In a rare and soul-baring appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, Megan Fox took audiences on an emotional journey as she opened up about one of the most poignant poems in her debut poetry collection, Pretty Boys Are Poisonous. The conversation centered around a particularly haunting line: “I will always be in love with the man that you’ll never become.” This line, from the poem titled Unrealized Potential, sparked a deep and vulnerable exchange between Fox and host Drew Barrymore—one that resonated with anyone who’s ever loved someone who wasn’t ready to grow.
Fox’s poem speaks to a painful yet universally relatable truth: the ache of loving someone not for who they are, but for who they could be.
“That could be applied to many people throughout my life,” Fox confessed, her voice calm yet heavy with experience. “When you're in a relationship with somebody, you see so much potential in them. You connect to their soul and know who they could be or who they should be.”
She continued by painting a vivid picture of emotional disconnect—of being attached to someone who, due to their own inner wounds, can’t rise to the level of connection and growth that’s possible. According to Fox, these individuals “operate at a lower frequency” and often wear masks to cover up their true, untapped selves. What results is a relationship defined not by what is, but by what might have been.
Fox’s words captured the heartbreak of waiting—endlessly hoping that someone will choose to heal, to rise, to become the version of themselves you know exists beneath the pain. But as she pointed out, that day may never come.
“You know they could treat you better. That the love could be so much stronger and more special,” she shared, “but because they're not willing to get the help, they'll never be their best self.”
This isn’t just the story of a romantic relationship falling short. It’s the story of disillusionment. Of emotional investment that doesn’t pay off. Of a gamble that love alone is enough to inspire transformation—but realizing, at great cost, that it often isn’t.
Fox’s ability to distill that experience into just a few lines of poetry is part of what makes Pretty Boys Are Poisonous such a striking debut. The book is a collection of raw, unfiltered verses that examine pain, femininity, power, and the lingering shadows of toxic love.
Barrymore, visibly moved by the poem, admitted it hit especially close to home.
“That was such a healing answer,” she told Fox. “Because I think why it affected me so much is—I'm still stuck. You know, I'm still closed for business.”
Fox’s response wasn't only poetic; it was profoundly therapeutic. She offered not only an interpretation of her art but also validation to millions of people who stay in relationships out of hope—not love, not compatibility, but the illusion of who someone might become.
For Fox, the decision to walk away from unrealized potential was not easy. It’s a kind of grief that doesn’t come with closure—a slow mourning for someone who never arrived.
“You can stay and forever be in love with who they could possibly become one day, or you could move on,” she said. “It’s a gamble, because you don’t want to waste your life and time waiting for somebody to grow into themselves. Because that may never happen.”
That stark honesty is part of what’s made Fox’s literary debut so compelling. Best known for her roles in blockbuster films, Fox now adds “poet” to her public identity—but not in a delicate, flowery way. Her words are sharp, deliberate, and deeply felt. They speak to a generation raised on romantic ideals but confronted with emotional unavailability and unresolved trauma.
Pretty Boys Are Poisonous isn’t just a poetry collection. It’s a mirror, held up to the modern romantic psyche—a challenge to stop chasing shadows and start recognizing reality, even when it hurts.
Fox's vulnerable revelation struck a chord not only with Barrymore but with millions who know the weight of emotional limbo: loving someone who never truly shows up.
In today’s world of performative relationships and filtered perfection, Megan Fox has offered something raw, real, and refreshing. She reminds us that sometimes, the bravest thing we can do is stop waiting—and let go of who someone could be, in order to make room for what we truly deserve.
And in doing so, she’s not just writing poetry—she’s giving people permission to heal.
