Shia LaBeouf
LaBeouf promoting Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, June 2009
Born	Shia Saide LaBeouf (1986-06-11) June 11, 1986 (age 26) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1996–present

Shia Saide LaBeouf^[1] ( /ˈʃaɪ.ə ləˈbʌf/; born June 11, 1986) is an American actor who became known among younger audiences for his part in the Disney Channel series Even Stevens and for his film debut in Holes (2003), based on the novel of the same title by Louis Sachar. In 2004, he made his directorial debut with the short film Let's Love Hate and later directed and shot the music video for "I Never Knew You" by rapper Cage. In 2007, LaBeouf starred as the lead in the commercially successful films, Disturbia and Transformers. His other films include Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010), and Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011).

Early life[link]

LaBeouf was born in Los Angeles, the only child of Shayna (née Saide) and Jeffrey Craig LaBeouf.^[2] His mother is a dancer and ballerina turned visual artist and clothing jewelry designer.^[3] His father is a Vietnam War veteran who had numerous jobs.^[4][5][6][7] LaBeouf's mother is Jewish, and LaBeouf's father, who is of Cajun (French) descent, is Christian. LaBeouf was raised in his mother's Jewish religion and had a Bar Mitzvah; he was also baptized in the Angelus church.^{[8][9][10][11]}

LaBeouf has described his parents as "hippies", his father as "tough as nails and a different breed of man", and his upbringing as similar to a "hippy lifestyle", stating that his parents were "pretty weird people, but they loved me and I loved them."^{[5][7][7][12]} The actor also accompanied his father to meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous.^[4] LaBeouf has also said he was subjected to verbal and mental abuse by his father, who once pointed a gun at his son during a Vietnam War flashback.^[7] LaBeouf says his father was "on drugs" during his childhood and was placed in drug rehabilitation for heroin addiction while LaBeouf's mother was "trying to hold down the fort."^[5] His parents eventually divorced, mainly due to financial problems,^[13] and LaBeouf had what he has described as a "good childhood", growing up poor in Echo Park with his mother, who worked selling fabrics and brooches.^[14][15] LaBeouf's uncle was going to adopt him at one stage because his parents could not afford to have him anymore and "they had too much pride to go on welfare or food stamps."^[16] As a way of dealing with his parents' divorce, he would perform for his family, mimicking his father.^[17] LaBeouf remains close to and financially supports both of his parents.^[4][5][18]

He attended 32nd Street Visual and Performing Arts Magnet in Los Angeles (LAUSD)^[7] and Alexander Hamilton High School, although he received most of his education from tutors.^[15] In an interview, LaBeouf said that, looking back on his childhood, he feels grateful and considers some of those memories scars.^[13]

When LaBeouf was 19, after a neighbor in his Studio City apartment complex had allegedly insulted his mother and rear-ended her car, LaBeouf brought a knife, and a friend for backup, to the neighbor's apartment, which resulted in LaBeouf being assaulted by the neighbor and six of the neighbor's friends.^[19]

Career[link]

1996–2006: Disney career[link]

LaBeouf in November 2006, promoting Bobby.

Prior to acting, LaBeouf practiced comedy around his neighborhood as an "escape" from a hostile environment.^[14] At age 10, he began performing stand-up at comedy clubs, describing his appeal as having "disgustingly dirty" material and a "50-year-old mouth on the 10-year-old kid."^[15][18][20] He subsequently found an agent through the Yellow Pages and was taken on after pretending to be his own manager.^[21] LaBeouf has said that he initially became an actor because his family was broke, not because he wanted to pursue an acting career,^[20][22] having originally gotten the idea from a child actor he met who had things he wanted.^[4] In the early 2000s, LaBeouf became known among young audiences after playing Louis Stevens on the Disney Channel weekly program Even Stevens,^[23] a role that later earned him a Daytime Emmy Award.^[7] He has said that "[he] grew up on that show" and being cast was the "best thing" that happened to him.^[5] In the next several years, he appeared in the well-received^[24][25] film adaption Holes (2003). In 2005 he co-starred in Constantine, playing the role of Chas Kramer, with Keanu Reeves in the starring role. LaBeouf made his directorial debut with the short film Let's Love Hate with Lorenzo Eduardo.^[26] He has played real-life people, including golfer Francis Ouimet^[4][27] and the younger version of Dito Montiel in A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006).^[28]

2007–08: Career breakthrough[link]

LaBeouf starred in Disturbia, a thriller released on April 13, as a teenager under house arrest who suspects that his neighbor is a serial killer, which he considered a "character-driven" role.^[14] He received positive reviews for the role, with The Buffalo News saying, he "is able to simultaneously pull off [the character's] anger, remorse and intelligence".^[29] He hosted Saturday Night Live on April 14,^[30] and on May 10, 2008.^[31] He next played Sam Witwicky, who becomes involved in the Autobot-Decepticon war on Earth, in Transformers.^[32]

In Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) he was Indiana Jones' greaser son Mutt Williams. His performance was met with mixed reviews with Todd Gilchrist of IGN commenting "one can't quite help but wonder what Spielberg saw in the young actor that inspired him to cast LaBeouf".^[33] LaBeouf told the L.A. Times that he felt he as an actor "dropped the ball" on Jones' legacy, and "there was a reason" the film wasn't universally accepted.^[34] His next film was Eagle Eye, released on September 26. His performance received mixed reviews, with Josh Bell of Las Vegas Weekly saying he "makes a credible bid for action-hero status, although his occasional stabs at emotional depth don’t really go anywhere."^[35]

[edit] 2009–present: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and beyond

In February, he directed the music video for "I Never Knew You", a single off rapper Cage's third album, Depart From Me. It was shot in LA and features cameos by other Definitive Jux artists.^[36] The two will also team up to make a biopic about the rapper's life, starring LaBeouf.^[37] Of making the video, LaBeouf said, "I'm 22 and I'm directing my favorite rapper's music video. This shit is better than riding unicorns." In addition to directing the short film, MANIAC for Kid Cudi and Cage's collaborative track he also directed and filmed Kid Cudi's music video for "Marijuana" at the 2010 Cannabis Cup.^[36]

In June 2009 with co-star Megan Fox at the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen press conference in Paris.

LaBeouf reprised the role of Sam Witwicky in the 2009 sequel to Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.^[38] Filming for the movie began in May 2008 and ended in late 2008.^[39] Due to LaBeouf's injury from his car accident, Bay and screen writer Roberto Orci had to rewrite the script to protect his hand throughout filming.^[40] LaBeouf said production was only delayed two days after his accident because Bay made up for it by filming second unit scenes, and LaBeouf recovered a few weeks earlier than expected, allowing him to return to the set.^[41] Near the end of filming, LaBeouf injured his eye when he hit a prop; the injury required seven stitches. He resumed filming two hours later.^[42] The movie grossed $800 million,^[43] but received mostly negative review by critics,^[25] with LaBeouf sharing a nomination for the "Worst Screen Couple of 2009" Razzie Award with "either Megan Fox or any Transformer."^[44]

His only 2010 movie was the Oliver Stone-directed film Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, the sequel to Wall Street (1987), playing an ambitious Wall Street trader.^[45] It became another mixed critical success for him.^[25] He reprised his role in the third Transformers film, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, which was released on June 28, 2011.^[46] He will play a bootlegger in John Hillcoat's Lawless.^[47]

LaBeouf has created three short graphic novels Stale N Mate, Cyclical, and Let’s Fucking Party, and a webcomic series, Cheek Up's through the publishing company, The Campaign Book. In April 2012, he promoted them at Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo.^[48][49]

Personal life[link]

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At 18, he bought his own home.^[50] He has stated that he has a "personal relationship with God that happens to work within the confines of Judaism",^[51] and has described himself as Jewish.^[52] He has also detailed that religion "never made sense" to him.^[8]

LaBeouf has three tattoos, which are: 1986–2004 on his inner right wrist, a dog paw tattoo on his upper left arm, and a hand with a shackle on it on his left upper side torso.^[53][54] He got the tattoo on his wrist as a "precautionary" to not forget his childhood.^[53] LaBeouf described the upper side torso tattoo as "an artist drawing his own prison. Just life. That’s where I’m at".^[53] He completed the 2010 LA Marathon on March 21, 2010 with a time of 4 hours, 35 minutes and 31 seconds.^[55]

Relationships[link]

From 2004 to 2007, LaBeouf dated China Brezner, whom he met on the set of The Greatest Game Ever Played.^[56] They broke up because he became too busy with his work to put any time into the relationship,^[57] and he described the break-up as being like "rebuilding after a tornado."^[57] He dated English actress and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps co-star Carey Mulligan from August 2009 to October 2010;^[58] they were introduced by the film's director, Oliver Stone, prior to filming and began dating shortly after.^[59] Of that relationship he said: "I still love her. I think she's a fucking awesome person and an incredible actress. We're still pals. I wouldn't take any of it back, and I don't think she would either. It just ran its course."^[60]

In the August 2011 issue of Details magazine, he also admitted to having been in a relationship with Isabel Lucas while she was still dating Adrian Grenier and Megan Fox while she was still seeing her now husband Brian Austin Green.^[60]

Legal troubles[link]

Early in the morning of November 4, 2007, a security guard asked LaBeouf to leave a Chicago Walgreens; after refusing to do so, LaBeouf was arrested for misdemeanor criminal trespassing.^[61] The criminal charges were dropped on December 12, 2007.^[62]

In March 2008, an arrest warrant was issued for LaBeouf, after he failed to make a court appearance. The hearing was in relation to a ticket he had received for unlawful smoking in Burbank, California, in February 2008. When neither LaBeouf nor a lawyer appeared at the court, at 8:30 a.m., a $1000 bench warrant was issued for his arrest.^[63] However, the court commissioner in California recalled this warrant on March 19, 2008, after the actor’s attorney arrived a day late to plead not guilty on LaBeouf's behalf, and a pre-trial hearing was set for April 24, 2008.^[64] The charge was dismissed, after the actor paid a $500 fine.^[65]

At approximately 3 A.M. on July 27, 2008, LaBeouf was involved in a car crash, at the intersection of La Brea Avenue and Fountain Avenue in Los Angeles. His Ford F-150 was hit from the side by a vehicle running a red light.^[66] LaBeouf had been gripping the top of the windowsill as he drove and, upon impact, the truck rolled onto his exposed left hand, crushing it.^[67] While responding to the accident, police officers smelled alcohol on LaBeouf's breath.^[68] Because he refused a breathalyzer examination, authorities arrested LaBeouf at the scene for misdemeanor drunk driving, and his driver's license was suspended for one year.^[69][70][71] Michael Bay stated that LaBeouf had been drinking hours before the car accident and he had felt that, by the time the accident had occurred, the alcohol had worn off.^[41] LaBeouf had to undergo one of many hand surgeries immediately after the accident.^[66] His passenger, Isabel Lucas, and the driver and passenger in the other car suffered only minor injuries.^[70][72][73] Due to severe damages from the accident, LaBeouf's truck was totaled; his father keeps the vehicle at his home as a memento.^[68] Two days later, a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokesman announced that LaBeouf was not at fault in the accident as the other driver had run a red light.^[69][74] LaBeouf returned to the set of the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, at this time, and shooting resumed.^[75] In September of that year, LaBeouf described the car accident as being "eye-opening and terrifying."^[76] He said that, as a result of the injuries, he had screws and plates put in his left hand; there is also scarring.^[67] A screw was placed in one of his knuckles, and he had a shaved piece of bone from his hip made into a bone for his finger.^[67] In April 2009, he stated he had undergone three hand surgeries. He said that he would regain "probably about 80-something percent" use of his hand and, while he would be able to make a fist again, "there’s a knuckle [I will] never be able to move again."^[67] In May 2010, he said that he has "completely" regained movement in his fingers.^[77] In June 2011, in an interview in Details magazine, he claimed that he and Isabel Lucas were "philandering around" before the accident occurred.^[78]

In the early morning of February 5, 2011, he was involved in an altercation with another patron at the Mad Bull's Tavern bar in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, which resulted in the actor getting punched in the face.^[79] Both LaBeouf and the unnamed patron were placed in handcuffs and questioned by a Los Angeles Police Department officer but later released with no arrest being made.^[80]

In October 2011, LaBeouf and another patron were thrown out of a bar called Cinema Public House in Vancouver, BC after they engaged in an alcohol fueled fight that continued outside.^[81]

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

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References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Shia LaBeouf

• Shia LaBeouf at the Internet Movie Database
• Shia LaBeouf at AllRovi