Shia LaBeouf gets super real about why he doesn’t like a lot of his past work, and we get it

By Trilby beresford

September 7, 2016

By Trilby beresford

September 7, 2016

When it comes to Shia LaBeouf, we never know quite what to expect. Yesterday we heard that he got a bunch of new tattoos while filming the indie movie American Honey, and then there was that time he watched all of his movies in one sitting as a work of art…which admittedly, we’re still processing.

Anyway, now he’s opening up in an interview with Variety about some of those movies and the impact they’ve had on him — both positive and negative.

In particular, LaBeouf is focusing on his bigger commercial movies, like Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.He recalls how he grew up with this notion that to land a Spielberg movie essentially meant that you had made it as an actor. But like most thing we grow up thinking, the reality was different.

LaBeouf was required to learn Spielberg’s “meticulous” way of working, and found the approach didn’t always align with his own ideas. “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.”

It was a big reason that LaBeouf began distancing himself from blockbusters and the media. When talking about Indiana Jones, he said, “I prepped for a year and a half and then the movie comes out, and it’s your fault. That s— hurt bad.”

Oh man. We actually never really thought about that. Poor guy!

He also noted that an attempt to avoid bad press about himself often just lead to social isolation. “There’s no way to not do that. For me to not read that means I need to not take part in society.”

The good news is, after a some soul searching, the super talented LaBeouf seems to be finding his sense of center again. He’s completely quit drugs and alcohol, and is slated to appear in this year’s American Honey, which premieres September 30th.