Megan Fox has always had a passion for wanting to know more about the world, but her curiosity was never satisfied when she was young because of a strict religious upbringing. Now, she's getting an opportunity to explore some of the world's biggest mysteries through her new Travel Channel series, "Legends of the Lost With Megan Fox."
Fox travels the globe to look at the stories behind some of the world's most enduring legends and historical events. The series began last week with Fox in Scandinavia and England, looking into the new hypothesis that women warriors were a part of helping the Vikings in their conquests.
"I was a pretty deep kid," says Fox, "and was always concerned about things like 'Why am I here? Why do I have a family? Is this really my family? Where do I come from?' It's really about seeking to understand the disconnect from the source. That's the best way I can put it."
Fox, 32, has spent much of her life seeking acting roles with TV appearances on "Hope & Faith," "Two and a Half Men" and "Ocean Ave.," plus parts in films like "Confessions of a Teenage Drama." The Tennessee native became a star with the 2007 action film "Transformers" and got bigger with "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."
Two years ago, she started shopping the idea for "Legends of the Lost," for which she not only hosts but also serves as executive producer. Her past film and TV work helped open doors as she started traveling the world for the show.
"All across the world, our ancient ancestors left behind towering mysteries and enchanting myths. As an actress, I've been lucky enough to peek behind the curtain at some of these ancient sites and it has ignited an insatiable curiosity in me to learn more about these lost worlds."
There were times when her curiosity got the better of her. "I would love to reinvestigate the Shroud of Turin. I am not happy with how that was tested [in the 1980s] so I would like to explore that some more."
Fox was able to get the production off the ground and filmed while still juggling an active acting career that includes films to be released in the near future, including "Zeroville."
Despite all the projects, Fox has never been accused of being a workaholic.
"I don't think in my whole life I have not done more than two movies in a year and I have always thought that felt like more than enough for me," she says. "But, I am really passionate about this. I didn't go to college so I don't have the education to really do these things as a vocation because I haven't earned it. But I wanted to be a part of it somehow and this was my way of resolving that for myself.
"I have gotten my feet wet and made friends so now I can continue to explore this stuff in the future even if it isn't for a television show."
The other episodes in the first season include "Stonehenge: The Healing Stones" (Dec. 11), which seeks to understand why our ancestors built the monument; "America's Lost Civilization" (Dec. 18), which looks at new archaeological findings along the Savannah River that suggest a great migration to North America could have happened as far back as 48,000 B.C., and "The Trojan War: Myth or Truth?" (Dec. 25), for which Fox traveled to Turkey.
