All About
Shia LaBeouf
With his turn opposite Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Shia LaBeouf has risen to become a certifiable It Boy in Hollywood. The 21-year-old former Disney Channel star (who scored hits last year with Disturbia and Transformers) is anchoring not just the next Transformers film, but possibly further Indy sequels as well — movies that could make him less a sidekick and more a full-blown adventurer in his own right. (Not that anybody's doing anything but talking speculatively at this point.) EW.com caught up with LaBeouf to talk about working with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, the unique perils of cigarette smoking, dirty on-set pranks, and what it's like playing a 1950s greaser...when you weren't even born until 1986.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So how'd you get the gig in Crystal Skull?
SHIA LABEOUF: I had just finished making Transformers [which Spielberg exec produced]. On a Monday, I got a call: ''Steven wants to meet with you at his office on Thursday regarding a movie he's gonna be making.'' Now, anybody who follows film follows Steven, and what he's doing and what's next. The problem is, at that time, Steven was working on about 16 different movies. So I went to [Spielberg's production company] Amblin, and I came into his office. I had started to think maybe I was going to the principal's office.
What do you mean?
Like that Steven was going to say, ''Listen, we just saw all the Transformers footage, and we're in the midst of cutting you out of the film. And we just wanted to express our thanks for your hard work and efforts.''
But that didn't happen.
Steven asked, ''Have you ever seen any of the Indiana Jones movies?'' I don't think I talked for five minutes. I had to get up and pace in his office. I was freaking out. I'm speechless. I want to cry. I'm having a panic attack, and I'm sweaty. My heartbeat — you can even ask Steven. He finally said, ''I guess that means yes.''
So you were sort of the rookie on this movie.
I was around a lot of veterans during this film. And they all kept saying, ''Don't take any of this to your next movie.'' It's a different tone and style.
How so?
There is a certain camp element that's needed for the Indy tone. It's not Bourne Identity type of action. And it's not far from slip-on-a-banana-peel type of action. It's a very specific tone that seems to only work in Indiana Jones movies. Taking this tone to any other franchise or any other film wouldn't work. But the audience is addicted to that tone for these films. It goes hand in hand with the rest of the elements.
Did Steven swear you to secrecy on all plot matters?
I dealt with a bit of secrecy on Transformers. And Transformers has a certain place in certain people's hearts. But Indiana Jones, it's much larger, and there's much more passion involved. And with Steven, in any project he's making, there's a level of secrecy, because he's is trying to maintain the magic of what movies used to be. Which was: You experienced the plot on the day you saw the movie.
NEXT PAGE: ''I'd take this knife with me to Italy and to Germany, and I'm trying to stash this switchblade in different places in my luggage so I don't get in trouble.''
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