Megan
Fox plays it wickedly sexy in the upcoming teen horror comedy Jennifer's Body as the titular character who became a man-eater after
a horrifying incident with her favorite local rock band.
Written by Oscar® winner Diablo Cody, Jennifer's Body is about a small town high school student Jennifer (Fox), who is possessed by a hungry demon. She transitions from being "high school evil"—gorgeous, stuck up and ultra-attitudinal—to the real deal evil. The glittering beauty becomes a pale and sickly creature jonesing for a meaty snack, and guys who never stood a chance with the heartless babe, take on new luster in the light of Jennifer's insatiable appetite. Meanwhile, Jennifer's lifelong best friend Needy (Amanda Seyfried), long relegated to living in Jennifer's shadow, must step-up to protect the town's young men, including her nerdy boyfriend Chip (Johnny Simmons).
The narrative fuse ignites when Jennifer takes Needy to see a
rock band from the city, which has a gig at a local bar in the girls'
rural hometown of Devil's Kettle. The sinister rockers sacrifice
Jennifer to the devil to ensure their success in the music biz, but
what they don't know is that they've royally screwed up the ritual.
They were supposed to sacrifice a virgin—and Jennifer is no virgin.
As a result, a demon is channeled into Jennifer, and she starts feeding
on young men.
"I think a big issue in horror films lately is that the
permission for the audience to conjure up their own monster has been
taken away," says director Kusama. "To give that back to an audience
and say...what if the most popular, beautiful girl in school is a
demon....for real, is a brilliant premise. This idea can spin off into
people's heads in so many ways, because we've all known that girl in
high school who's impervious to criticism and who always appears so
confident. There's something that we worship about this kind of girl,
but also something that we fear about her."
Jennifer
Check is that girl—beautiful, confident, fearless...and a monster.
For real. "The way the character is written is supposed to be funny and
it would be so easy to play Jennifer one dimensionally," says Megan
Fox. "It would still be funny if she was one dimensional, but we've
added so much depth to her. She's still superficial, don't get me
wrong, but there are moments when you see her legitimately hurt; she's
not always the aggressor or the predator."
Fox had signed on to play Jennifer early in the pre-production
process. "Both Diablo and I had said, 'If there's one girl on earth who
is Jennifer, it is Megan Fox,'" recalls producer Daniel Dubiecki. "We
had coffee with Megan and she said, 'I love this story. I am this girl.
I know how to do this. I can kill this role.'"
"This script is by far the funniest script I've read, ever,"
says Fox, who shot to motion picture superstardom with her work in Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. "It's also
the most realistic interpretation of teenagers I've ever read. Diablo's
really good at relating to how kids really are. I was in high school
just a few years ago and it was a nightmare!"
"Megan
is really interesting because she has this very beautiful, icy façade
which is perfect for our initial perceptions of Jennifer," Kusama
explains. "But what was really impressive was her ability to go to a
deeper place and expose not only Jennifer's overconfidence,
outrageousness or vanity, but also her sorrow, fear and regret."
The scene of Jennifer's sacrifice at the hands of a satanic
rock band is pivotal and was one of the most difficult tonally to
achieve. "At this point in the story Jennifer is the victim; she's the
prey," Fox recounts. "I played it straight and dramatic, even though
the scene has a strong comedic edge."
Fox is currently one of Hollywood's most sought-after young
actresses and well known for her breakout starring role opposite Shia LaBeouf in Transformers, directed by Michael Bay and executive produced by Steven Spielberg.
She reprised the role in the summer 2009 blockbuster Transformers:
Revenge of the Fallen, again directed by Bay and produced by
Spielberg. She was most recently seen in the comedy How to Lose Friends and Alienate People as Sophie, alongside Kirsten Dunst, Simon Pegg and Jeff Bridges. She will next be seen in Jonah Hex, Warner Bros.'
fantastical live-action adaptation of the DC comic series, opposite Josh Brolin and John Malkovich.
Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Fox began taking dance lessons at
age five and continued her training when the family moved to Florida
when she was ten. There, she began classes in drama and modeling, and
at age 13 had already attained some local notoriety. Fox made her film
debut in Holiday in the Sun and followed with the comedy Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. On television, Fox starred in the ABC comedy Hope and Faith.
Jennifer's Body opens October 28 in theaters from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.