Actor Shia LaBeouf (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
After coming on edgily and strong in launching starrers like “Disturbia,” “Transformers,” “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” Shia LaBeouf seemed to have the film world at his beck and call, and for the picking.
Hailed as the new, if scruffy, prince of Hollywood, he delighted young viewers with his friskily idiosyncratic portrayals, with which they identified completely.
However, like far too many “overnight sensations,” Shia took his “sudden” success for granted much too quickly, and began turning producers and coworkers off with his unprofessional and errant behavior.
Since bigtime filmmaking is a billion-dollar business that must run like clockwork to make a hefty profit, Shia was summarily dropped like a very hot and unsavory potato, and left to grumpily play the blame game—with himself.
He deserved the scorn and comeuppance, but we still hoped that he would eventually be given a chance to recover, because he’s too good and unique a talent to be given up on for keeps.
The good news is that Shia has finally been able to turn his “loser” image around, by way of a number of “winning” portrayals in more recent film outings like “Fury,” where he was singled out for his ability to “disappear” into his assigned character.
In “American Honey,” the Variety reviewer writes, “he easily delivers his best performance, bleeding the eccentricities of his own celebrity persona into his character, to fascinating and oddly moving effect.”
Most significantly of all, Shia’s latest film, “Borg vs McEnroe,” casts him as the legendary tennis champion, John McEnroe.
The sports drama is unfamiliar thespic territory for Shia, so he had to train really hard and otherwise get his act together, to pass muster in the challenging role.
The mere fact that he accepted the “make or break” challenge says a lot about how much and how far he’s recovered his thespic focus and moxie, after his humiliating downfall starting around 2005.
He was serially arrested, charged with assault with a deadly weapon and criminal trespassing, among many other run-ins with the law.
His image was further bruised and battered after other charges were filed—like driving under the influence, getting involved in a car crash, brawls, disorderly conduct, assault, sexual assault—and even urinating in public. Just how low could a once-rising and now crash-landing luminary go?!
Happily, Shia appears to have learned his hardknocks, tough-luck lessons, so he’s finally on the comeback trail. Let’s hope that he perseveres and eventually triumphs—because he’s that good.
Even more pertinently, we trust that Shia’s “rise, fall and recovery” show biz story and odyssey will teach other young talents to value the talent and stardom that they have been gifted with, because it is a rare prize that is won only once in a lifetime, if at all!
Much too often, the attendant fame and fortune come too much, too fast for them to level-headedly handle, so they go from victor to victim in the blink and wink of a gimlet eye.
Having learned his lessons the hard way, Shia can hopefully help other overnight sensations learn theirs—with less terrible and dangerous consequences!