TMNT Co-Creator Is No Fan Of Megan Fox’s Casting In The Reboot
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot movie seemed like a bad idea from the moment we heard Michael Bay was involved. And although Bay wasn’t directing the film, it appeared at the time as if every decision his production company, Platinum Dunes, made was ill-conceived, shortsighted, and alienated long-time fans of the Heroes in a Half Shell. And with it, the movie reboot has even angered TMNT co-creator Peter Laird.
On his personal blog, Peter Laird expressed his dissatisfaction with Michael Bay‘s decision to cast Megan Fox as April O’Neil.
Laird wrote, “My only exposure to Megan Fox as an actress is through her role in two Transformers movies and the wretched (but happily forgettable) Jennifer’s Body. It may not be fair to judge her range of acting skills just from those three movies, but I think it is safe to say that there are probably hundreds of better choices for the role of April O’Neil.”
Was Peter Laird right about Megan Fox? It’s easy to say that at the time he was being completely unfair.
Megan Fox had been a much better actor after the Transformers movies. She had a small role in the indie movie Friends with Kids, opposite Adam Scott and Jon Hamm, in which she was delightful. Fox also appeared in Judd Apatow’s film This Is 40, and again, she was surprisingly witty and charming.
Yes, Megan Fox was bad in the Transformers movies, but everyone was bad in those films. It’s not like April O’Neil is the most dynamic and thought-proving character in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so adding Megan Fox to the cast might brighten up a very dull character.
And when it was all said and done, fans had mixed reactions to Megan Fox’s portrayal of April O’Neil in the 2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie reboot. The movie itself did well enough at the box office, scoring $485 million all said and done.
She was definitely a departure from the classic character, labeled a “Lifestyle Reporter” rather than an independent journalist. And there was definitely a play to overly sexualize April; this was Megan Fox, after all.
But some felt they modernized the character with the Megan Fox casting, and it isn’t like she specifically detracted from the flick.
