Shia LaBeouf has a big movie that's got the internet all buzzing. He's also in Disturbia, opening this week. It's not giant robots but it gives LaBeouf some juicy scenes as a teen spying on his neighbors, under house arrest for punching a teacher who mentioned his dead father. It may not be Rebel Without a Cause but Shia LaBeouf has big plans for his burgeoning career, so you know this must fit in.
CraveOnline: One of the surprising things about this is that there actually are some acting scenes in this. Was a lot of that your deciding to make these character moments or was a lot of it there already?
Shia Labeouf: I wouldn't sign on to a normal teen thriller. They don't interest me. They become very one-notey, and it's a trap. You can trap yourself. And it's always like the arms getting hacked off with the saw. They never give the audience time to breathe or be able to emote for themselves. The scariest thing about these thrillers has always been, at least for me and when you look back, things like Rear Window or Straw Dogs, movies that were really terrifying, or Psycho, it was the fact that he left enough room for your imagination to completely mind-f*ck you.
CraveOnline: So given that you’ve been critical of teen movies in the past, were you confident of this before you got here or was it something you brought to it?
Shia Labeouf: Something about having Spielberg on your project makes you confident from the outset. And he's made a few movies. You felt confident because you felt like DJ [Caruso] was confident, plus it was really informal, from the actors, the craft service guy, and everyone had opinions, all the opinions were talked about. Plus the play-offs were going on, Clippers were in the play-offs, and Dodgers were in the play-offs, so all my teams were in. That felt good, like "Oh man, life is all right right now. Like some kismet's happening with the stars, the stars are aligning, both my teams are in the playoffs, this has to be a good movie." It was a cool set. It was the most enjoyable set I've ever been on, everybody was friends and it was like a big family.
CraveOnline: If you were under house arrest in a house like that, would you go stir crazy?
Shia LaBeouf: When I was 18 or 19, I'd be masturbating a lot. I would. I'd be doing that. I'd be reading. I'd be watching a lot of movies. I'm a film junkie. I'd be just as crazy. I don't know if I'd be violently crazy or demonstrative or destructive towards my family structure or anything like that, plus I live by myself so there wouldn't be the guilt, like I'm inflicting this on you in your home.
CraveOnline: You’re a film junkie. Do you like any voyeur movies from the past?
Shia LaBeouf: Yeah, Rear Window. I love Rear Window. I like The Burbs also. But it's funny. People compare us to Rear Window, it's like comparing The Cincinnati Kid to The Hustler. Just two different movies. Similar story lines, similar plot lines, similar elements, but it's not the same movie by any means. It's just two different movies. But everyone's a voyeur in this room if you read People Magazine or US Weekly or if you have a MySpace or a Facebook, you're a voyeur. You watch reality shows. You're a voyeur. It's just human nature.
CraveOnline: Do you think teens are getting more isolated nowadays with the texting and he emailing instead of actually talking?
Shia LaBeouf: Sure. The initial idea for cell phones was "Oh, this is going to be something that we’ll create so that humans can talk to each other more." Really, you're not talking to anyone. Now it's to the level where they just have the cyborg earpiece. No conversation is that important, seriously. That's just ridiculous. I hate that f*cking thing.
CraveOnline: You said you’d read. Why don't we ever see your character reading a book?
Shia LaBeouf: That's signing up with the populace. I don't think it's popular to read. You're in the 99th percentile if you read more than a book a month. I have to read, it's my job. It's my occupation. I don't know if Kale would read, and especially not books. If he was reading, he'd be on the internet or do his cell phone. That's where the world is now. You can get e-books, nobody's walking around with novels anymore. Or they're downloading on their iPod or they're listening to it.
CraveOnline: Did you offer any sort of ideas for the technology in the film?
Shia LaBeouf: No, I'm not the MacGyver like he is. He's really like on a different level. You have to be an expert to know that you can take a baby camera apart and to be able to set it up like that. I have no idea, the wireless and all that, I can hook my computer up, but that's just because I can take the green plug and put it into the green outlet.
CraveOnline: So you have a Dell?
Shia LaBeouf: I don't have a Dell. I have an Apple. But I'm big on the internet. I'm big on the cell phone. But I'm not a technological wizard, no.
CraveOnline: How are you prepared for your life changing come July?
Shia LaBeouf: I lead a pretty modest life. I drive a Nissan, I live in a two-bedroom, I go to Dodger games. My life is pretty normal outside of this. I'm sure it's going to change and I'll deal with it when it comes. I'm not nervous about it though. I'm pretty grounded. My life is pretty stable.
CraveOnline: Have you seen any of Transformers yet?
Shia LaBeouf: Yeah, the movie's insane. It's going to do for action what The Matrix did for action. ILM said, and this is the company that does like Star Wars and Superman, they do all the big ones, Pirates Of The Caribbean, they said they'd never worked on anything like this. They'd never done graphics at this level. This is the most insane thing they've ever done. They said if they were to present their company to anybody, it would be that movie. That would be the movie to look at.
CraveOnline: At one point you were kind of worn out by Transformers. Has this re-energized you about it?
Shia LaBeouf: When I was doing press for Bobby, I was filming the day before, and then I was filming the day after. It was like there was no time to breathe. We were in the middle of it at that point. I still had adrenaline from the day before and the night before shoot. I was at the table and we were talking about politics and all I was thinking about was the f*cking explosion that just happened in my head. Like talking to the dude who had just come out of the war zone. He's not going to talk to you about the nicest things or be in the most pleasant mood.
CraveOnline: Was it worth the pain?
Shia LaBeouf: Yeah. The movie's unbelievable. And to be a Transformers fan and to be in something that brings Transformers to a whole other level, when I was born Star Wars was a bit early for me. Transformers was right up my alley. And I know the fans directly. I know how passionate people get. I've been to tattoo shops and seen people get the Deceptacon logos. I know how insane it gets. People taking the Ford symbol off their car and replacing it with Autobot symbols. I go to Ain't It Cool News and read the talkbacks. I was a fan before I was in this movie. If I wasn't in this movie, I'd still be reading the Talkbacks. I'm a Transformers fan at heart. I know everything about Transformers and there's nobody like who could quiz me and beat me.
CraveOnline: Do you happen to know the running time on the film yet?
Shia LaBeouf: It's going to be long. He's going to give you a lot. You've got 20 set pieces. You look at Spider-Man and it had five big action sequences, five set pieces. We have 20, and you've got to get storyline in, you've got to get the narrative in, so a lot of explanation. You can’t just have robots fighting for no reason. You've got to explain it. The movies going to run, I think, about two and a half.
CraveOnline: There’s been some more casting news on Indiana Jones 4 with Ray Winstone but they haven’t said anything about you…
Shia LaBeouf: Right. Because it's a rumor. I know as much as you do. I've never had the conversation with him. I've never had the contract. Since then Cate Blanchett was announced, Ray Winstone was announced. I've been rumored before them and I'm still not announced.
CraveOnline: Some actors find working for Michael Bay a harrowing experience….
Shia LaBeouf: I'd work with him again in a second. I love him. He's a great guy. And the reason I say this, not many people could make Transformers. D. J. Caruso couldn't make Transformers, for sure not. And Michael Bay couldn't make Disturbia. For sure not. It's like comparing Picasso to Warhol, two different artists, two different textures, two different colors. Not that they're at that level, Picasso and Warhol, it's two different worlds, but when you're hair's on fire, you don't want the director who's going to come up to you while your hair's on fire and say, "Listen… what I was thinking about, I'm kind of nervous about it, what we're going to do is we're going to put you in the Orpheum Theatre, you're going to hang by because at this point, the Megatron is going to come, right? You know the Megatron, where he's coming from and his emotional place, right?" You don't want that guy. You're f*cking head is on fire. You want the guy who comes up to you, "Your hair's on fire. Here we go. Boot up. Good. Strap up, we're going to go. Mine's right there. This is going to fall. You're gonna go? Good. Action. Boom." That's how movies get made. It's all reactionary, it's response. People who think he's not an actor's director, its garbage, because he goes out of his way to put you in harm's way so you can respond accordingly. If you want a green screen, that's less of an actor's director. That's a director who's just putting you out there. "Do your thing, girl. I'm not going to do nothing. There's a green screen and there's a robot and your car's blowing up. Action." But he doesn't do that. He'll put a robot there and he'll blow the car up and he'll go out of the way to do the scene so you can respond accordingly.
CraveOnline: Is that why all of Michael Bay's big budget movies actually look as expensive as they are?
Shia LaBeouf: Because he’s not putting all the actors in huge trailers, and we’re not staying in four class resorts and craft service isn’t shrimp cocktail. It’s a movie set and all the money is going into the film. You feel it on set. You know none of us got paid millions of dollars to be in that movie. That’s one of the lowest paying jobs I’ve been in, in my career. And that’s the way it goes. You do that movie not because of the paycheck, I know that everybody thinks, “Oh, you’re in Transformers because of the paycheck.” And I’m sure eventually it will lead to a paycheck, when you have a Japanese following and a following you never had, but the initial being in the movie was never a paycheck. None of us got paid above $70,000 dollars. We were all there to blow sh*t up.
CraveOnline: As a fan of Transformers, what's you’re reaction to Hugo Weaving getting cast as the voice of Megatron?
Shia LaBeouf: Look as long as you make sure [Frank] Welker is in and you make sure that [Peter] Cullen is Optimus. If anyone else is Optimus, the movie is terrible. It has to be Cullen. Now Welker is older, much older than Cullen and his voice has changed. I’ve heard him in sessions. He’d be great as another robot but to play Megatron you need somebody powerful and Hugo Weaving is powerful. I think its great casting to but I think the fans are going to have an issue with it.
CraveOnline: You've always had a clear idea of where you wanted your career to go. After a few years of movie success and a big one coming this summer, how do you feel it's going?
Shia LaBeouf: It's successful thus far. Sure, I may have to change something up. It's all about change. It's all about diversity. If people won't get bored with you, then you're okay, you're safe. But even if you fail, like putting your neck out and you do something really crazy and it doesn't quite work, just the fact that you put yourself out there… it’s the Johnny Depp thing. You watch some of his movies and not all of them work, but the fact that he put his neck out and that he had the balls enough to have the courage to try something new, is enough. So excavating this is tough because you always want to make the best movie possible, but you also want to do different things, and sometimes you've already made a movie similar that was good or not good, and there's a similar movie that comes around that's too similar, even though it's a good film with good actors involved, you can't do it because it's way too similar. Like there's a Kerouac movie that they're making now and I think Gyllenhall's in it and the director of Motorcyle Diaries, and they hit me up and asked me to play Alan Ginsberg. Now for me and my family and my lineage, my grandmother was a poet, a beatnik lesbian poet, in the '50s and this was right up my alley. This is something that's just not big for my family but big in terms of artistic [merit], to play Ginsberg would be incredible, to go get lost in that. You read his biography and he's very similar to the character in Bobby. He wore the glasses, he had the haircut, it's just too similar. It would be an amazing role, but I can't do it because it's just too similar. Sometimes it's tough. Sometimes you almost wish you didn't do a movie so you could do a different movie, although I loved Bobby and everything that's in that movie, but Ginsberg would have been really wild.
