Those that know me, know that Shia LaBeouf is a passion of mine. Not his acting – that’s atrocious – but how very awesome he seems to think he is, and how very ridiculous he comes off when he tries to be serious. Or funny. Or an actor. But all those ridiculous stories he’s been passing around, like that he drank moonshine to get into character for Lawless or dropped acid for The Necessary Death Of Charlie Countryman? According to Lawless co-star Mia Wasikowska, those stories were all true.
LaBeouf has been touting how “moonshine is closer to heroin” than it is to liquor, and how his acting scared the hell out of Mia Wasikowska (and not for the reasons that it scared the rest of us). And Wasikowska? During the press rounds for her upcoming film Stoker, she told Entertainmentwise, “It was all true, absolutely, yep.”
So LaBeouf is not just all talk; that and an acting degree might land him some better roles. Of course we now have the more disturbing prospect that his upcoming performance in Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac – which LaBeouf famously landed by sending in a real-life sex tape – could be, like, totally Method. Has anyone told Charlotte Gainsbourg?
This might be getting very gossipy, but it honestly bugs the hell out of me that actors are going around claiming to be Method when all they do is drink a lot and then shout that they’re doing it “for the job!” You do not become Marlon Brando by acting like Marlon Brando. You have to ACT, like Marlon Brando.
Where does this leave us with the future of Shia LaBeouf? No one really knows. Maybe his performances will improve; maybe The Necessary Death Of Charlie Countryman will change my mind about him. Maybe Nymphomaniac will give him some much needed experience in the acting department. Maybe, just maybe, LaBeouf will actually fulfill the Method credentials he tries so hard to promote. Maybe not.
What do you think of Shia LaBeouf and his Method style? Let us know in the comments below.
