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Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks are among very few actors who fit every description there is to be considered a quintessential Hollywood icon. Be it through their timeless portrayals (Ethan Hunt and Forrest Gump come first to mind) or box office dominance across multiple decades, the superstars have never gone too far away from the spotlight ever since making their respective breakthroughs.
Accordingly, for most young actors, who are looking to cement their place in the industry, there are a few better paths to follow than the ones Cruise and Hanks have carved in the last three decades. However, Shia LaBeouf has always looked up to actors with edgier backgrounds.
Read more:“Those people make me very scared”: Shia LaBeouf Claimed Actors Like Anthony Mackie Make Him “Feel judged and like an outsider”
Shia LaBeouf Reveals Three Actors Who Inspired Him
Shia LaBeoufgot his big break at the age of about 13 in the Disney seriesEven Stevens. A few years later, he started to attract the attention of Hollywood filmmakers with his talents and starred inHolesin 2003. During the same time, he also caught the eye of Steven Spielberg, who sort of took him under his wings.
LaBeouf starred as Mutt Williams opposite Harrison Ford in Spielberg’sIndiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulland then also went on to feature inTransformers: Dark of the Moonin which the legendary director acted as an executive producer. Spielberg also wanted LaBeouf to take inspiration fromTom Cruisewhile treading the tricky waters of Hollywood. However, the young actor had different ideas and inspirations. Speaking toInterview Magazine, he revealed:
“… I respect both Hanks and Cruise, it just didn’t appeal to my sensibilities. They’re both great actors. But I just didn’t feel like we were cut from the same fabric. My upbringing was darker. The guys who I looked up to were far darker. So I rejected that label hard.”
Instead, LaBeouf was more attracted to and inspired by Oscar winners Gary Oldman, Sean Penn, and Joaquin Phoenix. He continued:
“Gary Oldman, Sean Penn, Joaquin Phoenix—guys who dealt with material that had more intrinsic value. This can be a very debilitating job for an actor. Sometimes you don’t have any say about your creative process. And when I watched the movies of the guys I admired, it felt like they had put a spin on it. They were working on things that appealed to a certain kind of mythos.”
LaBeouf lived a very traumatic childhood, having witnessed his mother being sexually assaulted. This experience perhaps stayed with him and even led him toward the path of excessive drinking. In July 2017, Shia LaBeouf was arrested in Georgia for public drunkenness. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time the young star got on the wrong foot of the law.
These dark experiences made following the likes of seemingly clean-cut actors Cruise and Hanks unrealistic for LaBeouf, who instead resonated with Oldman, Penn, and Phoenix.
Read more:“Don’t let all this get to you”: Even Ben Affleck’s Career Advice Couldn’t Save Shia LaBeouf from Self-Destructing $25M Fame
Did Shia LaBeouf Ever Get To Work With Actors Who Inspired Him?
LaBeouf got the opportunity to work with one of his inspirations – Oldman – in crime dramaLawless (2012).
The 37-year-old portrayed one of the Bondurant brothers, who were bootleggers during the Depression era in Franklin County, Virginia. Meanwhile, the Oscar-winning actor portrayed Floyd Banner, a gangster who became partners with the Bondurant brothers.
The opportunity to work with Oldman must’ve been pleasant for LaBeouf, but the moment was marred by yet another controversy. TheFuryactor purportedly (viaIMDb) got into a physical altercation on set with the lead of the movie, Tom Hardy.
Read more:“We almost got into a fistfight”: Brad Pitt Was Forced to Intervene When Shia LaBeouf Almost Punched Clint Eastwood’s Son in $211M Movie
Vishal Singh
Articles Published :513
Vishal Singh is a Content Writer at FandomWire. Having spent more than half a decade in the digital media space, Vishal specializes in crafting engaging entertainment- and sports-focused stories. He graduated from university with an honors degree in English Literature.
