She quickly became one of Hollywood’s most sought-after young actresses. She’s currently working in production for the comedy “How to Loose and Alienate People” in London. Megan Fox reprises Mikaela Banes in “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” together with phenomenon star Shia Labeouf. Below, one of Hollywood’s hottest women talks about the big-budgeted sequel…

What’s it like coming back to the franchise that made you globally known?

I was excited to come back because when you leave this set which is so massive and chaotic at all times and then you go to a ‘normal’ set, of a film that has a smaller budget, it is very calm and slow and it will take you three days to shoot one scene; whereas here we shoot half a movie in a day. So it is interesting, it’s fun. It is a whole different mind-set.

Last time the great chemistry with Shia was obvious, so was it easy to pick up from here you left off?

Yes, Shia and I are good friends, I love him to death. He is one of my favorite people, so it was easy.

How has your character evolved this time round?

It’s two years later in the relationship between Sam and Mikaela, so you sort of miss the build of the romance, it’s gone. It has happened off screen already. So you cut to them having been in the relationship for a couple of years. They are not bored but they bicker and fight with each other. Like old married people.

How cool is it to be filming scenes when you are saving the planet, here at the centre of the Ancient world at the Pyramids?

I haven’t really made the connection between the two, but I am so in awe of this location. It is such a cool location to be a part of. I just heard – and I don’t know if it is true – that we are the only film since the 1930s that has been allowed to shoot here, which is pretty special. We came here yesterday and we were having a debate whether this [the Pyramids] is man-made or made by aliens. That is really where my head is.

What has been the most demanding action scene to do, so far?

We were shooting in New Mexico at the White Sands, which are these giant dunes, and Shia and I would have to run up the dune and then slide and run back down it and then run all the way across town. It was filmed on a huge crane. And we did that four times in a row. My back was hurting, I am pretty sure that one of my lungs was collapsing; I thought I was not going to survive it. You have to be in good shape.

How exciting is it at this stage of your career as you see yourself improving with each role and more interesting scripts are coming to you?

It is a huge blessing to have been a part of this. I was green when I did it. It was my first real movie. I had no idea what I was doing. I was scared in every scene. When they put the camera on me I just wanted to become a part of the scenery. I was so scared I did not want to open my mouth or talk at all. But you are right, with every role and the more you work on film sets, you do just naturally grow as an actor. What keeps you from being good and truthful on screen is when you are afraid. So the more you work the less fear you have, and the more honest you can be on camera. So finding that out is interesting.

How tough is it making these movies when Michael Bay famously shoots them so quickly?

The most difficult part, aside from just the cardio-vascular stress, is that you show up on set thinking that you are shooting a running scene and actually you are shooting an emotional scene – someone is getting their arm ripped off or something crazy is happening. And there is no rehearsal, you are told you are going to say this and then run over there and then its roll and action. That’s difficult. For one, you have to have an exceptional memory and nerves of steel or else you will be a puddle.

How did the success of “Transformers” change your life?

It happened gradually. You don’t wake up and your life is different. It happens week-by-week, month-by-month. But it changes because now neither one of us can say something without it being a top story on Yahoo News. So we can’t joke around as much and we can’t be silly. We have to take into consideration that there are kids paying attention. People want you to be some sort of role model and it is an immense amount of responsibility that is pushed on two people who maybe were not ready for that responsibility or were not looking for it.

“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” is released and distributed by United International Pictures through Solar Entertainment Corp., showing on June 24 in Metro Manila theaters.