Megan Fox says her status as a Hollywood bombshell took a big toll on her mental health, so much so that she suffered a "psychological breakdown" about 10 years ago.
The 33-year-old actress opened up about her struggles during a sit-down with Diablo Cody, the writer of the 2009 cult classic Jennifer's Body. Fox explained she had spent years feeling overly sexualized with every acting role, but eventually hit her breaking point during the promotion of Jennifer's Body, in which she portrayed the titular character. Fox explained that the marketing for the horror-comedy fueled her frustration with being sexually objectified.
"It wasn't just that movie, it was every day of my life, all the time, with every project I worked on and every producer I worked with," Fox said in the Entertainment Tonight interview. "... I think I had a genuine psychological breakdown where I wanted just nothing to do. I didn't want to be seen, I didn't want to have to take a photo, do a magazine, walk a carpet, I didn't want to be seen in public at all because the fear, and the belief, and the absolute certainty that I was going to be mocked, or spat at, or someone was going to yell at me, or people would stone me or savage me for just being out … so I went through a very dark moment after that."
Fox said she was speaking on sexual objectification years before the #MeToo movement shook the industry; however, she believes her accounts were mocked and dismissed because of her physical appearance.
"I feel like I was sort of out and in front of the #MeToo movement before the #MeToo movement happened, I was speaking out and saying, 'Hey, these things are happening to me and they're not OK,'" Fox said. "And everyone was like, 'Oh well, fuck you. We don't care, you deserve it.' Because everybody talked about how you looked or how you dressed or the jokes you made."
She went on to say that she supports gender equality as well as the "ethos of feminism," but doesn't believe she is accepted by others who share these views. Fox suggests this largely due to preconceived notions about what a "feminist" should be.
"Even though I consider myself a feminist, I feel like feminists don't want me to be a part of their group," Fox said. "What is supporting other females if there is only certain ones of us we support? If I have to be an academic or have to be non-threatening to you in some way? Why can't I be a part of the group as well?"
Fox said that after years of struggling in Hollywood, her perspective shifted after she became a mother in 2012.
"I think it took getting pregnant — that was the first real breakthrough where my consciousness shifted and my mind opened up and I was able to see from a birds eye view and breath and take it in," she explained. "And then another kid, and then another kid and with every kid I feel like that's always been the doorway into a better version of myself."
You can read her and Cody's full interview here.
