Megan Fox's Net Worth In 2023 From 'Transformers' to 'TMNT' and More
Megan Fox's net worth doesn't match her level of fame, but it suits her just fine, in part because she doesn't define herself by her career and in part because she has enough cash for her kids to be financially secure.
"I know [that] idea is a very strange thing because usually actresses are all ambition, and are driven to achieve and they’re workaholics, for the most part," she told The New York Times. "And I’ve never been that way. I’m not necessarily very passionate about acting per se. I don’t feel validated by being on a set or making a movie. I have a lot of fun making these movies, but it’s not a representation of my innermost being."
Of course, Fox was also unfairly pigeonholed in specific roles for nearly a decade, and they weren't the most creatively fulfilling parts, even if they were lucrative and at times fun.
"In terms of what’s available for women to play in general in Hollywood, it’s pretty scarce. You have these stereotypes that still dominate films: the nag, the trophy, the escort," she said. "I haven’t been sent a nag script yet, but I do get plenty of, like, 'interesting stripper.' Or, 'She’s super funny, but she’s also an escort, but that’s what makes it funny!'”
The outspoken actress started from the bottom, hit the top and was brutally criticized for almost everything she said and did in the public eye for years. Post-#MeToo, the public and the media have softened their takes on Fox, and it was long overdue.
When asked about the scrutiny on her acting and her public persona in her early career, Fox told Refinery 29 that it made her "really angry."
"I was like, 'F--k that, why did I live for a decade thinking that I was s--t at something when I was actually pretty decent at it? That led to this realization that I’d been in a self-imposed prison for so much of my life," she said.
In a word: Preach. Find out how Fox got her start, how much money she's made so far and what else she's said about her come up and her comeback.
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How did Megan Fox become famous?
Fox began training as a dancer and in drama when she was five years old, and her career as a model kickstarted when she was just 13 years old. When she was 17, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting full-time.
Her first screen debut was on the direct-to-video Holiday in the Sun alongside Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in 2001. She had guest-starring roles in TV shows Two and a Half Men and What I Like About You and an infamous bikini scene as an extra in Michael Bay's Bad Boys II before making her big screen feature debut in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen with Lindsay Lohan in 2004. That same year, she landed her starring role in sitcom Hope and Faith.
When Hope and Faith was canceled in 2006, it may have been a blessing in disguise, because in 2007, Fox starred as Mikaela Banes in Bay's Transformers, making her a household name.
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What is Megan Fox's net worth in 2023?
Megan Fox's net worth in 2023 is estimated at $8 million.
While many would assume it'd be higher merely by how famous she is, it's important to remember that she had a likely somewhat expensive divorce from Brian Austin Green (she worked substantially more than he did while they were married and they didn't have a prenup, according to TMZ), plus several years of not working much in Hollywood (more on that later). In any case, we're happy to see she's bounced back onto screens.
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How much does Megan Fox make per movie?
Fox's income per film varies by role and the project's budget. At her height for the third Transformers sequel, she was set to make upwards of $2 million.
What did Megan Fox get paid for Transformers?
For the first Transformers, Fox was reportedly paid $100,000 for her star turn as Mikaela Banes. She made $800,000 for the sequel (possibly with additional box office bonuses on the back end). She was slated to make more than $2 million for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in 2011, but left the franchise before filming the project (more on that in a sec).
Why did Megan Fox leave Transformers?
Fox's Transformers franchise tenure ended after she criticized Michael Bay in a now-infamous interview with Wonderland magazine.
"He's like Napoleon and he wants to create this insane, infamous madman reputation," Fox said of Bay. "He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is. So he's a nightmare to work for but when you get him away from set, and he's not in director mode, I kind of really enjoy his personality because he's so awkward, so hopelessly awkward. He has no social skills at all. And it's endearing to watch him. He's vulnerable and fragile in real life and then on set he's a tyrant. Shia [LaBeouf] and I almost die when we make a Transformers movie. He has you do some really insane things that insurance would never let you do."
Bay reportedly claimed that it was executive producer Steven Spielberg's call to let her go from the third installment, Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon, though Fox's reps said it was her decision not to reprise her role.
The drama surrounding her exit, whether she was let go or walked away on her own accord, would impact Fox's career and earnings for years. Aside from the female love interest in the ill-received Jonah Hex, she was relegated to small roles in ensemble films until making her blockbuster comeback with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 2014 after reconciling with Bay.
"I had to ride out two years of very negative press. There’s this perception that I was sort of thrown out of Hollywood," Fox told The New York Times. "The positive thing was that it forced me to be very introspective and go, ‘You were not totally right in this situation.’ I reached out to him, and we had a very genuine exchange. From that point forward, it was good."
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How much did Megan Fox make from Jennifer's Body?
20th Century Fox
Starring alongside Amanda Seyfried and Adam Brody, Fox masterfully played titular teenager Jennifer in Jennifer's Body, who was a failed sacrifice to Satan from Brody's struggling indie band. When she becomes a demon who feeds on men, her BFF Needy (Seyfried) struggles to contain her. Fox reportedly made $400,000 for the cruelly underrated 2009 horror comedy.
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How much did Megan Fox get paid for Rogue?
Grindstone Entertainment Group
No, she wasn't in the X-Men! Fox's salary for the 2020 action film Rogue isn't publicly known, but director M.J. Bassett told Refinery 29 that it was an important to her to have Fox's character be more than a love interest or an object for the male gaze.
"[I wanted] to make Megan credible, rather than this sex object that’s she so frequently used for by male filmmakers. I said, 'There’s no romance in here, you’re not wearing skimpy T-shirts or short-shorts. You’re carrying full battle rattle, and I’m going to expect you to get dirty and bruised,'" Bassett recalled. She was quite excited by that, to be honest.”
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How much did Megan Fox make for Ninja Turtles?
Paramount Pictures
Fox's big-budget blockbuster comeback was 2014's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, in which she starred as reporter April O'Neil. While her payday for the film and its sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, aren't publicly known, we do know that Fox was as happy to be back as the world was to see her—and as a mom to three sons, she said she naturally gravitates towards sci-fi, action and gaming-themed films.
"I actually prefer doing these kind of movies, which always surprises people because they always assume that everyone wants to be the suffering artist, making these festival pieces," she told The New York Times. "There’s something that’s more athletic about the process of making these movies, there’s more adrenaline involved, there’s more risk factor, there’s more chaos, and so I just find it to be a more exciting experience. These are also the kind of movies that I prefer to watch, because they’re an escape into a supernatural world, which has always been where I prefer to daydream, anyway."
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How does Megan Fox make money?
Fox's primary source of income is obviously acting, but it's not her only revenue source. She modeled in Armani ads in 2010, her pay for which was estimated to be more than $1 million at the time. Her lingerie empire grew with her own line from Frederick's of Hollywood in 2016, which was later sold in retailers including Forever 21 and Topshop.
She's also been the face of Lotus watches, modeled for Kim Kardashian's Skims and acted in video games, including Stormfall: Rise of Balur.
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How much does Megan Fox make a year?
Fox's annual salary varies depending on her projects. She told The New York Times that she typically never does more than two movies per year. Assuming she makes in the mid-to-high six figures for each movie, plus her endorsements, we can guesstimate her annual income in the $1 million range.
How much did Megan Fox get paid for New Girl?
FOX
While Zooey Deschanel was on maternity leave from New Girl Season 5 in 2011, her character Jess was sequestered doing jury duty on the beloved sitcom. Fox was a recurring guest star at the time in her role as Reagan, a smart and stunning pharmaceutical salesperson and a love interest for Nick, played by Jake Johnson.
"I don’t watch a lot of television, so I didn’t know about it. They wanted to pitch it to me, and I thought that was so bizarre, because I’m not known for working in television, and not known for comedy, even though I’ve done a couple," Fox told The New York Times of her memorable TV turn. "And I loved it. I was taken aback by how weird and offbeat and fun [the show] is, and the character falls right in line with how I like to play to my own comedic timing."
Her salary for the role, which had a complete arc for her portion of the season, hasn't been made public. We do know that Deschanel, as a lead and a producer on the series, made around $130,000 per episode by later seasons, up from $95,000 in the earlier years of the show. We can assume Fox made in the mid-tens of thousands per episode for her arc thanks to her star power.
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How much did Megan Fox get paid for Till Death?
Fox's salary for Till Death isn't publicly known, but she was excited to do the thriller.
"It was just different than anything else I had read or seen," she told Entertainment Tonight in 2021. "I haven't done, like, a marriage drama before. I haven't done, like, a grownup movie. I haven't done a traditional thriller or horror movie before. Because Jennifer's Body was not that. It was very much, like, a teen, angsty, dark comedy. And this is not."