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Cape Town – Just when you think Shia Labeouf has disappeared he shows up in some cool and retro way.
In the wake of the Toronto Film Festival – where his latest film American Honey will be screening this week – Shia has opened up to Variety magazine about bad choices and making a comeback.
Here are 6 things we learned about Shia LaBeouf:
1. He hasn’t had a drink in a year and a half
While Shia attends AA meetings he doesn’t call himself an addict. He also vows to never touch alcohol again. “You don’t touch it. Alcohol or any of that shit will send you haywire. I can’t fuck with none of it. I’ve got to keep my head low.”
2. He got 12 tattoos while filming American Honey
The low budget film was pretty much shot in the format of a seven-week roadtrip in which the cast members transformed into the characters they played. Something the cast did to bond was to visit a tattoo parlour in every city they stopped in. Shia told variety: “One of the things we’d do as a group, we’d all go to the fucking tattoo shop.”
His tattoo bonding resulted in inkings on his arms, neck and portraits of Missy Elliot on both his knees.
3. His past has helped him with his career today.
While Shia doesn’t have the best track record he is one talented actor and directors will not let that go unnoticed. The 30-year-old doesn’t condone his previous behaviour but acknowledges that its brought him to where he is today. He said: "I don’t think I’d be working with the directors I’ve been working with if I had not fucked up a bit.
"They wanted a fucking fireball... I’m learning how to distill my ‘crazy’ into something manageable, that I can shape and deliver on the day."
4. 30 movies later he still hasn’t been invited to the academy
Despite having a wide variety of films under his belt, Shia has yet to be invited to the Academy and he is totally okay with it. He told the magazine, “the Oscars are about politics. 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. Sometimes that shit is a curse.”
5. Spielberg didn’t live up to his expectations
Shia worked with the famous filmmaker on several DreamWorks projects, including Disturbia, Transformers and Eagle Eye, as well as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull for Paramount, but it wasn’t what he thought it would be.
“I grew up with this idea, if you got to Spielberg, that's where it is. I'm not talking about fame, and I'm not talking about money.
"You get there, and you realise 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 fucking company."
