Shia LaBeouf is in a "way better place" with his father now.
The ‘Honey Boy’ star was forced to watch his dad Jeffrey LaBeouf battle with drugs and alcohol addiction as he was growing up – which understandably led to them having a strained and tumultuous relationship – but, although things are still "complicated" between them, they now get on really well and are "happy."
Speaking to Variety.com, Shia explained: "He’s a very happy dude. I talked to him in the car on the way up here. He’s such a sweet old man. It’s complicated like any relationship with a parent but we’re in a way better place and he’s in a way better place. You exercise demons, this felt a little bit like an exorcism."
The 33-year-old actor has had his fair share of issues in the past as back in 2017 he was arrested for disorderly conduct and public drunkenness at a hotel in Georgia after he repeatedly swore at arresting officers.
He went on to check into rehab and penned the script for ‘Honey Boy’, which was loosely based on his relationship with his father, while he was receiving treatment.
Although he used his childhood as inspiration for the film, Shia wasn’t planning on playing his dad in the blockbuster until director Alma Har’el persuaded him to.
He explained: "When I first sent her [Har’el] it, I wasn’t trying to play my dad, I wasn’t even trying to act in it. I sent it to her as something I was writing. She talked me into playing my dad …
"I feel like smooth waters never made a skilled sailor and it just helped my life big time. I wouldn’t have had a performance like this had I not played in the mud a bit."
However, his management weren’t keen on him doing the movie at first.
He said: "My whole team, my whole professional team were not with it. They did not want me to do it. At this point I didn’t have a whole lot to lose. I was at a wild spot in my life and I think it informed everything what went down … you ask permission when you have something to protect but I didn’t have much to protect."
Shia LaBeouf is in ‘better place’ with dad now
