Interview: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

Was she fired? Or did she quit? Whatever the reason for the departure of Megan Fox from the Transformers franchise – executive producer Steven Spielberg is said to have insisted on her immediate sacking after she compared director Michael Bay to Hitler in a magazine interview; Fox’s camp claim she walked – all eyes now turn to replacement Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.

Who? I hear you ask.

Well, it looks like Transformers: Dark of the Moon is now graced by a 5ft 9ins brunette from Plymouth as opposed to a 5ft 4ins brunette from Tennessee. One is a sassy pin-up who, at 24, has become one of the hottest beauties in the world. The other is a sassy pin-up who, at 25, was plucked from obscurity to become one of the hottest... well, you get the picture.

Fox has acquired a reputation for being outspoken, confrontational and no-bull in her attitude to the Press. The Hitler comment was a quip too far. Enter Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, a girl with zero acting experience. She appears to be the kind of girl everyone loves. Yet the fans have her in their sights and the haters have begun their campaign. Commenting on the backlash against her casting, the 24-year-old from Devon brushed off the furore. “Let the haters hate. I’m ready for the criticism.”

The casting call came through while she was in a Los Angeles hotel room following a “terrible” day of modelling. “[The casting director] said, ‘We are casting for a new female lead. It’s very hush-hush at the moment. Is this something that you would be interested in? If so, then we’d like you to meet Shia [LaBeouf] this evening and Michael [Bay] is going to call you in five minutes.’

“I got off the phone and didn’t even realise that I’d kind of been offered this role. I was so confused and baffled. I met Shia that evening and we clicked instantly. About a week later I did a screen test. From the time I got the phone call to the time that I was on set, it was probably about three weeks.”

Modelling assignments and contracts were put on hold as she was thrust into what must have been a surreal experience. She anticipated a three-month shoot. Seven months later she was still there. “I loved doing the action stuff. The sets are so realistic, there’s gunfire and explosions and it looks like the end of the world. You’ve got Michael screaming down the megaphone, it’s exhilarating.

“And, yes, I did train. I was in reasonable shape before, but I made sure I was in good condition. My trainer in LA taught me how to run. That sounds silly I know, but you have to run properly on a film set. Michael [said], ‘You better learn how to run’ because, apparently, it’s not as easy as it looks, running in a movie. Then I was obviously given a lovely pair of heels to run in.”

In the $195m third film in the series Rosie plays Carly, new girlfriend to hero Sam Witwicky (LaBeouf). Then there is her boss, played by Patrick Dempsey of Grey’s Anatomy fame, who plays the third point in a dark love triangle. And the plot? It turns out the 1969 moon landing was a mission to investigate a wrecked spacecraft as both the Autobots (the good guys) and the Decepticons (the bad guys) race to claim it.

The daughter of a fitness instructor and a chartered surveyor, Rosie grew up in the Devon countryside. She was, by her own admission, a shy, timid child. Yet as she grew older and the world of modelling beckoned, she felt that the movies might also come calling.

“I’ve had some interest from various directors. I thought that if I did something it would be some walk-on part – not a proper, big movie like Transformers. I had the time of my life making this movie. And I’d always dreamed that I might get the chance to be a Bond girl.”

So is the film any good? Rosie smiles. “I’ve seen a lot of the film and, I have to tell you, it looks absolutely insane! I never thought I’d find beauty in an explosion but it looks incredible. You don’t even know what you are doing half the time, because you are running through something that you can’t see. Then you start seeing stuff on the screen and you go, ‘Oh right, that’s what he was talking about.’

“I went home last Christmas and my Dad asked me ‘So how big is this movie?’ And I said, ‘Do you remember Star Wars, Dad? And how big that was when you were younger? Well it’s basically like that for my generation.’ He sort of went ‘Oh!’ and walked into the other room. [My family] is very chilled out, which is exactly how I want it. It really is important for me that they don’t get wrapped up in the whole thing so I can just go home and just be treated as that girl I always was.”

Transformers: Dark of the Moon is released nationwide on June 29.