Transformers, a new film franchise, also brings a new star: Megan Fox, in her first leading role in a major motion picture.

Fox, 20, plays Mikaela, “the hottest girl in high school who is not engrossed in the usual girlie interests and pursuits.” Her character needs a ride from Shia LaBeouf’s Sam and his Camaro (really a Transformer), setting off the movie’s story.

“Even though Megan’s relatively new to movies, she’s incredibly poised and confident, and it’s not phony,” director Michael Bay said. “I also liked that no one really knew about her, which can be scary when you think about giving such a big part to someone untested, but the pairing with Shia really worked. They had a great energy.”

Fox describes her character as someone from the “wrong side of the tracks.”

“She’s had a difficult family life and it’s made her tough,” she said. “But she’s a sweet girl and when Sam is ridiculed by her boyfriend she sticks up for him and breaks up with her boyfriend over the incident; it’s all very melodramatic.

“Mikaela’s also a tomboy. She likes to work with cars, and she gets sucked into the whole robot world by accident. I’’s like she’s stuck in the middle with Sam and she feels she has to protect him.²

Bay had originally auditioned Fox for the remake of The Amityville Horror.

“Given that Michael’s name was attached to the script and that it was planned as a summer release, I knew the movie was going to be huge,” Fox said. “I just had no idea how much of a part I was going to play in relation to the whole thing or what I was in for.”