MEGAN FOX is under no illusions about Hollywood.

"I think it's a mistake for anyone to make it their life," says the 28 year-old sex symbol.

"Because there's nothing real about it. It's surreal and false."

While she may have been "a little bit overwhelmed" by Hollywood earlier in her career, her approach to work has changed since becoming a parent; she has sons Noah, two, and eight-month-old Bodhi with husband Brian Austin Green.

Like many parents, the actress, whose breakthrough role came as Mikaela Banes in Michael Bay's 2007 action movie Transformers, is trying to strike a balance between spending as much time as she can with her children, and enjoying her career.

"Michael was really on my side," explains Fox, who has reunited with him on the big screen outing of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Bay's a producer - in which she plays tenacious reporter April O'Neil.

"When we were negotiating the contract [for Turtles], they wanted us to work six-day weeks, and I was a new mom and was like, 'I can't do this'," admits Fox, who was born in Tennessee and moved to Florida when she was 10.

"He [Bay] was the one who said, 'No, no, no, we're not going to ask her to do that. She gets two days off. She has to have time to be a good mom'."

The harmony they've found in their working relationship is all-important, especially considering Fox fell pregnant with her second son two weeks into the shoot. "I guess it added some challenges, but everyone really rallied around me and made sure I was safe."

Fox is a lifelong fan of the children's TV series of the same title - about four outcast turtles taking on a crime in New York - which is loved by viewers worldwide. The chance to play the "iconic" April, who helps the Turtles bring the criminals to justice, was too good a chance to miss.

"I wanted this part really badly," she says. "April's a kind of a Joan of Arc in my mind, someone who believes in doing whatever you can to accomplish what's right.

There were four males playing the film's other leads, and a male director (Jonathan Liebesman), but that didn't faze Fox.

"I feel like I've spent my whole life in that scenario," she says.

"Hollywood is just a bunch of men!

"The guys who played the Turtles were super silly. And you know when you're one of the only girls on set with a bunch of dudes, there's a lot of testosterone you have to filter through, but I'm used to it."

As the only female in her household, it's the same story at home.

Fox already has strong ideas about raising her sons, though.

"I don't want to give computers to my children," she explains. "The brain is so receptive and open for learning, we should be feeding them positive things.

"They can absorb so much knowledge that it gets in the way of their development, so I want to keep that away from them."

She and Green, who is also an actor, share parenting duties.

"He was doing everything [while I was on set]," says the actress. "I watched him get really worn down and he didn't complain about it.

"That's what finally got me to hire people to help us with childcare, but Brian steps in all the time. He's really good that way."

They may be a strong team at home, but there's little chance of the husband and wife joining forces professionally.

"I would never want to," Fox says surely. "I think it's a weird no-no... like a cursed situation."

She also has fixed ideas about choosing projects to work on in future.

"If there's a sequel to this [Turtles], then I'm doing that for sure.

"It just has to be something I want to do, and am moved and excited to do," Fox adds, "because you spend so much time away from your kids when you are making a film."