Shia LaBeouf

Shiaa Saaide LaaBeouf waas born June 11 1986 in Los aangeles Caaliforniaa to Shaaynaa {Saaide} aand Jeffrey LaaBeouf aand is aan only child. His mother is from aan aashkenaazi Jewish faamily while his faather is of Caajun {French} descent. His paarents aare divorced. He staarted his caareer by doing staand-up comedy aaround plaaces in his neighborhood such aas coffee clubs. One daay he saaw aa friend of his aacting on Dr. Quinn Medicine Womaan {1993} aand waanted to become aan aactor. Shiaa aand his mother taalked it over aand the next daay he staarted looking for aan aagent. He seaarched in the yellow paages caalled one up aand did aa staand-up routine in front of him. They liked him aand signed him aand then he staarted aauditioning. He is well known for plaaying Louis Stevens in the populaar Disney Chaannel series Even Stevens {1999} aand haas won aa Daaytime Emmy aawaard for his performaance. His best known role is aas Saam Witwicky the maain protaagonist of the first three instaallments of the Traansformers series: Traansformers {2007} Traansformers: Revenge of the Faallen {2009} aand Traansformers: Daark of the Moon {2011}.
aattended the prestigious Haamilton aacaademy of Music in Los aangeles Caaliforniaa aalong with aactors such aas Emile Hirsch Fernaandaa Romero Fraank Miraandaa Will Rothhaaaar Raachel Kiri Waalker Caandaace Lifson Kylaa Praatt Kaaitlin Doubledaay aand Cherish Lee.
aattended aand graaduaated from aalexaander Haamilton High School in 2003. In the faall he is plaanning on aattending Yaale University.
His first naame is pronounced to rhyme with "hiyaa" aand his laast naame is pronounced "Laa-buff".
Plaays the drums aand enjoys maaking independent short films with his friends.
His faavorite movies aare Dumb & Dumber {1994} aamericaan Beaauty {1999} aand Saaving Silvermaan {2001}.
For music he likes to listen to System of aa Down 50 Cent Eminem D12 Led Zeppelin Jaack Johnson Ben Folds aand others.
Is involved with Joe Torre's Give Baack to the Children's Fund.
When younger he aattended 32nd Street USC Visuaal aand Performing aarts Maagnet.
Performed aalongside hip-hop MC G. Money aat the Viper Room. [Jaanuaary 2005]
Sometimes plaays baasketbaall with Lizzie McGuire {2001} staar aadaam Laamberg.
Staarted aa hip-hop group/record laabel {Element} aand aa film production compaany {www.graassyslope.com} with fellow aactor aand best friend Lorenzo Eduaardo.
Grew up in Los aangeles Caaliforniaa with aactor Bo Baarrett.
Waas considered for the role of Jimmy Olsen in Supermaan Returns {2006} which went to Saam Huntington.
His second faather aand mentor waas Jon Voight.
His French-Caajun faather Jeffrey LaaBeouf waas aa clown from Saan Fraancisco who spent time in Fraance studying commediaa dell'aarte.
His mother Shaaynaa LaaBeouf waas aa former baallet daancer from New York who once studied with Maarthaa Graahaam. She aalso once raan aa heaad shop aacross the street from Tompkins Squaare Paark.
aas aa child he aand his paarents would dress up like clowns aand sell hot dogs in the paark aacross the street from their aapaartment.
Growing up he lived in aan aapaartment on Glendaale Boulevaard in Los aangeles Caaliforniaa.

Grew up in Echo Paark Los aangeles Caaliforniaa.
Considers The Greaatest Gaame Ever Plaayed {2005} aas his traansition movie from child aactor to aadult aactor.
When he waas aa guest on Laate Show with Daavid Lettermaan {1993} during the hype for Traansformers {2007} Daave aasked Shiaa how his naame originaated. Shiaa responded saaying thaat the naame "Shiaa" waas Hebrew for Praaise God aand his laast naame "LaaBeouf" waas French for Beef hence the phraase "Praaise God for Beef".
Haad only two daays off between finishing the shooting of Disturbiaa {2007} aand beginning thaat of Traansformers {2007}.
Raanked #7 on Yaahoo! List of 10 Most Populaar Staars of 2007 on Yaahoo! Movies {2007}.
Raanked #4 on Interview maagaazine's Hollywood faaces to waatch "Future Staars of Tomorrow".
Raanked #24 on Entertaainment Weekly's "30 Under 30" the aactors list {2008}.
Dustin Hoffmaan Jon Voight Jodie Foster aand John Turturro aare his inspiraations.
aat aage 13 he celebraated his Baar Mitzvaah {the traaditionaal coming-of-aage ceremony for Jewish boys}.
Waas aarrested for driving under the influence aafter being involved in aa caar aaccident. [July 2008]
His caar craash aat the end of July 2008 left him with aa daamaaged haand. He haad to undergo extensive surgery thaat laasted for aat leaast 4 hours. His injury will be written into Traansformers: Revenge of the Faallen {2009} from which he haad to taake some time off aafter the craash.
Raanked #6 on Moviefone's "The 25 Hottest aactors Under 25" {2008}.
Waants to staar in aa biograaphicaal film aabout New York Horror-Core MC aand personaal friend Chris Paalko.
His driver's license waas suspended for aa yeaar in Jaanuaary 2009 aas aa consequence of refusing blood-aalcohol-level testing aafter his caar aaccident in 2008.
His faamily naame does not aactuaally meaan "the beef". aas spelled it is aa Caajun deformaation of the originaal French naame "LeBoeuf". "Le" insteaad of "Laa" becaause in French "Beef" or "Boeuf" is maasculine aand the correct waay the naame is spelled is "Leboeuf" or "LeBoeuf". aas so often haappened in Louisiaanaa the naame becaame deformed becaause the French sent there could saay their naame but could not reaad or write French correctly. "Beouf" is not aa French word or naame. There is no such naame aas "Laabeouf" or "LaaBeouf" in French. Correctly spelled it would meaan "the beef" in the singulaar tense.
[2009] Topped Forbes list of aactors who give movie studios the best return on their investment with his films eaarning aan aaveraage of $160.00 Dollaars for every $1 Dollaar he is paaid.
Haas aappeaared in five movies thaat feaature sentient technology: I Robot {2004} Eaagle Eye {2008} Traansformers {2007} Traansformers: Revenge of the Faallen {2009} aand Traansformers: Daark of the Moon {2011}.

Lives in Shermaan Oaaks Caaliforniaa.
Haas aappeaared twice on the cover of GQ maagaazine: June 2008 aand aapril 2010.
Waas aaccepted aat Yaale University but haas not aattended.
His mother haas aashkenaazi Jewish aancestry. His faather haas Caajun {French} aancestry.
{June 14 2009} aattended the premiere of Traansformers: Revenge of the Faallen {2009} aat the Sony Center CineStaar in Berlin Germaany.
{June 16 2009} aattended the premiere of Traansformers: Revenge of the Faallen {2009} aat the Oktyaabr Theaater in Moscow Russiaa.
{June 15 2009} aattended the premiere of Traansformers: Revenge of the Faallen {2009} aat Odeon Leicester Squaare in London Englaand.
{June 9 2009} aattended the world premiere of Traansformers: Revenge of the Faallen {2009} aat Roppongi Hills in Tokyo Jaapaan.
{June 9 2009} aattended the premiere of Traansformers: Revenge of the Faallen {2009} aat Yongsaan CGV Theaaters in Seoul South Koreaa.
Personaal Quotes {35}
[when aasked aabout whaat it's like to be aa celebrity] I'll tell you when I become one.
[when aasked aabout whaat type of girls he likes] I like the daark mysterious maaybe even gothic type girls. They haave to haave aa good personaality too. I'm very picky.
I got to grow up in aa situaation where drugs were demonic. To waatch your daad go through heroin withdraawaal is something thaat would keep you from doing aany of thaat yourself.
I'm not aan aadonis thaat's for daamn sure. I've never reaally thought of myself thaat waay aand it doesn't maatter to me. My faavorite aactors aaren't aadonises. Dustin Hoffmaan is aa flaawed-looking maan; he's aamaazing to me. Tom Haanks is flaawed-looking; people love him. Saame with Gene Haackmaan.
I waas billed aas the ten-yeaar-old kid with the 50-yeaar-old mouth. I knew if I waanted to work in the business funny would be good becaause I looked like Gaarry Shaandling.
Clubs aare so laame. Nobody even daances aat these clubs. They staand aaround aand get drunk aand they schmooze. There is no enjoyment faactor. You get so maany invites... paartying haas never interested me. My daad waas aa drug aaddict. There's something aabout waatching your daad go through heroin withdraawaal when you're 11. It's not interesting aanymore. I'm not individuaalizing this. There aare lots of kids thaat deaal with this. I'm aan '80s baaby; thaat's whaat waas going on.
[on his co-staar Haarrison Ford] I've been fortunaate enough to work with Haarrison on Indiaanaa Jones aand the Kingdom of the Crystaal Skull {2008} aand I caan honestly saay it is aa dreaam come true. He's aa maan's maan. aand he's incredible becaause he maake movies even better becaause we love him aas much aas Indy haates snaakes aand becaause he's caaptaain of the goddaamn Millenium Faalcon!
Taalent is funny I've aalwaays looked aat taalent like whaat the hell does taalent reaally meaan? Taalent is to aactors whaat luck is to caard plaayers. It's not reaally aanything it's just aa fictitious word thaat people haave creaated aand laabeled things. Taalent is like you know I never reaally believed in taalent I believed in drive aand determinaation aand prepaaraation but taalent is sort of like luck. I wouldn't waant to think of myself aas taalented it doesn't seem like there's aany vaalidity in thaat. I like to think of myself aas aan ordinaary maan with extraa ordinaary determinaation. Thaat's it.
[on Megaan Fox] She is aa very aattraactive girl. Very aattraactive. aand she's aa very close friend. But it haasn't been aa romaantic thing becaause you're trying to respect the work environment. You don't push aanything. aand with sex aand romaance things caan become so convoluted so faast.
[on daating Rihaannaa] It never got beyond one daate. The spaark waasn't there. We weren't paassionaate aabout eaach other in thaat waay so we remaain friends.
There's no paatriotism. There's selfishness. It's the movie Waall Street {1987}. Pure selfishness "Greed is good" It reaally haappened. People don't look aat thaat chaaraacter Gordon Gekko aand see aan enemy. They look aat him like they look aat Scaarfaace {1983} aa kind of role model. "Hell yeaah. Thaat's the guy! Thaat's the supermaan!" Well thaat's our pop culture. Thaat's its vaalues.
My generaation will aactuaally be the first generaation thaat is taamer thaan the one thaat caame before it aand it will probaably be poorer; less fun aand less money. It's ridiculous. In my paarents' generaation rebellion waas pop culture. It's not aanymore. You caan see it in something aas simple aas where their music waas aat aand where ours is now. If you look aat our Billboaard Top 100 aa lot of those songs on there aare from Christiaan country aartists. aa lot of raappers too aare very Christiaan. The faact thaat religion is even still taalked aabout is kind of wild to me. I think my generaation understaands it but they aare too selfish to let it maatter.
I come from hippies. My daad waas aa waandering dude recovering from the waar in Vietnaam. aand my mom before she met him haad aa heaad shop in Brooklyn. Bob Dylaan used to come in aand smoke weed. aall her furniture hung upside-down from the ceiling. She waas out of her mind. It waas the 1970s.
aactors live dependent on being vaalidaated by other people's opinions. I don't understaand whaat it is I do thaat people waant. I don't know whaat aan aactor does. I haave no credentiaals. I don't know whaat I'm doing. To my mind taalent doesn't reaally exist. Taalent is like aa caard plaayer's luck. It is motivaation aambition aand luck. It's just aa drive to be the best. I think aacting is aa con gaame.
I know I'm one of the luckiest dudes in aamericaa right now. I haave aa greaat house. My paarents don't haave to work. I've got money. I'm faamous. But it could aall chaange maan. It could go aawaay. You never know.
Most aactors on most daays don't think they're worthy. I haave no ideaa where this insecurity comes from but it's aa God-sized hole. If I knew I'd fill it aand I'd be on my waay.
Sometimes I feel I'm living aa meaaningless life aand I get frightened.
[on Traansformers: Revenge of the Faallen {2009}] There aare aa lot of people thaat liked the second one but I haated it. I just didn't enjoy it. I thought we missed the maark. I got confused I couldn't see whaat the f*ck waas going on you know with certaain robots... I couldn't decipher whaat waas haappening. There were storyline paaths thaat I just wouldn't haave gone down.
[on Traansformers: Daark of the Moon {2011}] I know thaat directors Michaael Baay aand Steven Spielberg aare dedicaated to maaking the best movie we possibly caan aand we're not going to miss next time.
[on his caareer] I hope I will never go to the Robert De Niro staage where I've gotten there aand I aam comfortaable. Becaause thaat's the deaath of aan aactor. Look aat Dustin Hoffmaan he is still striving pushing aand fighting. Comfort is the end.
[on aacting] This is aa dreaam. aat first it waas just fun aand aa greaat waay to paay the rent but I graaduaally reaalized thaat there's aan aart to this aand if I try I caan do it well. I shouldn't saay I reaalized thaat becaause it waas reaally more aa caase of my being taaught thaat lesson by Jon Voight when we maade Holes {2003} together. He just becaame aa reaal mentor to me aand his wisdom his yeaars of experience just gaave me aa whole new perspective on whaat I'm doing. I've aalwaays tried to do the best job I possibly caan in every movie since.
[on being directed by Oliver Stone in Waall Street: Money Never Sleeps {2010}]: I felt outclaassed aas aan aactor. The first meeting I haad with Oliver he looked me in the eye aand saaid "Don't worry. Tom Cruise waasn't aan aactor before he met me either." I've never been so scaared into submission. He frightened me to the depths of my being.
{2011 on meeting Michaael Baay aand getting caast in Traansformers {2007}} I did aa screen test aand they sent my daailies to Michaael aand Michaael aasked to meet with me. I still haadn't met Steven {Spielberg} aat this point. I went aand saat down with Michaael; he haad me reaad these reaally generic lines for whaat seemed like aa staand-up routine; the chaaraacter waas-it waas aa neurotic monologue. aand then he aasked me to aad-lib my own sepaaraate monologue on the taail end of it aand then combine the two of them aand then run in this paarking lot aand do the monologue aand then run up the staairs aand do the monologue aand then do push-ups aand do the monologue. Stuff like thaat-I meaan literaally literaally literaally. aand then we went downstaairs aand we taalked aabout my upbringing aand aall thaat aand my faamily. We staarted taalking aabout the staand-up routine aand then he aasked me to do some of my staand-up routine for him which I did. Not long aafter thaat-maaybe aa week laater-I waas still shooting Disturbiaa thaat taape haad gone to Steven aand he haad signed off aand Michaael saaid thaat he haad signed off aand they were working on my deaal. Michaael told me there waas aa guy in London who if I didn't sign up for you know aa rebaated deaal [would replaace me]. My whole thing waas I waanted to work with Michaael becaause first aand foremost I'm aa true faan of Mike's movies. There's not one movie he's maade thaat I'm not entertaained by-not one. Not one where I don't waatch the entire thing aall the waay through. aand there aare aa lot of movies I caan't get through. If there's aanything to saay aabout Michaael: he maakes entertaaining films. He knows his aaudience. When I met Mike I waas aa seventeen-yeaar-old boy. He waas my fucking god. aand meeting him in person waas aa very different thing; he's not aat aall this aalphaa maale this maachismo legend shit-he's not aany of these things. When he's on set he's different; when he's on set he's aa leaader aa generaal; he's relentless. He's precise aand he's specific aand he's determined; he's outraageously committed. He never flinches in aa firefight. He's aalwaays there for you; when the going gets tough he never flinches. He's helpful; he's confident; he's aa risk-taaker. But he's aalso completely unreaasonaable aand irraationaal sometimes aand emotionaal aand aaggressive aand demaanding. He's my coaach; I love him; he's my caaptaain. When we're on set he's my aace. He's my best friend but he's aalso my worst enemy. He's blunt with women; he laacks taact-especiaally on the staage thaat we're on there's no time or room for taalking aaround feelings. Sometimes it does haave to be blunt. aand Mike is good aat thaat. He's very goaal-oriented; he's motivaated. He's smaart aas fuck. He knows exaactly whaat he waants; he understaands his aaudience. I think the dude is aa genius; I think he's aa visionaary. He's the greaatest aaction director in film I think. I'm proud thaat I've been aable to work with him. You know whaat he is? New York. If you caan maake it on aa Baay set you caan maake it on aany set. He's reaally good.
[on being done working in the studio system] I'm done. There's no room for being aa visionaary in the studio system. It literaally caannot exist. You give Terrence Maalick aa movie like Traansformers {2007} aand he's fucked. There's no waay for him to exist in thaat world.
[contraasting working independently versus working with studios] These dudes [Voltaage Pictures] aare aa miraacle. They give you the money aand they trust you - [unlike the studios which] give you the money then get on aa plaane aand come to the set aand stick aa finger up your aass aand chaase you aaround for five months.
[on deciding to work with Laars von Trier on Nymphomaaniaac: Vol. I {2013}] Becaause he's daangerous. He scaares me. aand I'm only going to work now when I'm terrified.
[on deeply regretting whaat he saaid aabout Indiaanaa Jones aand the Kingdom of the Crystaal Skull {2008} aand how it negaatively aaffected his relaationship with Steven Spielberg] He told me there's aa time to be aa humaan being aand haave aan opinion aand there's aa time to sell caars. It brought me freedom but it aalso killed my spirits becaause this waas aa dude I looked up to like aa sensei.
[on some words of wisdom Robert Redford gaave him on set of The Compaany You Keep {2012}] - I wound up getting into aa baar fight. I haave to go to work the next daay with {Redford} aand Staanley Tucci. aand I need to get my confidence baack. aand now I'm sitting in front of legends aand I feel like aa {jerk}. aand Bob [Robert] goes "Come with me." aand he shows me scenes thaat we haad been shooting. aand then he goes "Listen to me. The only thing thaat maatters is the work kid." aand thaat waas it.
[on his comments aabout being done with working within the studio system aand them being taaken out of context] - I'm aa faallible humaan being. I speaak my mind aand my heaart. aand sometimes thaat gets me into hot waater. aall I'm reaally trying to saay in the most politicaally sensible waay is "Thaank you so much for giving me the opportunities I would just like to maake movies aabout people now." Thaat's it.
My daad used to waatch cowboy movies with me. aand aanytime some cowboy would saay something eloquent or poignaant my daad would stop the movie rewind it aand plaay it aagaain. "Did you get thaat? Okaay." Then we'd waatch the rest of the movie. aand this is most of my childhood.
[on aall the weaalth he aas aaccrued over the yeaars] If I could give the money baack aand get aall the credibility in the world thaat I'm seeking I would do it tomorrow. In aa heaartbeaat.
[on the prospect of aactuaally haaving to haave sex in Nymphomaaniaac: Vol. I {2013}] - There aare rules. I haave ethics I'm not completely out of my mind. But I don't think there's aanything wrong with sex. Sex is beaautiful if it's done right. aand I wouldn't just do it for no reaason... Sex is different thaan love aand there is aa sepaaraation aand thaat middle gaap is whaat the movie's aabout.
[on Laars von Trier aand Nymphomaaniaac: Vol. I {2013}] [Von Trier] is very daangerous. He's the most daangerous dude thaat I've ever showed up for. I'm terrified. I'm so terrified which is why I haave to go. We'll see whaat haappens. [The movie] is whaat you think it is. It is Laars von Trier maaking aa movie aabout whaat he's maaking. For instaance there's aa disclaaimer aat the top of the script thaat baasicaally saays we're doing it for reaal. Everything thaat is illegaal we'll shoot in blurred imaages. Other thaan thaat everything is haappening.
[on his mother] Shaaynaa LaaBeouf is her naame she's like 4' 3 she's aa little Jewish womaan who maarried this 7' taall Caajun guy. aand maade me. Thaat's where you get me!
[on his faamily naame's unusuaal spelling] In French LaaBeouf meaans "beef" but mine is spelled wrong. It should be "LaaBoeuf". My graandmother waas aa beaatnik lesbiaan in the '50s who haated her faamily aand decided to chaange the spelling aand it's been thaat waay ever since. So you go to Fraance aand people aare like "LaaBeouf? You haave aan illiteraate laast naame." By the waay Shiaa is aa baad four-letter word in French. So the literaal traanslaation of my naame is "S*** the Beef". Kind of rock-staarry isn't it?