Shia Labeouf is no stranger to fame, success, and the ills that come with it. An actor, performer and recently turned writer, LeBeouf is the true embodiment of filmmaking genius. Unlike the majority of professionals working in the industry, Shia was exposed to the world of films from a young age and has only gotten better with time. The semi-autobiographical film Honey Boy, was widely acclaimed. The film, which Shia himself wrote and starred in, highlights the hardships the actor faced from an early age, along with his obnoxious relationship with his father.
Unfortunately for Shia, with an abundance of success, came an abundance of scandals, too. Despite having tasted fame at an early age, LeBeouf never really learned to handle the gift of talent he was given. A constant favorite of the tabloids, LeBeouf consistently made it to the front pages, but for all the wrong reasons.
Early Beginnings: Life As a Child Actor
Shia LeBeouf was born to Jeffrey LaBeouf and Shayna Saide on June 11, 1986. His mother was a visual artist and dancer, while his father was a Vietnam War veteran and former professional crown. Shia described his parents as hippies, who weirdly loved him in their way. During LeBeouf's childhood, his father was battling an alcohol problem along with a borderline drug addiction, which eventually culminated in his parents getting a divorce. To avoid the toxicity at home, the actor started doing stand-up comedy around his neighborhood, an early sign of revealing the performer inside him.
LaBeouf’s first break arrived in the early 2000s in the form of Louis Stevens on the Disney show Even Stevens, a role that eventually earned him a Daytime Emmy Award. The actor then made the switch from the small screen to the big screen with films such as Holes and the Keanu Reeves's Constantine. A few years later, in 2007, the young actor starred in Disturbia, a film partially inspired by Hitchcock’s Read Window, which opened to rave reviews about LeBouf's performance.
The Journey From Child Actor to Young Star
By this point, LaBeouf wasn’t just another young child actor with a few roles under his belt. The talent to back that potential up was out in the open for everybody to see. Later in the same year, LaBeouf was offered one of the biggest roles of his career when he signed on to play Sam Witwicky in the Transformers movie opposite Megan Fox. The film received mixed reviews, but LeBeouf’s performance was praised.
Having shown his capability to carry a film on his shoulders, LaBeouf’s next project saw him take things up a notch. The actor signed on to play a part in Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull alongside a star-studded cast of Hollywood powerhouses like Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett and John Hurt. Despite a tremendous performance onscreen, LaBeouf’s relationship with the legendary director was on rocky ground. The actor in an interview with Vanity Fair, stated, “I don’t like the movies that I made with Spielberg.” Adding “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.”
The Dark Side of Fame
For any actor to make these statements against one of the best directors of this generation only means one thing: disaster. In LeBouf’s case, this was just the beginning of the torpedo of troubles that was about to come his way across all facets of life. Professionally, in 2013, LeBouf pulled out of his Broadway debut, in Lyle Kessler’s play, citing creative differences with co-star Alec Baldwin. It was around that time that LeBouf’s alcoholism emerged, and the actor was arrested on multiple occasions, being charged with public intoxication, disorderly conduct and obstruction. Footage from a body cam also showed LeBouf making racial remarks towards the police personnel during his arrest.
The shitstorm of negativity reached an all-time high in 2020, when LaBeouf was accused of sexual battery and assault by his ex-girlfriend, FKA Twigs. LaBeouf acknowledged this by admitting that he was abusive to himself and to all the people around him. This was one of the biggest scandals the actor was accused of, which eventually cost LeBoeuf a plethora of projects, including an award campaign for Netflix’s Pieces of a Woman. In 2022, LeBouf opened up about his life and past turmoil to his Fury co-star Jon Bernthal on Jon’s Real Ones podcast.
Embracing Sobriety and Parenthood
Currently, the actor finds himself in a peaceful situation. Having looked his demons in the eyes, LeBouf’s multiple stints in various rehabs helped the actor see the light. He revealed to Bernthal that he had embraced sobriety for around 2 years and credited his wife, Mia Goth, and their baby daughter as his main source of inspiration.