The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 524: Megan Fox

After listening to Michael's detailed presentation, Matthew understood that much like the Marvel superheroes, the two franchises were closely intertwined in more ways than just being created by the same company, Hasbro.

Since they shared an origin and their respective comics were published by Marvel, merging the two series was a natural fit.

Matthew and Michael returned to the dubbing room to find a young woman with long, dark brown hair already waiting for them inside.

"Megan, you're on time," Michael said, giving her a casual nod.

Before Michael could make an introduction, she walked right up to them.

"Hi, Matthew. I'm Megan Fox."

"Hi," Matthew smiled instantly. "Can I call you Megan?"

Megan gave a soft nod. "Of course."

She flashed a dazzling smile. "I heard a while back that the team wanted you to voice Megatron. I'm really excited to be working with you."

"Thanks. Transformers were my favorite toys when I was a kid.""Weren't they every boy's favorite?"

Matthew considered it for a moment. "You're probably right."

Seeing that Matthew had struck up a conversation, Michael said no more and turned to his own work.

Standing near the entrance, Matthew chatted with Megan. Within a few minutes, he'd gathered the basics: she was of mixed heritage and had been working in Hollywood since she was a teenager.

Of course, before "Transformers," she didn't have any roles or a résumé worth mentioning.

"I've had parts like this before," Megan said, "but nothing significant."

"Well, we're in the same boat then."

Intrigued, Megan asked, "How so?"

"Because we're both just here to look good." Matthew spread his hands, his tone completely natural. "The parts I played in the past were basically just male eye candy. What's so bad about that? It's not like you need a ton of acting talent for a supporting role like this."

Megan nodded unconsciously. "That makes sense."

Megan might not have had a clear career plan right now, but as someone who had thoroughly enjoyed the "Transformers" films, Matthew had followed a fair amount of the online buzz about Miss Fox.

In truth, what Matthew said wasn't just idle talk. In his view, sexy and beautiful actors contributed far more to commercial films than so-called "acting talent" ever could.

That was why he never paid any mind to the press calling him a bad actor or the critics who lambasted his lack of skill. He held no prejudice against "unskilled" actors like Megan, because he had built his own career on the very same foundation.

While his acting skills were still only average, years of study and filming had made him better. He no longer had to rely solely on his face and physique to earn a living, as he had in films like "The Scorpion King" and "Pirates of the Caribbean."

Even with "300," the criticism leveled against him was mostly focused on his excessive "masculinity" and muscle-flexing; practically no one called him a bad actor.

Then again, no one was calling him a great actor, either.

Officially, a few years ago, he and Megan really had been in the same boat.

His perspective on the matter hadn't changed. If you had the looks, why not flaunt them on camera? Did you have to transform yourself like Charlize Theron just to be considered a top-tier actor?

He'd always believed this mindset had played a crucial role in his climb to success. It had stopped him from veering onto a different path with far lower odds of success, and it helped him sidestep the kind of industry pitfalls that could have ruined him—like when CAA had tried to poach him.

"Why isn't Shia here yet?"

The sharp voice belonged to Michael. Matthew turned his head and saw him listening to a crew member before snapping, "He's ten minutes late. Get him on the phone."

Matthew glanced at his watch and frowned slightly. Megan had heard too, and she lowered her voice. "Shia does this all the time."

Matthew didn't know or care how Shia LaBeouf had been cast, but this was different. He was wasting his time just standing around.

Megan shook her head and added, "Being late is nothing. He shows up to set drunk all the time. There were times he'd use a break in filming to sneak off and get high on marijuana. Then he'd come back ranting and raving, completely derailing the shoot for everyone. If the director and producers hadn't put everyone under a gag order, it would have turned into a national scandal."

Matthew just chuckled without replying.

Megan sighed helplessly. "He's only here because of Spielberg."

"Doesn't Steven care how he behaves?" Matthew asked, curious.

"He's come down to talk to him a few times." Megan shrugged. "Shia straightens up for a little while after, but he always goes right back to it. And Spielberg is too busy to be on set every day to babysit him."

Matthew's expression turned serious as he considered her words.

"That kind of talk is fine between us, but if he were to overhear... You don't want to start a feud with him, do you?" He could tell Megan really disliked her co-star.

Megan waved a dismissive hand. "I don't care."

Matthew didn't press the issue. After all, Megan was only twenty. It wasn't easy to get someone that age to watch their temper—or their tongue.

"What did you say?!" Michael's voice boomed from across the room. He was addressing an assistant. "You can't reach him? Did you call his agent?"

The crew member replied, "I've called everyone—Shia himself, his agent, his father, his assistants... I've tried every contact the production has. No one knows where he is."

With a look of pure contempt, Megan lowered her voice and muttered to Matthew, "He's probably off getting high in some corner again. I hope he overdoses."

Matthew had no idea what had happened between Megan and Shia on set, but it clearly hadn't been a pleasant experience.

"Michael," he called out. "Don't wait for him. Let's get started."

Michael hesitated for a moment, then agreed. "Fine. He can come in and record his lines later."

With that, the recording session began.

***

As the female lead, Megan had very few lines to record, and her part of the session was over quickly.

Knowing this, Matthew asked her to dinner that evening before she left. Megan accepted, leaving the recording booth to wait for him in an adjacent lounge.