Megan Fox says criticism of her career forced her into a "self-imposed prison".
The 34-year-old actress – who has starred in franchises including ‘Transformers’ and ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ – has had many of her performances maligned by critics in the past, but Megan has now said she feels criticism about her acting ability caused a "bandwagon of absolute toxicity" to be launched against her.
Megan said she recently saw one of her old movies being played on television, and although she didn’t name the film, she admitted that whilst watching it back she realised it didn’t deserve the harsh criticism it received when it was released.
She said: "I started getting really angry. I was like, F*** that, why did I live for a decade thinking that I was s*** at something when I was actually pretty decent at it? That led to this realisation that I’d been in a self-imposed prison for so much of my life."
Megan believes that suffering from the "bandwagon of absolute toxicity being spewed at [her] for years" made her resilient and a better person, but feels irritated that she let it get to her at the time.
She added: "Why did I let myself get s*** on for something I knew wasn’t true? Why did I succumb to that? When you tell someone that they’re not good at something or that they’re deficient, they can absorb that and it can become their reality, and create a life that reflects that negative s*** that you spoke about them!"
And despite bouncing back, Megan wishes more people would understand how impactful words can be.
She explained to Refinery29: "We have to be careful with our words – they’re powerful. That’s something I wish most people would understand. We live in a culture where it’s a game to be the most hateful to get the most attention. It’s not funny.
"You’re speaking words over real people, who are permeable, who have hearts. Your negativity can influence them. Especially the sensitive ones! I’ll call myself one of them. We’re the ones who are influenced by your negativity because we’re so open. I’m not closed off. Those things affect me really deeply."