Shia LaBeouf isn’t one to hold back. The “American Honey” star courted controversy once again in this week’s Variety cover story, where he discussed everything from his new career path to his struggles with substance abuse.
The 30-year-old actor slammed Steven Spielberg, insisting that the reality of working with the prolific director was much different than he had imagined.
“You get there, and you realize you’re not meeting the Spielberg you dream of,” LaBeouf said. “You’re meeting a different Spielberg, who is in a different stage in his career. He’s less a director than he is a f—ing company.”
LeBeouf went on to slam the director for what he described as disregard for artistic integrity, saying his experiences on Spielberg’s sets felt mechanical and contrived.
“Spielberg’s sets are very different,” LaBeouf went on to say. “Everything has been so meticulously planned. You got to get this line out in 37 seconds. You do that for five years, you start to feel like not knowing what you’re doing for a living.”
He worked with the famous filmmaker on several films in different capacities, including “Disturbia,” “Transformers,” and “Eagle Eye,” as well as “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”
During #ALLMYMOVIES, an art installation during which LeBeouf live-streamed himself watching a marathon of his own movies, he purposefully left the theater during a screening of “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” executive produced by Spielberg.
“I don’t like the movies that I made with Spielberg,” he said. “The only movie that I liked that we made together was ‘Transformers’ one.”
The actor also divulged that Spielberg told him not to read his own press, whether it be good or bad. However, LaBeouf didn’t take his words to heart.
“There’s no way to not do that,” LaBeouf said. “For me to not read that means I need to not take part in society. The generation previous to mine didn’t have the immediate response. If you were Mark Hamill, you could lie to yourself. You could find the pockets of joy, and turn a blind eye to the s— over there.”
Spielberg declined to comment.
