Love him or hate him, it’s fair to say that Shia LaBeouf is never one to shy away from the public gaze.
The actor-turned-performance artist certainly hasn’t let us down in the last few months with all the bizarre shit he likes to pull, like live-streaming himself watching his own films or setting up a call centre in Liverpool so people could ‘touch his soul’.
Oh, and most recently he chilled out in an Oxford University elevator– just for shits and gigs obviously.
But now’s he revealed his kinder, less weird side. Last weekend, Mario Licato got punched by some randomer while walking out of a subway station in New York City’s Lower East Side.
A photo posted by Mario Licato (@mariolicato) on
And why did he get battered? Just for looking like Shia LaBeouf (not cool man, not cool). So in true Shia-style, the real Shia LaBeouf decided to leave the guy a lovely little voicemail message.
Speaking to Cosmopolitan, Mario said:
He [Shia] left me a voicemail yesterday morning, but he left it on my work phone and I don’t even know my work phone number. I’ve been on a shoot so I couldn’t see it. And today he commented on one of my Instagram posts and said, “Hey, I left you a voicemail.” And that’s how I ended up finding out that he left me a voicemail. I looked and was like, ‘Oh shit!’ He left me a voicemail yesterday morning.
A photo posted by Mario Licato (@mariolicato) on
So what did he actually say? Well, for starters he apologised, a lot.
Mario continued:
It was a pretty long voicemail. He was like, ‘Hey, this is Shia LaBeouf … I just read an article that you were punched in the face because you look like me?’ And he was like, ‘Aw, man. That sucks. I’m so sorry. But I get it. It’s happened to me before.’ And then he was like, ‘I don’t know. I wish I was in New York. I’d come bring you soup.’ He was just like, ‘This sucks. I don’t even know what to say. I’m sorry. People are just crazy. Just because you look like me?’
To be fair, it’s a good point. Who the fuck beats the crap out of someone just for looking like someone else?
But that wasn’t the end of it. He added:
I was obviously laughing the whole time. And then he was like, “Here’s my phone number. Don’t give it to anybody. Please, please, call me back. Call me back if you want to. We could chat. Let’s giggle over this. Maybe there’s a silver lining in all this. But call me back.” And then he was like, “And once again, this is Shia LaBeouf, the guy you got hit for looking like. And yeah, man, I’m sorry. I’m just really sorry.” And he was like “Keep your head up, G.” And that was it.
The only weird thing about the whole situation is the fact Mario has no idea where Shia got his number from. Creepy.
Brb talking to the real Shia. ?
A photo posted by Mario Licato (@mariolicato) on
He’s since had a little catch-up with Shia, though we have no idea what they chatted about.
Probably the pain they’ve had to endure for looking like or simply being Shia LaBeouf. Maybe they could start a support group or something?
Well played Shia, well played.
