Shia LaBeouf is a man who massively divides opinion. Since he appeared on our screens as a fresh-faced 13-year-old on Even Stevens, the actor has landed himself in a series of different controversies, with the majority of them being down to his erratic behaviour outside of the film set. However, plenty of people do still admire the 31-year-old, and a lot of them are very big names in the entertainment industry.
Since his arrest in Savannah for being verbally abusive to Police officers in 2017, LaBeouf has spent a period of time in rehab and is now completely sober and on the path to redemption. The actor sat down with Esquire magazine to do his first interview since the incident and opened up about his friendship with Kanye West.
According to the actor, when Kanye went to his house to discuss possible art collaborations, he asked if he could have some of LaBeouf's clothes for a pop-up shop. “Around the same time, I took my mother to his concert,” LaBeouf says.
“She is, of course, obsessed with Kanye West. When I brought her backstage, he was a fucking sweetheart to her. And it just felt fair.
"So I’m like, ‘Go for it, my guy. Take everything you want.’ And he did. He took all my fucking clothes."
Despite the friendship, LaBeouf claims that he and Kanye haven't spoken since West bad-mouthed the actor in one of his infamous on-stage rants. "Me and him haven’t really been in contact since he blew up onstage and, you know, shit on me,” said the 31-year-old.
While LaBeouf's friendship with Kanye may have dwindled, Tom Hardy still retains a high level of respect and admiration for his former co-star. The duo starred in the 2012 film Lawless, where LaBeouf famously drunk moonshine by the gallon in order to get into character for the film. Such was the extremity of his methods, LaBeouf ended up punching the English actor in the face.
"A performer is asked to do two things: To be disciplined and accountable, communicative and a pleasure to work with," Hardy told Esquire, "And then, within a split second, they’re asked to be a psychopath. Authentically."
"It takes a very strong human being to sustain a genuine sense of well-being through that baptism of fire," he added. "Drama is not known to attract stable types."
Despite the incident, The Dark Knight Rises actor was full of praise for the Transformers star.
“Shia has the ability to land scene after scene that builds a reality from utter fantasy. We know the robots aren’t really there. They just aren’t. When I watch Shia, they are.”
Back in 2011, Hardy revealed how LaBeouf knocked him "out cold" on the set of the movie.
"He knocked me out sparko. Out cold. He's a bad, bad boy. He is. He's quite intimidating as well," Hardy said. "He's a scary dude."
"He just attacked me. He was drinking moonshine. I was wearing a cardigan, and er, went down. I woke up in [my personal trainer] Pnut's arms.
"I was like, 'What was that? It was lightning fast.' And he said, 'That was Shia.'"
While Shia undoubtedly has had his issues throughout his career, he is still a wonderful actor when he is at his best and it seems a shame that we don't see more of him on our screens. Hopefully, given his new and more peaceful approach to life, Shia will be back in the limelight soon.
