Shia LaBeouf has joined the ranks of actors willing to go to great lengths to achieve authenticity for a roll, even if he is risking his health. The “Transformers” star admitted to USA Today that he took acid for his forthcoming role in the mob film “The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman.”
“There’s a way to do an acid trip like Harold & Kumar, and there’s a way to be on acid,” said LaBeouf. “What I know of acting, Sean Penn actually strapped up to that (electric) chair in Dead Man Walking. These are the guys that I look up to.”
LaBeouf also drank moonshine whiskey for another role in the prohibition-era film “Lawless.” In addition to what he calls “method-like” acting, LaBeouf likes to draw inspiration from the cowboy movies that he watched with his dad when he was a kid.
“My dad used to watch cowboy movies with me,” said LaBeouf. “And anytime some cowboy would say something eloquent or poignant, my dad would stop the movie, rewind it and play it again. ‘Did you get that? OK.’ Then we’d watch the rest of the movie. And this is most of my childhood.”
LaBeouf is in a new phase in his career and has decided to leave blockbuster films alone in favor of pieces with more substance. “If I could give the money back and get all the credibility in the world that I’m seeking, I would do it tomorrow,” he admitted. “In a heartbeat.” Still, LaBeouf has his limits.
He is due to star in Lars von Trier’s “Nymphomaniac” and although he spoke of being open to anything in previous interviews, including supposedly having real sex on screen with a co-star, he seems to have had a change of heart, one of the deciding factors being girlfriend Karolyn Pho’s feelings. “There are rules. I have ethics, I’m not completely out of my mind,” said LaBeouf. “But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with sex. Sex is beautiful if it’s done right. And I wouldn’t just do it for no reason. Sex is different than love, and there is a separation, and that middle gap is what the movie’s about.”