Shia LaBeouf reveals personal details about his Hollywood acting career.
Shia LaBeouf recently opened up about his career and his life in the Hollywood spotlight. In a new interview, the controversial actor opens up about getting sober to working his way back into the good graces of Hollywood following multiple arrests, erratic behavior, and a plagiarism scandal. LaBeouf, 30, also has no problem talking about his experience with legendary directors and working in Hollywood.
1. Shia LaBeouf was disappointed with working with Steven Spielberg.
“I grew up with this idea, if you got to Spielberg, that’s where it is,” LaBeouf tells Variety,having worked with the director on multiple projects, including Disturbia, Transformers, Eagle Eye, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. “You get there, and you realize you’re not meeting the Spielberg you dream of. You’re meeting a different Spielberg, who is in a different stage in his career. He’s less a director than he is a f**king company.”
2. LaBeouf preferred working with Michael Bay than Spielberg.
“I don’t like the movies that I made with Spielberg,” LaBeouf says bluntly. “The only movie that I liked that we made together was the Transformers one [which Spielberg produced]. I prepped for a year and a half on [2008’s Indiana Jones film]. And then the movie comes out, and it’s your fault. That sh*t hurt bad.”
3. Criticism of LaBeouf’s acting in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps personally affected him.
“I didn’t like going in public, because I had to face my failures constantly,” he says about not being proud of his own feature films.
4. Shia LaBeouf reveals he hasn’t had a drink in nearly a year and is attending AA meetings.
“I got a Napoleonic complex,” he says about his alcohol issues, acknowledging that part of his heavy drinking was “posturing.” “I start drinking and I feel smaller than I am, and I get louder than I should. It’s just not for me, dude.”
“You don’t touch it,” he now says. “Alcohol or any of that sh*t will send you haywire. I can’t f**k with none of it. I’ve got to keep my head low.”
5. LaBeouf nearly landed a role on Suicide Squad but, his reputation hurt his acting career.
“The character was different initially,” LaBeouf says. “Then Will [Smith] came in, and the script changed a bit. That character and Tom [Hardy’s] character [later played by Joel Kinnaman] got written down to build Will up.”
“I don’t think Warner Bros. wanted me,” he adds. “I went in to meet, and they were like, ‘Nah, you’re crazy. You’re a good actor, but not this one.’ It was a big investment for them.”
6. Shia LaBeouf realized there’s a double standard when it comes to male and female actors in Hollywood.
“It’s a double standard, for sure,” he says. “Women require grace for longevity. I don’t think men require grace. You can be Mickey Rourke.”
7. LaBeouf regrets describing himself as a method actor.
“The word is getting embarrassing,” he says. “You don’t hear about female method actors. The whole thing has turned into weird, false masculinity sh*t.”
8. Shia LaBeouf got matching tattoos of Missy Elliot on his legs.
“I don’t love Missy Elliott like I wanna get two Missy Elliott tattoos,” LaBeouf says. “But you’re in a tattoo parlor, and [shrugs shoulders] peer pressure.”
9. LaBeouf says he is still working on using his “crazy” in his acting performances.
“I’m learning how to distill my ‘crazy’ into something manageable, that I can shape and deliver on the day,” he says.
10. Shia LaBeouf is not interested in any acting awards including the Academy Awards.
“The Oscars are about politics,” he says. “I gotta earn my way back. It’s not about who is the best. I’m not that guy for a long time — for a long, long time.” “I’m good with that, though,” he adds. “Sometimes that sh*t is a curse.”
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