K.T Simpson
Regular readers of Moviehole will know that I can’t get enough of writing about my favourite train wreck, Shia LaBeouf. If he’s not hating “Transformers” then he’s loving it, if he’s not getting kicked out of a play then he’s getting arrested, and if he’s appearing on the red carpet, it’ll only be with a big ol’ paper bag on his head. This guy deserves some kind of award for being famous in the worst possible way.
So the word is, LaBeouf is now working on his next film “Honey Boy”. Shia is in the lead role, a character by the name of James, the father in the complex father-son relationship story. LaBeouf also wrote the film… and it’s basically a story based on his own life. So LaBeouf will be playing his own father. And hiring other people to play him.
Oh the humanity! It’s way too many Shias on this film set! Word is that Lucas Hedges is in talks to play 22 year-old Shia – er I mean “Otis” – while the calling is still out for 10 year old Shia. Damnit I mean Otis!
The synopsis on the movie is thus:
Otis Lort is a 12 year old kid who’s a rising star on television — but his life revolves around his father James, a man with a past so checkered they might as well paint it black. An ex-con, a recovering drug addict, James is an unemployable trainwreck, a narcissist, a terrific conversationalist, but an utterly unreliable father. Ten years later, 22 year old Otis is well on his way to being a trainwreck himself: he’s almost unemployable in the movie industry, he’s diagnosed as suffering from childhood PTSD, & he’s having a hard time preparing himself for the biggest event of his life: the imminent meeting with his father who he hasn’t seen for years.
The father, James, is described as “an ex-Rodeo Clown, an ex-convict with a rape conviction hanging over his head & a long history of drug addiction, alcoholism and narcissism.”
Otis is “a leading star in big Hollywood films, a professional actor for half his young life. On the set, he is focused and fine-tuned, like an owl statue but in real life he has internalized his father’s anger, insecurity & alcoholism.”
Of course the life of Shia LaBeouf would never ever be complete without a movie about himself, and a poor explanation as to why he behaves the way he does – of course blaming his largely-absent father. #firstworldproblems
Thanks to The Tracking Board for the news on Hedges, and to Deadline for actually giving thanks to the original article.
