The Drama Between Kate Beckinsale And Michael Bay, Explained

So many celebrities, especially women, have shared their experiences in Hollywood of being called fat, ugly, or unattractive. Michael Bay, the director of famous films like "Armageddon," "Pearl Harbor," "Bad Boys," and "Transformers," is quite notorious for his portrayal of women in his films, as he tends to prioritize physical appearance over any kind of intellectual complexity.

On an episode of "The Graham Norton Show" in 2016, Kate Beckinsale had a lot to say about working with the director for "Pearl Harbor." Beckinsale was going through some serious transformation, as she had just given birth and lost some of the weight she had gained during her pregnancy. Yet, she was told that "if [she] got the part, [she'd] have to work out, and [she] just didn't understand why a 1940s nurse would do that." She stated she believed Michael was "baffled ... because [her] boobs weren't bigger than [her] head and [she] wasn't blonde." 

Beckinsale explained she found the way Bay promoted the film distasteful, too. "When we were promoting the film, Bay was asked why he had chosen Ben and Josh, and he said, 'I have worked with Ben before and I love him, and Josh is so manly and a wonderful actor,' ... Then when he was asked about me, he'd say, 'Kate wasn't so attractive that she would alienate the female audience."

Anyone who is a fan of the "Transformers" franchise knows that Megan Fox was fired from the series after a controversial interview with Wonderland in which she had a lot to say about Michael Bay as a director. When she asked Bay, "Who am I talking to? Where am I supposed to be looking at?," he would respond with a simple, "Just be sexy." Among the many things said in the interview, she compared Bay to Hitler on set, and this may have been the last straw that cost her the job.

Model-turned-actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley first met Michael Bay on the set of a 2009 Victoria's Secret commercial, and she told GQ she was in "a bra and underwear and a big, billowing, black, floor-length cape and high heels." The director took her to the middle of a desert, made her walk for the camera, and told her, "I guess you can walk, then." Despite feeling like she had done an awful job at the audition, she would later replace Megan Fox as the female lead role.

Bay is often criticized for his one-dimensional female characters, and his behavior behind the scenes doesn't do him any favors. Beckinsale's experience with him certainly demonstrates the importance he places on his leading ladies' looks.