ISABEL LUCAS is an actress who suffers for her art … up to a point.

The former Home And Away star and Logie winner was in Sydney this week to promote the new Transformers flick in which she stars.

While she’s no Meryl Streep or Cate Blanchett – yet – Lucas, who undertook intense acting classes before she joined the cast of Home And Away, was enthusiastically telling reporters the lengths she had to go to take on her role as a Princeton University student in the sci-fi film.

All those acting classes must have come in handy to meet director Michael Bay’s demands that she be well tanned for her role. Lucas refined her “craft” in a Hollywood solarium, though she said the “claustrophobia” drove her mad so she opted for a series of spray tans. During the casting call, she was wearing a black dress, which Bay apparently found underwhelming. When she took his advice and came back in a colourful dress, she landed the role.

It appears big things are awaiting Lucas in Hollywood. This month she was featured in Vanity Fair as a face to watch. Indeed, Lucas’s prospects look bright, having followed the Sophie Monk formula for fame by dating a string of high-profile men.

She recently ended up in co-star Shia LaBeouf’s car when the actor had an accident, leaving her with a nasty bump on her head.

SHE came home to Sydney to promote the new Transformers movie but Isabel Lucas’s over-zealous US publicist meant the trip was largely wasted.

Photographers were not only barred from any interviews she conducted, they were not allowed at Tuesday night’s premiere in Bondi Junction.

It’s understood Lucas was happy to pose – and did for an old paparazzo friend who contacted her directly.

Instead of vivid photos of Lucas at the launch, her US publicist, who flew back to LA with her charge yesterday, issued this bland handout photograph.

While the Westfield cinema complex has held many red carpet affairs, a Paramount spokeswoman yesterday said it was “too small” to stage one. It’s understood while Paramount wanted to open the event to photographers, the unnamed US publicist refused.

Shia LaBeouf admits he’s the luckiest guy in the world after kissing both US star Megan Fox and Aussie actress Isabel Lucas in the latest Transformers movie.

But the 22-year-old actor wisely opted not to disclose which kiss was better at a news conference for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in Tokyo on Tuesday.

“Oh Christ, thank you, I appreciate that question,” deadpanned LaBeouf, who was flanked on stage by the two beauties.

“It’s incomparable, they are both specimens cut out of stone.

“I’m the luckiest dude in the world clearly. Anything beyond these answers and I start getting in trouble.”

The bright lights of Tokyo are a long way from Summer Bay for former Home and Away starlet Isabel Lucas.

Lucas last night stepped onto the international stage with Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox and Josh Duhamel at the world premiere of Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen in the Japanese capital.

In the film, out on June 24 in Australia, LaBeouf reprises the role of Sam Witwicky, the human caught in the war between autobots and decepticons, and Fox returns as his girlfriend Mikaela.

Lucas plays Alice, a girl Sam meets at college. But there is more to Alice than meets the eye, and the character shows off a side of Lucas that audiences haven’t seen before.

Are you ready for a sneak peek at tomorrow’s blockbusters today? Check out our new series “Behind the Screen” Sunday night at 11 p.m. on MTV for the broadcast premiere of the “Brüno” trailer, an exclusive clip of Brad Pitt in Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds,” the very first visit to the set of Russell Brand’s “Get Him To The Greek” and much more!

The killer MTV Movie Awards updates are coming fast these days. Earlier this week, we dropped a bomb about the “New Moon” cast presenting an exclusive clip from their upcoming “Twilight” sequel during the live broadcast. Now we can reveal that during the show, viewers will get an exclusive sneak peek at two summer blockbusters: “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” and “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.”