Though she seemed to emerge as a relative unknown when she appeared in 2007's Transformers, Megan Fox is an actress who put in years of work in pursuit of her dream of being a leading lady.

Raised in a small Tennessee town, Megan Fox was about as far from Hollywood as a girl could get. Her interest in being an actress started before she was even five years old when she watched The Wizard of Oz and became fascinated with the character of Dorothy.

Her family humored her as she spent several months living the character. Her grandmother made her a dress to match Dorothy's, while Megan wore her hair in pigtails, and even had a pair of sparkly red slippers to complete the look. Megan also began telling her mother that she wanted to be an actress.

During this phase, it became apparent to her family that it might be a good idea for Megan to get formal training, so she began taking acting classes and dance lessons. As she grew older, Fox was also encouraged to participate in modeling and talent pageants..At the age of 15, she got a chance to star on screen with Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen in one of their self produced DVD film releases, Holiday In The Sun.

Once just a face in the endless string of new actresses, Megan Fox is now an instantly recognizable personality whose image is highly sought after by paparazzi and magazines, while her thoughts and actions are closely scrutinized by fans and critics alike.

She strives to be competitive with other actresses in her same age bracket but is working to be seen as fiercely independent and different from her peers. One way she accomplishes her goal is by taking on edgy, controversial roles that might scare away less gutsy starlets. One such role is the lead character in Diablo Cody's Jennifer's Body, a dark teen flick about a vampire cheerleader.

Though she dazzles the press and fans alike with her girl-power attitude and ultra-cool demeanor in the public eye, Megan Fox still has traces of the small town Tennessee girl who loved pretending to be Dorothy.

In a Screen Test interview with Lynn Hirschberg of the New York Times, Fox reveals a softer side, and talks about being a "cat person" and admits embarrassment at being "that lady that goes out with cat hair all over her pants."

But glimpses like these into the softer side of Megan Fox are limited, and she seems to prefer conversing about the politics of being cast in a role or how she views herself next to the other actresses in her generation.

The general public may never know exactly who the real Megan Fox is. Though she often gives sensational interviews, she also jokes about making up stories for reporters, so it's hard to separate truth from fiction when in comes to Megan Fox.

Perhaps one of the most frank and telling statements from Megan Fox about how she sees herself came from a 2009 interview with Cosmopolitan Magazine, where she said, "I don't need someone else's power. I'm obtaining my own."

Quoted Sources: Cosmopolitan Magazine; October 2009 New York Times Screen Test Video Interview; November 20