Shia Saide LaBeouf (born June 11, 1986) is an American actor, performance artist and filmmaker born in Los Angeles, California.
He became prominent on the Disney Channel sitcom Even Stevens before starring in the Disney movie Holes and becoming a film actor. During this time, he became a somewhat polarizing figure due to his rapid career incline being part of "older than him" franchises in Transformers and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but his more dramatic films have won him praise for his acting ability.
LaBeouf is a fan of rapper Cage, and developed a friendship with the rapper as a result of wanting to portray him in a film biography; although the film has yet to be produced, LaBeouf has directed two works featuring Cage, including a music video for Cage's single "I Never Knew You", and the short film Maniac, featuring Cage and Kid Cudi as a pair of serial killers (it's loosely based on a song Cudi did with Cage). In addition to this, he is friends with Marilyn Manson and was the co-writer and director of his Mind Screw-incarnate Born Villain trailer.
Around 2014, LaBeouf's stardom, as well as public opinion, ultimately wore down on him, and he decided to leave the spotlight of Hollywood consciousness altogether. While he still acts, he mostly does low-tier or arthouse projects. He married Mia Goth in 2016 after meeting on the set of Nymphomaniac; although they separated in 2018, she gave birth to their first child, a daughter named Isabelle, in March 2022.
He is a frequent user of the Rapid-Fire "No!", and is also known for being
a surprisingly intense motivational speaker, and for the song made by Rob Cantor from Tally Hall that claims he's an actual cannibal.
His works include:
- The X-Files (The Goldberg Variation, 1999)
- Even Stevens (2000-2003)
- Hounded (2001)
- Holes (2003)
- I, Robot (2004)
- Constantine (2005)
- Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (2005)
- A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006)
- Bobby (2006)
- Disturbia (2007)
- Transformers (2007)
- Surf's Up (voice) (2007)
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
- Eagle Eye (2008)
- Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen (2009)
- Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)
- Lawless (2012)
- Nymphomaniac (2014)
- Fury (2014)
- American Honey (2016)
- The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)
- Honey Boy (2019)
- The Tax Collector (2020)
Tropes in the work of Shia LaBeouf:
- Approval of God: He retweeted Rob Cantor's "Shia LaBeouf" song page, and made a Cameo at the end of the music video.
- Creator Breakdown: 2014 to 2018 seemed to be years of this with his strange and erratic behavior, from starting fights with random people, his strange art projects (most infamously "He Will Not Divide Us" during Donald Trump's run for presidency and later on when he became president - which created a lot of lulz thanks to /pol/ messing with him), and the like. 2019 seemed to be when he began to recover from this however, in particular with the release of Honey Boy, as the film was written during his rehab sessions in regards to having PTSD.
- Money, Dear Boy: He made this apparent that this was his views of the Transformers franchise after Revenge of the Fallen. While he had a more positive opinion on Dark of the Moon, he still blasted Hollywood Blockbusters as a whole.
- Playing Against Type: Heavily in A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints - as a troubled teen growing up in Astoria in the 80s. He had to fight like hell for the part, as the director believed he couldn't bring the necessary anger for it. He won the part by punching a hole in the the wall in his office.
- Honey Boy showcased him as an abusive father, if no trouble due to the film's screenplay being based on his upbringing.
- Rapid-Fire "No!": A recurring habit of his.
- Reclusive Artist: Has declared that he "retired from public life" (from about 2014 to 2018) and has focused most of his time on small time projects.
- Rousing Speech: His video "Just Do It".
- Self-Deprecation: His appearance at the end of the ""Shia LaBeouf" Live" Rob Cantor video, parodying the Slow Clap from Citizen Kane.
- Tom Hanks Syndrome: From stand-up comedy, Even Stevens, and Holes to action movie star.
