Shia LaBeouf justifies his bad boy behavior: “I usually learn by trial by fire”

Shia LaBeouf

I’ve come to the grand conclusion that it’s quite difficult to find a recent photo of Shia LaBeouf looking halfway decent — especially considering that he looked like hell at the recent Lawless premiere in Los Angeles — so we’ll have to make do with these photos on 8/13 when he at least bothered to pull his hair back in NYC. A slight improvement, no?

Shia is still promoting Lawless, which mercifully hits theaters this week and sees him presumably fully clothed (unlike in the upcoming Lars Von Trier movie, where Shia will have actual sex and call it art). He plays the bootlegging Jack Boundurant, who is the youngest of a brotherly trio (with the other brothers played by Tom Hardy and Jason Clarke). Oddly enough, the powers that be have decided that Shia is the best possible face to do the vast majority of promotional duties for this movie. (Although Kaiser will be covering a Tom Hardy interview today.) Why aren’t we hearing a lot more from, say, Guy Pearce and Gary Oldman as well? Instead, we’re getting Shia, who’s using the platform to brag about dropping acid on a film set because he’s so “method” and also to whine about the studio system. I guess they figure since he was Transformers boy, people will want to hear from him. We’ll see how the box office fares as a result, shall we?

Shia LaBeouf

He gained 40 pounds for Lawless: “The first part of my preparation was weight gain, especially when I found out who was going to be playing my brothers. Tom Hardy was getting ready for The Dark Knight Rises, and Jason Clark was getting ready for this war film that he’s finishing up now. Everybody was getting bigger around me, so in order for me to stand next to them and feel like we came from the same fabric, it was mandatory that I got big as well. I landed on that set at about 180 pounds, and now I’m 140, so it was a lot of gym time and a lot of food.”

On camaraderie on the set: “I’m an only child, so I’m pretty much a loner. It’s easier to not have too many things anchoring me. When I’m working, that’s my family.”

On his bad boy image: “I’ve made mistakes along the way, but I’m learning. I’m more comfortable with myself, and I’m calming down. I think most twentysomething men go through similar struggles and start seeing what boundaries and what rules are. It’s about pushing limits and trying to find yourself. I’ve never been able to learn from other people’s mistakes — I’m not that smart — so I usually learn by trial by fire.”

On the fame monster: “I’ve been blessed in that any kind of fame that I’ve received has never been like pop-star-fanatical. There’s never been any fanatical nature to anybody who has ever appreciated anything I’ve been in or has noticed me. It’s usually pretty respectful and quiet. People are
very reserved with me, actually.”

[From Parade]

I don’t know exactly what Shia is trying to accomplish by explaining his bar fights
and hissy fits as a “trial by fire.” That’s kind of a poor excuse, but hey, at least he didn’t try to justify himself by saying he was going “method” for a movie. Nope, that’s an excuse he reserves for acid dropping and banging chicks who are not his girlfriend. He’s such an artist.

Shia LaBeouf

Photos courtesy of Pacific Coast News

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17 Responses to “Shia LaBeouf justifies his bad boy behavior: “I usually learn by trial by fire””

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  1. LeslieM says:

    This guy is so strange. Sex for a role. Dropping acid. Getting drunk to play a drunk. His excuse is Method acting. I know a Method actor. He says this is an excuse to act out, not act. The
    I’m just a kid excuse, how old is he? He’s in his 20’s and a public figure. Other actors don’t do these thing for parts. Take yourself a little less seriously “kid”.

    • Liv says:

      I think he has serious mental problems. He’s probably very difficult and doesn’t know himself at all. So now he tries to sell us himself as an artsy artist to covering up his own mental mess. Ugh.

      • Andrea says:

        He had a not so great childhood and he’s a disney kid. So he probably never really learned how to deal with things.

  2. Rux says:

    Why do they keeping giving this kid movie roles!?!? He is great as Transformer Boy but other than that he has not “method”.

    Anyone see Wall Street 2? They really tried to sell me on this punk kid being some sort of genius financial analyst; he looks like he has not graduated out of pull ups yet.

    STUDIOS: STOP trying to make LaBeouf happen!

  3. TheOriginalTiffany says:

    Hubby and were up late watching the golf channel and this movie called The greatest game ever played came on.
    Super young Shia in it and he was good. Short hair too, I remember thinking what the hell went wrong?
    He looks like a creepy perv now. Suit is too short, the color of poop and unbutton that top button, leDouche! Crazy eyes too.

    • TheOriginalKitten says:

      Hi Tiff!
      I know-he’s not a terrible actor and he’s not the ugliest thing on the planet but damn if he doesn’t try to make himself look like hell.

      I am REALLY tired of the Hollywood trend of men looking like homeless dudes. Hell, homeless dudes have more pride in their appearance and they don’t have access to stylists and the best clothes on the planet.
      Tom Hardy, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp-that furry, dirty look is just not hot.

    • Phil says:

      I like that movie, and Shia was pretty good in it. That was before his method activist craze I guess lol. As a side note, I’m still dying to see Lawless just for Tom hardy

  4. DailyNightly says:

    Somebody get the matches…….

  5. Lila says:

    Experience is the best teacher, but a fool will learn from no other.”

    Benjamin Franklin

  6. Marianne says:

    I think Shia is really talented, but he has got “Megan Fox syndrome”, meaning he he likes to talk out of his ass. And considering how Megan’s star has faded…maybe he should listen and STFU. Plus, he used to be pretty cute. Please shave off the scruffy beard, get a haircut…and oh yeah..shower.

    • Liv says:

      They will never learn until their agents tell them to better stop talking cause they ruin their careers.

      Look at Alex Pettyfer – he did a lot of awful interviews and there were rumours about stalking Dianna Agron – he’s pretty quiet recently and that probably saved his career.

  7. RobN says:

    I don’t understand how this guy gets work. He actually looks like they dressed up some sort of ugly monkey; not even a good looking monkey, a half-shaved ugly one. His behavior is incredibly douchey and everybody seems to hate working with him, so how does he do it?

  8. Lexi says:

    I don’t really hate Shia LaBeouf. He’s incredibly misguided, reckless and pretentious but I think it has a lot to do with his crazy childhood growing up. I wish he would recognize that he needs some psychological help. But in his mind, he probably thinks his “method” acting is a form of therapy. I feel bad for him, if anything. He’s making a complete fool out of himself.

  9. Fancy says:

    He looks like a greasy turd I dropped in the bowl after I accidentally ate some gluten.

  10. bns says:

    I don’t think he’s that talented at all, he’s just charismatic on screen and good at playing versions of himself (like George Clooney).

    The more he opens his mouth, the more I can’t stand him.

  11. serena says:

    Ugh, just shave!!