Megan Fox Gives Her Thoughts On April O’Neil

We’ve heard what the original April O’Neil from the ’87 animated series had to say about the character, but what does Megan Fox think? She will be playing the role in Jonathan Liebesman’s new film, so it might be a good idea to hear some of her thoughts on portraying April in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. After all, with the movie’s release only a few short months away, her casting is still one of the most controversial aspects of the project. Thankfully, Entertainment Weekly recently did an interview with the young actress and asked her some questions about her part in the new TMNT movie. She had the following to say about her portrayal of April in the new film:

“She’s more of a leader when she explores her relationship with the turtles instead of just the human companion that gets dragged along on the adventure. It’s more representative of a modern woman […] I’m completely clothed for the entire movie, there’s no gratuitous skin or sexual anything. Jonathan was really insistent on not wanting her to be sexualized or to take that sort of typical role we’ve seen women take in movies thus far, and that I’ve taken in particular.”

For fans who have been concerned that Fox’s rendition of April O’Neil would be highly sexualized, this is a big deal. She just came out and said that her character is a modern woman who is not intended to be a sexual object of desire, with director Liebesman himself apparently insisting that she should not play that typical role. In an interview we performed with Renae Jacobs (the original voice of April) last year, she exclaimed the following:

“I would hope that Megan would look at this character not only as a sex symbol (if that’s where they’re going to take it), but make her a role model for young women out there. I hear a lot from women who really looked up to the April O’Neil character. […] So I would hope that there would be a sliver of that, at the very least, in Megan’s character. I’m sure they’re going to dress her very provocatively, I could be wrong, but I hope that the core strength will be there so that she’s not just a pin-up girl.”

If Megan Fox is telling the truth about her role, it would appear that Renae’s hopeful vision of April’s character in the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie have come true. We’ll have to wait until the film gets released in August to find out whether her portrayal of O’Neil is indeed modern and respectful of women, but her answers in this interview are definitely nice to hear.

After talking about the new TMNT movie for a bit, Fox was asked what 80’s cartoon reboot she would like to see next. Her response?

“Gundam Wing. Pacific Rim was sort of a Gundam Wing situation, but they should do it. What about Thundercats? Or maybe Sailor Moon? That could feasibly be made into a live action movie. I don’t know how many Americans were into that. I was into that, but I don’t know how huge it was here.”

What do you think? Do you want to see more reboots from 80’s franchises? If so, which one would you like to see? Let us know in the comments below or sound off in our forums!