Shia LaBeouf apparently gave an in-depth interview to FHM’s May issue, and although I can’t find the thing on FHM’s site or anything, lots of media sources have excerpts from the interview. Shia talks about everything from his drinking problem, to how much he hated the second Transformers film, to how he wants to grow into more adult roles. Regarding the adult roles, I kind of think Shia is already there, but whatever. I feel like a cougar whenever I read anything with him – he’s such catnip to older women, probably because he totally seems up for it. Here are some of the quotes I’ve gathered from the interview:
On what the roles he wants to do in the future: “I really like all that beatnik culture, I think it would be fun, just for my family, and the way that I was raised. I don’t know if I’m interested in the blockbuster whimsical stuff any more – I want to be a little ballsier; balls, blood and death, kind of thing… Not outrageously so, just something a little grittier, with a little more meat to chew on.”
On his drinking problem: “Drinking is sh-tty for me, I don’t know how to compose myself… I don’t know how to drink like a gentleman. When I drink, I get crazy. I don’t know how to compose myself. I have never had a beer because I like the taste of beer. I always had a beer to get f-cked up. I’ve been in a lot of trouble. I’ve been arrested a bunch of times. I f-cked around for a while, so now I don’t drink anymore, right now. But that’s just today.”
On the second Transformers movie: “There are a lot of people that liked the second one, but I hated it. I just didn’t enjoy it. I thought we missed the mark. I got confused, I couldn’t see what the f-ck was going on, you know with certain robots… I couldn’t decipher what was happening. There were storyline paths that I just wouldn’t have gone down.”
On the third Transformers film: “I know that directors Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg are dedicated to making the best movie we possibly can, and we’re not going to miss next time. We were making our second movie in the middle of the writers’ strike. We had no script. We had to work with nothing. We literally had like 40 pages. And everything was sort of made on the fly. But I think this time we will be more concise, and in a definite direction where we want to take it.”
[Excerpts from FHM, courtesy of Gatecrasher, Teen Hollywood and The Herald Sun]
Yeah, I think Shia should quit drinking, for real. No more of this “But that’s just today” bullsh-t. If he can acknowledge he has a problem, and that he doesn’t know how to just drink and be social and kind, then he should make the decision, “Drinking is not for me, period.” Now, as far as the Transformers criticism… well, I kind of understand what Shia is saying, although if Megan Fox had said the exact same thing, I would have thrown a party and called her an idiot who bites the hand that feeds her. Of course, if Megan Fox had tried to criticize Transformers (like she already has), she would have made it all about how she was the poor little victim and everyone else was just terrible. I think Shia is just making the point that he was let down by the story, and that he hopes the third one will be better – as if he’s speaking as a true fan of the franchise. But still, Shia, don’t bite the hand that feeds you. That always sucks.
Here are some cute photos of Shia with girlfriend Carey Mulligan… damn, I bet the sex is hot:
It sounds like he is in AA. You only focus on today in order to stay sober, even though your intention is to stop drinking forever. I really have no opinion of him, but I hope he makes it.
kaye is right. AA teaches one day at a time. i’m neutral about shia but i still hope he keeps it together.
Now what if Dame Heigl had said it? Seriously, the exact same quote, but from her?
There’s such a gulf between how we treat men and women, like female actors are supposed to be more respectful that their male counterparts or they’re immediately labeled a big-headed bitch, while men are pretty much given carte blanche to say what they want.
I see no difference between this quote and the one Heigl gave about knocked up- both are true, but this won’t become a story.
People will just nod their heads in agreement and move on.
It’s so depressing.
jen you totally hit the nail on the head!
I agree about the drinking thing. I cannot just drink and stop. I drink and get completely wasted to the point where I am stumbling around like an idiot. It is why I don’t drink anymore. Both my parents were alcoholics and I really think that there is something there where you are more prone to becoming addicted to alcohol. Cold turkey is the only way to go.
And I disagree with him on the Transformer thing. I enjoyed both of the films. I was never a huge fan but my brothers went, and they enjoyed them as well so I guess it depends what you are looking to get out of a film in the end you know?
A few guesses as to why he won’t catch heat in the same way as Fox or Heigl.
He’s talking about a specific set of circumstances that led to a sub-par film. He’s not talking about the film perpetuating a philosophy that runs counter to his own.
He’s more positive about future projects, he’s not playing the martyr (Heigl) or sacrificial lamb (Fox).
It’s such a tiny thing, but by using the pronoun ‘we’, he at least sounds (a bit) like he’s sharing culpability. Self-awareness (assuming it’s genuine) is less grating than a ‘What fools these mortals be’ attitude.
Not all feminists feel this way, but you have to be ready to accept that for a lot of people, there’s going to be a huge cognitive divide between ‘Woman Crusader’ and cheesecake photo fodder.
It’s bad form to insult your boss in public. I think the difference in interpretation comes down to: ‘Crap happens, but we’re working through the difficulty’ and ‘Crap happens because my boss is incompetent and morally bankrupt.’
I’d never say sexism doesn’t happen, I’m a woman, I see all day long. I think the off-putting thing is the constant put-upon and exploited victim angle. I don’t know what Hollywood women have to go through, so I can’t judge them. Still, there’s a difference between Dorothy Parker wit and blatant misanthropy. You’re not a kitten stuck in a tree, but if someone wonders about you getting down, please don’t scratch out our eyes.
Exactly Jo, he doesn’t like the way the film came out, but in the next breath talks about how good Bay is and how they are working on the best possible third one. He didn’t play the “they ruined it for me!” they arent using my talents enough!
I respectfully disagree. I don’t think Heigl said that they ruined it for her, or that they didn’t use her talents enough.
She said about that the movie was “a little sexist. It paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys. It exaggerated the characters, and I had a hard time with it, on some days. I’m playing such a bitch; why is she being such a killjoy? Why is this how you’re portraying women?”
The thing is, she’s right. Sure it’s not very gracious to point out the movies flaws after taking the part, but she was asked a question and she answered it.
Then in the ‘next breath’, as Shia did, she added/ backtracked-
“Ninety-eight percent of the time it was an amazing experience, but it was hard for me to love the movie.”
Now Shia said “I hated it. I just didn’t enjoy it. I thought we missed the mark.” Put that qoute in a young female actors mouth, and you’ve got another story altogether.
Quit now before you do something really crazy. Don’t become another Hollywood child actor statistic.
The speakers ATTITUDE makes a difference. Even in an article, how they express their feelings is what puts the spin on it.
Does anyone else think that in the first picture Shia could be a younger version of Gerard Butler? Or his cousin or something? lol.
It’s just that pic–I don’t think Shia resembles Gerry ordinarily. . .
Love him… he is adorable and sexy.
If he values Carrey, he wont drink! Hope he saves himself the grief and pain of alcoholism!
@Jen: I totally hear you, so understand that I ask this question with no intention of denigrating you or your points–which are good ones. I just wonder if I can challenge you on one point.
I thought that the characters were shrew-ish, heck, I found Leslie Mann’s character to be deeply loathsome. Throughout the whole film, we’re supposed to think that Paul Rudd is a condescending, withholding louse, but Holy Frijoles, maybe it was because his wife treated him like last year’s guano. It just seemed odd that a disproportionate amount of the blame was heaped on him. Is there a chance that there’s a sexism of another sort going on? If Paul Rudd’s character screamed at and belittled Leslie Mann’s character in the same way, would anyone have difficulty in labeling him a horrible husband and man? I’m not sure. However, since this wasn’t the dynamic portrayed, her behaviour is justified because that’s what a wife has to do to keep her guy in line. I mean, I don’t know, she was just so damned mean.
It’s a shrew versus frat boy thing. Sure, females by be breaking up the gang, but it’s because she’s pulling him out of the primordial ooze and into a more respectable and better place. Couldn’t that suggest that ‘Men are so primitive the only way that they can be saved from themselves is if some superior female specimen takes him in hand’?
Meh, I don’t know, I don’t think I care anymore.
He really is adorable. I think he doesn’t want to come off as a liar if he falls off the wagon. Good luck to him on staying sober.
I also like how he goes about cleverly panning Transformers II, while cleverly plugging Transformers III. He blames its failures on the writers’ strike: the company is forced to go forward with filming due to economic/contractual/ scheduling realities, while only having 40 completed pages, and this results in a somewhat confused, crappy film.
Then, he says how everyone is so committed to making the third one amazing: he names the director, the big cheese producer who also directs Oscar-winning films, and obviously there is no writers’ strike going on that would keep the film from having a decent and completed script. He pats everyone on the back and seems to promise an amazing next film.
That’s staying true to his opinions, while not biting the hand that feeds him. Very clever boy.
Sounds like Shia’s in a program. “that’s just today” sounds a lot like “just for today” which translates to “one day at a time” which is AA’s basic tool for newcomers….good job, Shia….
It?s really a nice and useful piece of info. I am happy that you shared this helpful information with us. Please stay us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.