Shia LaBeouf
About
Shia LaBeouf is an American actor best known for his role as Louis Stevens in Disney's children’s comedy show Even Stevens and Sam Witwicky in Michael Bay's Transformers film adaptations. In 2013, the actor gained much notoriety after being accused of plagiarizing American cartoonist Daniel Clowes’ 2007 comic Justin M. Damiano in his 2013 short film Howard Cantour.com.
Acting Career
Shia LaBeouf began his career in the late ‘90s with guest roles on TV series such as Caroline in the City and Suddenly Susan. In 2000, he was given his first lead role opportunity as class clown teenager Louis Stevens on the Disney children's comedy TV series Even Stevens, for which he was awarded a Daytime Emmy Award. In 2003, LaBeouf made his Hollywood lead role debut as the protagonist Stanley Yelnats in Disney's comedy adventure film Holes (2003), followed by another lead role as Kale Brecht in the teen trhiller slasher film Disturbia (2007), before landing his breakout lead role in 2007 as Sam Witwicky in Michael Bay's feature film adaptations of Transformers. In 2013, LeBeouf starred in Nymphomaniac: Vol. I and Nymphomaniac: Vol. II.
Online History
Howard Cantour.com
On May 18th, 2012, LaBeouf’s short film was screened at the Cannes Film Festival, where it received critical acclaims and positive reviews, followed by its online premiere on Vimeo on December 16th, 2013.
#IAMSORRY
On February 11th, 2014, LaBeouf opened an art exhibit titled "#IAMSORRY," in which participants were told to choose an object off a table containing a whip, a copy of the novel The Death-Ray by Daniel Clowes, a bottle of cologne, a bowl of Hershey's Kisses, a ukulele, a bottle of whiskey, a bowl of containing angry tweets directed at LaBeouf, a pair of pliers and an Optimus Prime action figure (shown below).
Visitors were then led into a room with LaBeouf seated at a table wearing a suit and a paper bag over his head with the words "I am not famous anymore" written on the front. That day, several Twitter users posted photographs outside the building, along with their reactions to the exhibit itself.
Waiting outside Shia LaBeouf's #IAMSORRY installation (across from our office). pic.twitter.com/9YW9YClbip
— Kate Aurthur (@KateAurthur) February 11, 2014
#IAMSORRY You are told to choose an implement from a table, there's a Daniel clowes book, a whip, some hershey kisses, a wrench, etc.
— Kristin Chirico (@lolacoaster) February 11, 2014
ONE OF THE IMPLEMENTS IS A BOWL OF TWEETS. THAT YOU READ TO HIM.
— Kristin Chirico (@lolacoaster) February 11, 2014
Also on February 11th, The Daily Beast[10] published an article about the art project, which highlighted a photograph of LaBeouf crying at a table in front of the bowl containing tweets written on slips of paper (shown below). In the coming days, several other news sites published articles about the art exhibit, including Vice,[11] The Daily Dot,[12] UpRoxx,[13] BuzzFeed,[14] Time,[15] NY Daily News[16] and TMZ.[17]
#ALLMYMOVIES
At noon on November 10th, 2015, Labeouf began a 72-hour nonstop marathon viewing of every movie he has starred in at the Angelika Film Center in New York City. Dubbed #ALLMYMOVIES[16] and curated in collaboration with artists Luke Turner and Nastja Sade Rönkkö, who have previously worked with Labeouf on his #IAMSORRY performance in 2014, the project is livestreamed in real-time on the media-sharing platform Newhive.[17]
#TAKEMEANYWHERE
On May 23rd, 2016, Shia Labeouf announced the launch of #TAKEMEANYWHERE[20], a new hashtag-based interactive art project in which the celebrity actor, along with his collaborating artists Luke Turner and Nastja Sade Rönkkö, embark on a month-long hitchhike journey across the country by sharing their GPS coordinates via Twitter on their official account @thecampaignbook[18] and inviting anyone to pick them up and take them anywhere they want.
During the journey, the trio will also share photographs and videos of the places they visit and people they meet along their way via Twitter, a documentation process that will culminate into a film to be screened at the Finnish Institute in London and Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art in Colorado upon the completion of the project. The route of their journey can be tracked in real-time through a website created in partnership with VICE.[19]
Controversies
Orphans Dispute with Alec Baldwin
On December 15th, 2012, LaBeouf tweeted a poster for the play Orphans, which showed he would star in the upcoming Broadway production with actor Alec Baldwin.
On February 18th, 2013, he sent out a series of tweets,[12] which have been since deleted, which included e-mails between LaBeouf, playwright Lyle Kessler, Alec Baldwin, and actor Tom Sturridge that seemed to portray a conflict between Baldwin and LaBeouf. He continued to tweet out the e-mails through February 21st. On February 20th, the plays producers announced[13] LeBeouf would be leaving the show, citing "creative differences."
Howard Cantour.com Plagiarism
Shia LaBeouf's Plagiarism Controversy refers to the online backlash surrounding Howard Cantour.com, a short film about an internet film critic who faces an internal conflict as he contemplates whether to write a positive or negative review for an upcoming film. Upon its online premiere in December 2013, the actor-turned-director was met with accusations of plagiarizing American cartoonist Daniel Clowes' 2007 comic Justin M. Damiano, including direct quotes, dialogues and the narrative structure.
Arrest in New York City
On June 26th, 2014, LaBeouf was arrested[8] outside New York's Studio 54 theater for being disruptive and disorderly, with his disruptive actions including smoking and yelling, during a performance of the musical Cabaret. The same day composer Benj Pasek[10] sent out a tweet,[9] which has since been deleted, describing LaBeouf's arrest.
Also on June 27th, LaBeouf was charged with disorderly conduct, harassment and criminal trespass before being released on his own recognizance, with a court date set for July 24th. The same day TMZ[11] published a post which alleged LaBeouf had chased and fought with a homeless man hours before his arrest.
Freestyle Rap Video
On June 28th, 2015, Facebook[14] user Corey James uploaded a video of Labeouf performing a freestyle rap in a circle of people standing outdoors. The same day, the Everday Instrumentals YouTube channel reuploaded the video (shown below).
Also on June 28th, MC Pri the Honeydark submitted a post to Instagram[15] claiming LaBeouf had stolen lines from the 1999 hip hop song "Perfectionist" by the group Anomolies (shown below). Several rhymes uttered by LaBeouf can be heard at 49 seconds into the song.
"I reckon you want more of that rare commodity / the quality is what it's gotta be / and my philosophy is much farther than what your eyes can see."
Fandom
As of June 2014, LaBeouf's Facebook page[3] has gained over 250,000 likes and his Twitter account[4] has gained over 160,000 followers. Fan run Tumblr blogs dedicated to the actor include fuck-yeah-shia-labeouf[5], mrlabeouf[6] and shialabeoufworld.[7] As of June 2014, there are over 1,000 fan art submissions tagged Shia LaBeouf on DeviantArt. [2]
Related Memes
Actual Cannibal Shia LaBeouf
Actual Cannibal Shia LaBeouf is a comedy song portraying LaBeouf as a cannibal. The song inspired several photoshopped images and animated GIFs of LeBeouf after it began circulating on the microblogging site Tumblr in April 2012.
On March 3rd, 2012, musician Rob Cantor[11], a member of the indie rock group Tally Hall[19], uploaded a song titled “Shia LaBeouf” to his SoundCloud[1] page named after the actor. The song detailed a terrifying encounter with a blood-soaked cannibal LaBeouf in the woods in the manner of in an early 1900s radio drama.
Shia LaBeouf’s Intense Motivational Speech
Shia LaBeouf’s Intense Motivational Speech is a video in which LaBeouf is shown intensely shouting inspirational messages to the camera while gesturing bizarrely. The clip, filmed in front of a green screen, inspired numerous parodies, remixes and reaction videos.
Personal Life
Shia LaBeouf was born on June 11th, 1986, in Los Angeles, California. He attended two high schools, Alexander Hamilton High School and 32nd Street Visual and Performing Arts Magnet in Los Angeles.
Search Interest
External References
[1] IMDB – Shia LaBeouf
[2] DeviantArt – Shia LaBeouf
[3] Facebook – Shia LaBeouf
[4] Twitter – thecampaignbook
[5] Tumblr (via Wayback Machine) – fuck-yeah-shia-labeouf
[7] Tumblr – shialabeoufworld
[8] CNN – Actor Shia LaBeouf arrested and released after outburst in Broadway theater
[9] The Daily Beast – Shia LaBeouf’s Most Gangsta Move Yet: Getting Hauled Off In Handcuffs During Broadway’s ‘Cabaret’
[10] Twitter – Benj Pasek
[11] TMZ- Shia LeBeouf Chased Around a Homeless Guy Hours Before Arrest
[12] Buzzfeed- The Brief But Mysterious Saga Of Shia LaBeouf Dropping Out Of “Orphans”
[13] Playbill (via Wayback Machine) – Shia LaBeouf Departs Cast of Broadway's Orphans; Actor Posts E-Mails from Co-star and Director On Twitter
[14] Facebook – Corey James
[15] Instagram – thehoneydark (unavailable)
[16] Twitter – Hashtag Results for #ALLMYMOVIES
[17] Newhive (via Wayback Machine) – #ALLMYMOVIES
[18] Twitter – TheCampaignBook's Account
[19] VICE – #TAKEMEANYWHERE
[20] VICE (via Wayback Machine) – For the Next 30 Days You Can Take LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner Anywhere You Want
[21] TIME – The Strangest Things Shia LaBeouf Told His #TakeMeAnywhere Fans