Don Arnold/Getty ImagesMegan Fox is more than just a pretty face.
Like her character April O'Neill in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, she realizes looks can be deceiving. "I don't feel like being beautiful is a hindrance when you are an actress. I feel like it's probably something that's helpful," she tells Australia's Herald Sun. "But in terms of being critically acclaimed, that has to come from me giving a worthy performance. That lies within myself—it's not someone else's fault."
However, Fox say she "definitely" can relate to her character's fearlessness. "I feel like I am not afraid to say what needs to be said, or do what I need to do, if I believe in something," the 28-year-old actress explains. "If I have a cause I will fight for it. I am fearless that way—sometimes, in the past, to a fault."
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reunited Fox with producer Michael Bay after their publicized fallout in 2009. The star was replaced in the third Transformers film after comparing him to Napoleon and Hitler. According to Fox, her dismissal was blown out of proportion.
"I think everything in the media plays out so much more dramatically than it is in real life. We have been talking behind the scenes for a while now. But sometimes when you have two strong personalities, you are going to have disagreements. And then at a certain juncture you decide, 'Well, maybe we are not going to work together on this project, because we are clashing so badly. I don't think that's really such a crazy, bizarre thing in itself. It's just that there aren't a lot of actresses who have left billion dollar franchises, so it's very salacious," she says.
If Fox seems less outspoken lately, it's for good reason. "Unfortunately for me, I can't make jokes. I can't be the way, say, [co-star Will Arnett] is in an interview, because everything I say is printed as literal," she says. "There seems to be this need to portray me either like I am crazy or an uptight bitch. There is no room for me just to relax and be myself and joke around because it's always taken out of context."
Because Arnett is known as a comedic actor, whereas Fox's sex appeal is typically played up in the press, he can get away with more. "People assume I am having a laugh. What I say is taken more lightly," the actor, 44, admits. "Maybe I am hiding behind that—if you want to get all deep—but I think that's true."
Fox is wary about other aspects of fame, too. Given the recent crimes committed against stars like Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton, whose private nude photos were stolen and distributed online, she's extra wary of hackers. "I don't keep anything like that on iCloud for that very purpose. That is my worst nightmare," the actress says. "I don't think that it's strange—especially within a relationship. But the only images I have are of being pregnant, of my belly growing. That's about as undressed as it gets."
Arnett argues that the blame shouldn't be placed on the victims. "Do I send nude photos? No. But there is nothing wrong with it," he says. "It's terrible that people are having their privacy invaded like that."