Shia LaBeouf Birthday Special: When the Actor Shocked Fans With His Extreme Method Acting for Fury and Other Films
Shia LaBeouf is one actor who never fails to go extreme when it comes to preparing for a role. On his birthday, we look at some of his shocking method acting stories.
For those who know Shia LaBeouf, they are probably aware of how dangerously passionate the actor is. He never settles for anything less when it comes to tapping the right layers of his character and is always ready to go that extra mile to make it as authentic as possible. Shia has been a regular name when it comes to defining the work of 'method actors'. In his career, the actor has pulled off some extreme things for films.
Shia has shocked his cast members as well as audiences with the extremities he underwent to make things work for his character. Stories of his method acting are popular especially from films such as Fury and The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman. As the actor turns 33 today, we look at some of the greatest examples of his method acting. Mel Gibson and Shia LaBeouf Team Up for Jon S Baird’s Rothchild.
1. Fury
Shia starred in Fury, the 2014 American war film written and directed by David Ayer, which revolved around the US tank crews in Nazi Germany during the final days of World War II. Also starring Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Michael Peña, Jon Bernthal, Jason Isaacs in key roles the film received decent reviews from the critics. Shia shocked everyone when he pulled out his own tooth during the first few weeks of filming and then didn't shower for four months, so he could understand how his character would have felt living in the trenches. Not just this, he even joined the U.S. National Guard and got baptized. He was quoted saying, "I was baptized—accepted Christ in my heart—tattooed my surrender and became a chaplain’s assistant to Captain Yates for the 41st infantry. I spent a month living on a forward operating base. "
2. The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman
LaBeouf's Charlie Countryman character dropped acid during a scene and upon learning this, he wanted to make it as realistic as possible for the cinematic appearance. LaBeouf took LSD and even filmed his trip, and sent the video off to co-star Evan Rachel Wood for feedback. The actor has often maintained that he looks up to actors such as Sean Penn and Daniel Day-Lewis who are known to give it all when it comes to their characters. Megan Fox Confirms Dating Shia LaBeouf in Past.
3. Lawless
This is another film where Shia went all method when started to drink a ton of moonshine for his character Jack Bondurant who is shown to have a love for the drink. For the uninitiated, Moonshine is illegally distilled homemade whisky, usually with very high alcohol content. Shia not only had gallons of moonshine to drink while on set but he even managed to mirror his brotherly relationship from the film with co-star Tom Hardy off-set and punched Tom.
On the occasion of the actor's birthday, we do hope that he tones down on the extremities harming his self-image more and shines on-screen for the talent that he has. Looking forward to some more great work LaBeouf who never ceases to surprise us with his performances.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 11, 2019 10:42 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).