cameo in the film, yet it also seems that the actress does not feel negativity when looking back on the filming situation. When the Kimmel interview went viral in 2020, Fox actually came to Bay's defense and took to social media to write, "I was never assaulted or preyed upon in what I felt was a sexual manner," prompting the director to post a still from her Transformers audition and stating, "I personally think Megan is fantastic. I’m proud to have worked with her, and still am planning on working with her.”
Fox & Bay's Tumultuous Professional Relationship
Though Fox felt compelled to defend Bay and his eyebrow-raising decision to have her appear as a club dancer despite being underage, that's not to say that the actress and filmmaker didn't have their fair share of drama over the years. After her controversial cameo in Bad Boys II, Fox famously went on to star as Mikaela Banes in the 2007 sci-fi action blockbuster Transformers and its subsequent sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, though she was not included in the third installment and was replaced by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.
Fox infamously compared working under Bay to working for Hitler, telling Wonderland magazine in a 2009 interview that he was like Napoleon and was a "nightmare" to be around during filming, before adding that "he wants to create this insane, infamous madman reputation." She followed up these scathing remarks by comparing and contrasting Bay's persona both on and off set, pointing out just how different the big and bold director is once the cameras stop rolling:
"He’s so awkward, so hopelessly awkward. He has no social skills at all. And it’s endearing to watch him. He’s vulnerable and fragile in real life and then on set he’s a tyrant."
Her co-star Shia LaBeouf would also go on to comment on Bay's approach to filmmaking in 2011 after Fox was effectively fired from the franchise, seemingly as a result of the remarks, telling the Los Angeles Times, "Mike films women in a way that appeals to a 16-year-old sexuality. It’s summer. It’s Michael’s style. And I think [Fox] never got comfortable with it." Fox would face blowback from her interview but used the negative publicity as a way to work on her personal growth, as she ultimately extended an olive branch to Bay in 2017 to make peace. The duo have since worked on the remake of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and appear to have let their past drama go.
