Like most young actors, Shia LaBeouf had always dreamed of starring in a Steven Spielberg movie.
But unfortunately after working with the iconic director, the American Honey star’s experience didn’t meet his expectations!
In a new interview with Variety, the 30-year-old opened up about his tumultuous past with fame, substance abuse, and his early work — which apparently, wasn’t as satisfying as he hoped it was.
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Originally wanting roles like Macaulay Culkin‘s in the Home Alone franchise, the actor revealed he always wanted to work with the Jurassic Park director, telling the mag:
“I grew up with this idea, if you got to Spielberg, that’s where it is. I’m not talking about fame, and I’m not talking about money.”
But after his dreams became reality, LaBeouf found that Spielberg’s rigorous filming schedule made him seem like “less of a director than he is a f*cking company.” He explained:
“You get there, and you realize you’re not meeting the Spielberg you dream of. You’re meeting a different Spielberg, who is in a different stage in his career…. Spielberg’s sets are very different. Everything has been so meticulously planned. You got to get this line out in 37 seconds. You do that for five years, you start to feel like not knowing what you’re doing for a living.”
We can imagine that identity crisis would make LaBeouf want to walk around with a paper bag over his head. Oh wait…
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LaBeouf was especially disappointed by the Spielberg-directed Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008 (join the club), remembering:
“I prepped for a year and a half and then the movie comes out, and it’s your fault. That sh*t hurt bad├óΓé¼┬ª I don’t like the movies that I made with Spielberg. The only movie that I liked that we made together was Transformers one.”
Despite Spielberg’s advice to avoid his own press, the actor would still read negative comments about himself online, and soon “didn’t like going in public, because I had to face my failures constantly.”
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It was during this time when LaBeouf started drinking heavily — but he has since kicked the self-destructive habit:
“Alcohol or any of that sh*t will send you haywire. I can’t f*ck with none of it. I’ve got to keep my head low.”
Though the former Disney star isn’t at all ashamed of his troubled past, but believes it helped him get to his career comeback today, explaining:
“I don’t think I’d be working with the directors I’ve been working with if I had not f*cked up a bit. They wanted a f*cking fireball. They wanted a loose cannon. I’m learning how to distill my ‘crazy’ into something manageable, that I can shape and deliver on the day…I was an open wound bleeding on everything.”
We’re glad the actor got his bleeding under control.
[Image via Juri Turek/Variety.]
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