Shia LeBeouf, all grown up now, fights for the right to pick his nose

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For those among you that are already weary of hearing about Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the good news is that less than one week remains until it hits multiplexes (in 3-D, no less). The bad news is that, until then, we must still endure the remaining media onslaught of vapid interviews from Rosie “Mood Lips” Huntington-Whiteley as well as the general trash talking coming from Michael Bay in relation to Megan Fox. Of course, Shia LeBeouf has also done his share of pish-poshing Fox, who (to her credit) has taken the high road (for once) and said nothing in response. Now, we must also endure Shia talking about himself to LA Times’ Hero Complex blog to promote this movie; please note that Shia is carefully toeing the line here in relation to both Bay and Spielberg:

On Not Always Getting Along With Michael Bay: Bay and his leading man were shooting an emotional sequence from the script’s third act on a shuttle launchpad at Cape Canaveral. To put himself in a somber frame of mind, LaBeouf plugged his iPod into some speakers and started playing a wistful ballad, Feist’s “Brandy Alexander.” “Yeah, it’s a little feminine, but it touches me,” LaBeouf says, starting to pepper his recollection with more expletives than are allowed in the PG-13 film. “I feel something when I hear it. … But Mike doesn’t want to listen to ‘Brandy Alexander’ under the rocket with 50 military dudes around.”

Bay unplugged the actor’s iPod, LaBeouf says, and replaced it with his own, cueing up the propulsive, orchestral The Dark Knight score. “I take him aside, I’m like, ‘Mike, this is the most important moment in the movie for me. The crux of my whole character, my whole arc. That doesn’t work for me, dude.’ … Now it’s two dudes ready to kill each other. … Spit’s flying.” According to LaBeouf, Bay left the set with the NASA/military entourage, and his director of photography finished shooting the sequence without him. (Bay declined to be interviewed for this piece.)

On His Mentor, Steven Spielberg: LaBeouf was handpicked by executive producer Steven Spielberg to be the human face of the Transformers franchise, which so far has grossed more than $1.5 billion worldwide; the third installment reaches theaters on 3-D screens Tuesday night, and opens wide on Wednesday. He was also the young heart of Spielberg’s 2008 Indiana Jones reboot, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, fulfilling the kind of relatable adventurer role Richard Dreyfuss did in 1970s Spielberg movies such as Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

“That’s a gift and a curse,” LaBeouf says, of being Spielberg’s 21st century hero. “Steven introduced me to the world in a way. The man has been incredible to me. But the work that I’ve done with him, the character variation is not heavy. It’s sort of all in the same vein. … I’ve gotta anchor these movies that are in these outrageous worlds, and I have to be as tangible as possible. … I have no problem with that, but I don’t want to be there forever.”

On His Post-Transformers Indie Movie: “When you’re a racehorse and you’ve got 20 trainers, all the trainers want the racehorse to run a certain way,” LaBeouf says. “What does the racehorse want to do? [The Wettest County in the World] is the first time they’ve ever asked the racehorse. I’ve been running for a team of people for a long time and I don’t take any of it back. … I’ve learned a great deal about a certain type of filmmaking. But I have ambitions toward another type of filmmaking that I haven’t been allowed to engage in yet.”

On His Checkered Past: In 2007, LaBeouf was arrested for refusing to leave a Chicago Walgreens (the store owner later dropped the charges). In 2008, he crashed his pickup truck, declining to take a Breathalyzer test at the scene of the accident and crushing his hand enough in the accident to require multiple surgeries. (The L.A. County district attorney’s office did not file charges due to insufficient evidence, but LaBeouf’s driver’s license was suspended for a year for his “refusing to take a chemical test.”) In February, police handcuffed the actor after he got in a fight in a Sherman Oaks bar. He was there with a group of his Echo Park friends when another patron recognized him, LaBeouf says (again, no charges were filed in the incident).

The same impulsiveness that inspired LaBeouf to ball his fists that night has also driven him to say some professionally reckless things, including telling reporters at the Cannes International Film Festival last year that he was unhappy with the fourth Indiana Jones movie.

LaBeouf says he has been warned by people he respects — including Spielberg — to watch his words in public and smooth some of his rough edges.

“The way Steven described it to me was, ‘When Tom Cruise walks outside his house, he doesn’t pick his nose. From the minute he leaves his door to the minute he comes back home, he doesn’t pick his nose.’ Now that’s a certain way to live your life that I have no ambitions toward.”

[From Hero Complex]

Most of this nonsense is just Shia attempting to convince the public that he has more substantial acting chops than the average action star. Only time will tell whether or not he’s correct on that issue, but what I really have a problem with is the difference in the way that Shia and Megan were treated after their respective bad behavior. Megan merely ran her mouth (admittedly, it was more like a case of verbal diarrhea) and was duly punished by Spielberg, who ordered Bay to fire her. Yet Shia also made some very unflattering statements about Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, and he additionally had a few run-ins with the law, yet Spielberg merely gave him some fatherly advice in response. That’s so typical of Hollywood, isn’t it? Punish the women for failing to keep their pretty little mouths shut, but give the men another chance, right?

Also, Shia looks really tiny here in comparison to the rather statuesque Rosie.

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Photos courtesy of Fame

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14 Responses to “Shia LeBeouf, all grown up now, fights for the right to pick his nose”

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  1. Luna says:

    “Punish the women for failing to keep their pretty little mouths shut, but give the men another chance, right?”

    If it was only Hollywood,…

  2. Ahot says:

    @Luna, so true! lol That Bay comes of like a true a*hole. For real.

  3. emma says:

    Transformers is going to further go on to make a kajillion dollars once again proving that douchebags are never punished. They won’t be getting my money but it irks me so much that these sexist pigs are allowed to get away with this. While Super 8 isn’t a flop and these aren’t the same people, it gives me a little pleasure that it’s not a massive hit. Spielberg and his sexist trash like Michael Bay need less power.

  4. aloe juice says:

    She’s the Hollywood equivalent of a trophy wife.

  5. Laura says:

    Rosie looks gorgeous! Michael Bay looks like such a tool in that last pic.

  6. Micki says:

    Megan Fox has no Oscar quality but before smashing her repeatedly Michael Bay has to be sure that Rosie Whateverly can carry on with this franchise better than Fox.The trailer was already a pain to watch because of her.

    Otherwise it’s much ado for nothing.

  7. The Bobster says:

    If he has the right to pick his nose, why did he pick THAT nose?

  8. bluhare says:

    @micki: Totally agree with you re trailer and Rosie HW. All I saw were lips and anguished looks.

  9. Ally says:

    It’s amazing that after the Indiana Jones movie, the audience hated him in the role, and even Shia LaBeouf admitted he sucked in it, yet Spielberg continues pushing him forward.

    I went to a screening of Jaws the other night (probably 20th viewing, but first in a movie theater). In addition to all the other greatness of the movie, it is a triumph of casting. Spielberg’s recent movies, not so much.

    Btw, if you haven’t seen it, you really should check out what LaBeouf’s coif looks like when it isn’t all greased down. It’s really quite something weird to behold:
    http://www.tmz.com/videos?autoplay=true&mediaKey=af0dd493-9b85-4683-97fa-2f2f71aeb366

  10. Turtle Dove says:

    Oh, Bedhead, I agree with everything that you said here.

    I think that the tone that they have decided to take with interviews has changed. I read many blogs/websites and there was a lot of backlash about the Megan bullying. People saw it for what it was and their comments gave Michael “cry-BAY-b” and his little minions the ‘what’s what’.

    Shia’s doing a bit of damage control there by trying to show that he had conflicts too and that it wasn’t just Megan. Even he has to see the hypocrisy of Megan being fired and he’s a douche-tastic, drunken louse and he’s still got a job.

    As far as Rosie, she’s disposable. A pretty, disposable thing that will be replaced by another pretty, disposable thing for the next movie. (shrug) Of course… they’ll slam her for ruining the movie before she goes.

    So what can we learn from all this? According to some Hollywood d-bags words and actions, women like children are meant to be seen and not heard. Hear that ladies…. Get those shoes off, put on something sexy and get your a** in the kitchen. Some directors have no use for a woman who chooses to use her voice or express her own views…..

    PS – I ❤ Emma’s comment.

  11. Shy says:

    I don’t think that Megan Fox was fired only because of her stupid mouth. It’s the way she behaved on set too. Like remember how those workers wrote that letter bushing her? They all hated her on set. Probably it’s because she behaved bitchy and unprofessional. They were all serious and working and she was acting like she is too good for this shit. Big actress who needs to star in this silly movie.

    I don’t think Shia is too bitchy on set. Maybe except that scene above. But he treats it like it’s his job. He RESPECTS it. After all he is in this business since he was kid. While Megan acted like she was Maryl Streep who happens to be there.

    P.S. And does Shia think that he is real Actor? Boy can’t act at all. he is like male version on Aniston. He plays the same character in every movie. And sometimes he can play “depressed and sad Shia” like in Eagle Eye.

    And I actually think that he was punished for his mouth. If you haven’t notice Shia has vanished from movies. Aside Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps where Shia was asked to star few years ago – he hasn’t been in any movies at all. Look at his IMDB. http://akas.imdb.com/name/nm0479471/ Transformers 3 movie was planned probably 3 years ago. They couldn’t fire their both stars. All that he has in plans is that The Wettest County in the World. That movie looks like it will have some $10 millions at the box-office and then vanish. Spielberg and other big directors don’t ask him to star in their movies. I think they do punish him for his mouth. It’s just not that publicly as it was with firing Megan Fox.

    And if this is the last Transformers movie then Shia will start to vanish. I don’t think he can carry a blockbuster on his shoulders. He lost that sparkle he had. Now he is all depressed, gross, sad and looks like he smells even when he is on red carpet.

  12. Turtle Dove says:

    Oh no, Shy. Uh-uh. Not buying it. That letter is how little Michael ‘cry-BAY-b’ operates. He gets the minions to chime in and slam the women. He did it then and he’s doing it now. It was done with Scarlett, Megan, and, hell, it’ll probably do it with Rosie too – I’ll really throw a fit then…. three in a row! Watch out.

    The GREAT thing about this is that most people are seeing through this bully-boy behavior.

    People aren’t stupid. The wonderful aspect of the net and all the new news dissemination is that the Hollywood mechanisms are completely exposed. No-one buys into the tripe that the “machine” tosses out like they used to. Well tweens and teens do, but people with half a brain do not.

    The character assassination has to stop.

  13. Martin says:

    Well, there is a difference between insulting and comparing someone to Hitler and saying you are unhappy with the resulting movie.

    If these things were said by two men, I would fire the Hitler-comparison-guy too…

  14. Str8Shooter says:

    Gee, I’m sure Laurence Olivier or Cary Grant also uttered those very words about how great it is to pick their noses, too.

    This kid needs a good hard BITCH SLAP!