We talked to Megan Fox about her new game, the stresses of motherhood, and why she wishes she were a female Indiana Jones
Mobile games have become big business for celebrities, most notably the Kardashian clan, and now Megan Fox is jumping in.
Fox is joining the tradition of actresses getting involved in medieval-themed games (remember Kate Upton?), and lending her likeness to a character to the popular mobile game "Stormfall: Rise of Balur."
Fox appears as Amelia Delthanis, a strong-willed character that evokes a bit of Fox's rebellious personality.
We caught up with Fox about her new game, the stresses of motherhood, and how her dream is to be a female Indiana Jones.
Business Insider: How did you get involved with Stormfall, what was the process like?
Megan: They asked if I was interested, and they already had the character together. I liked the character, who she was, and my nephews had played the game already. I asked them, "You know about something called Stormfall?" and they said "Yeah, we play it all the time!"
BI: What did you particularly like about the character?
Fox: She's similar to me in that she's very rebellious, and has a dark sense of humor, and is an outspoken personality in a man's world, in this very patriarchal society. And so I liked that about her, of course, I mean you're going to find that in video games a lot. You're not going to find the damsel in distress that often. But I liked it. It seemed like an easy match.
BI: Do you play games much yourself?
Fox: I did. I mean, I grew up with a Super Nintendo like everyone else, and so I used to play games for little kids and then that parlayed itself into having an Xbox when I was older. And even all the way into my early 20s, before I had my own kids, when I had tons of time to waste, I used to game a lot and I got really into - I'm really competitive - so I got into Halo and I used to play online a lot, but I haven't played in a while. But it is something I grew up doing, so I am very familiar with that world.Megan Fox
BI: Which were your favorites?
Fox: Growing up, I mean I played little kid games, like one of my first games was Aladin, because that movie had just come out when I was five or six. But then my older sister played, I can't exactly remember the name of it. I think it's Ghosts n' Goblins, or Ghouls and Ghosts, or something like that [it's probably Ghosts n' Goblins]. It was a game that was too old for me, but I would sneak and play it when she wasn't in the basement. That's where our system was. And so I loved that because it felt like something I shouldn't be doing, that was just too adult for me.
BI: Have you ever considered having your own game, not just lending your likeness?
Fox: Obviously it's a good business venture because everyone is making tons of money doing that. I haven't really considered it because it would have be something I really liked and would want to play myself. If I was to create a character in a game it would kind of have to be like a female Indiana Jones but that's what Tomb Raider is, so that's not a new territory. Unless I came up with something original that I actually loved, I wouldn't do it. But yeah, people are crushing it, making crazy money right now.
Fox: I grew up always wanting that. I've always just loved archaeology and Egyptology in general, and then that character in those movies made that stuff very exciting. I want to be an adventurer. That's what I would love to do with my life. I'm not exactly sure, I've just have been drawn to it.
BI: I feel like you could be a professional adventurer. Or is that more of a 1920s or 1940s thing?
Fox: Yeah, but it could circle round again. I don't have the education to ever be a real Egyptologist, but I have the passion for it. I don't know, we'll see. I'm gonna try it, see if it's possible.
BI: What about cell phone games?
Fox: I have two babies so I have zero time. There are no games on my phone, I barely have time to check emails, so I'm not up on that.
BI: What's surprised you about being a mother?
Fox: I think you can never really anticipate how much sleep you're going to lose. You're not going to sleep for at least ten years. And people say that, but you can never prepare yourself. You don't understand. And then you have a choice, you can either engage your kids, which is what you're supposed to do, or you can check out and sit on your cell phone and computer, which I would never want to do. But if you choose to engage your children all day, every day, it's exhausting. There's zero time for you to have adult thoughts, so your brain kinds of turns to scrambled eggs sometimes. At the end of the day I've short-circuited. My brain doesn't work anymore.
BI: Do you have any limits on technology with your kids?
Fox: I'm really strict with that stuff, actually. Because there's so many studies coming out about how it affects a developing brain, and so I think for them, I'm going to keep them away from technology until they're older, until they're teenagers, and the brain has started to mature, and can handle the exposure to stuff like that. But I've watched the generation that came before them, like my nephews are 12-14. That's before any of these studies were coming out, and no one was concerned with, "How it this going to affect kids." So those kids were raised with GameBoys in their hands. But I see the interpersonal, neuro effects it has on kids becoming adults, and how it affects them socially. So I've had the opportunity to watch it go wrong, and that's why I'm really careful with my kids. I want to make sure that they're exposed to it at the right time.
YouTubeThe ads look a bit like Kate Upton's ads for Game of War.
BI: Do you have a dream role?
Fox: I wouldn't call it a "dream role," but I think a funny good remake would be, "Weird Science," have you seen seen this? [Nope]. These kids do a science experiment and they create a human robot that's a woman - you should watch it. It was in the 80's, and so they create her and then she's this robot prancing around in her underwear and they don't know what to do. It's a pretty funny movie, I suggest you watch it, and I think I would have a lot of fun making that movie if they ever do it.
BI: What about that appeals to you?
Fox: It's nostalgia from my very, very early childhood. I probably shouldn't have seen it when I was that young. But I just think it could potentially, if written by the right people like a Jason Segel or a Jonah Hill, could turn it into a really funny movie.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.