Transformers star Shia LaBeouf isn’t walking away from the Hollywood studio system that raised him – he’s running. The 26-year-old actor says “I’m done” and is now devoting his career to indie films – and will soon start practising what he’s preaching – shooting Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac.
“There’s no room for being a visionary in the studio system. It literally cannot exist, ” he says, adding insult to injury, “you give Terrence Malick a movie like Transformers, and he’s f***ed. There’s no way for him to exist in that world.”
Appearing for the third year at the Cannes Film Festival this year was a different experience for Shia and one that will surely mark his transformation into becoming an indie star. ”I fought for Lawless, I didn’t jump onto anyone else’s coattail and ride their wave.” His previous two trips to Cannes were to promote blockbuster films Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, neither of which went over well.
Not surprising, Shia was the driving force behind getting Lawless made. The film opens over Labour Day while Shia himself will be at the Venice Film Festival for the world premiere of “The Company You Keep”. The film, directed by Robert Redford and another Shia film, “The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman”, were both financed by LA based Voltage Pictures, whom the actor calls “a miracle.”
“They give you the money, and they trust you – (unlike the studios, which) give you the money,” he reveals. “Then get on a plane and come to the set and stick a finger up your a** and chase you around for five months.”
Watch behind-the-scenes with Shia and his Lawless co-stars Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikowska at their The Hollywood Reporter cover shoot below!
