Well, it turns out Hollywood’s resident pure method, full-fledged impassioned madman Shia LaBeouf took things a little bit too far when he was filming ‘Lawless’ a few years ago. The film’s director, John Hillcoat sat down with GQ recently to clear the air on rumors centered on Shia’s behavior during filming. Hillcoat provided some straight fire details on the fact that Shia went full method as the movie’s moonshine lover Jack Bondurant, engaged Tom Hardy in meta-quarrels ’cause they were brothers, and fucking carved his initials on the front door of one of his co-stars. My god man. This guy continues to exemplify the potential pitfalls of going all the way in on something. He leaves it all out there.
When asked the following by GQ, “the rumor from Lawless was that Shia LaBeouf spent the entire time drinking moonshine—was that the case?” Hillcoat responded:
“Oh. A little bit. I didn’t recommend that. And he was certainly not allowed on set like that.”
I love it. Granted, a bit on the unprofessional, drinking on the job side, but dude Shia brought his A-game for the movie; anyone who has seen ‘Lawless’ will back that claim up. Obvious downside is nobody’s apt to enjoy working with a vaguely unhinged, booze-addled moonshine slingin, potentially belligerent bausman.
Of the young actor’s behavior in regards to his interactions with Tom Hardy during filming, Hillcoat told GQ:
“And also you have Tom Hardy, who’s a famously difficult actor in some ways, too, and apparently didn’t get along with Shia either. Well, what happened on that set really is that they all started almost replicating the roles off set. So Shia started by idealizing Tom like his older brother, Forrest. And it was like this force of nature, like, “This guy is amazing.” He was in awe, and it was like they were brothers, initially. And then, as time went on, there’s this kind of competitiveness and this tension that was building between them, which was like in the film. So it kind of almost mirrored. What was happening off set was happening on set.”
So, a more critical glimpse into the downside of Shia’s righteously theatrical behavior, whether the cameras were rolling or not. You’ve gotta respect Hillcoat’s transparent responses, and he did close his interview saying that he personally enjoyed the hell outta’ Shia’s high caliber performance. That’s what’s up Shia, yes, yes.
[H/T: GQ]