Shia LaBeouf Unrecognisable As He Plays His Balding Heroin-Addict Dad In New Movie

Getty

It’s fair to say Shia LaBeouf fans are used to the various shades of their ever evolving hero.

The 31-year-old former Even Stevens star has gone through more transformations than, erm, a transformer.

Going from Disney child actor to conceptual performance artist via a thriller and action strewn path; he has confused, entranced and spawned numerous memes.

Perhaps more than ever before, his latest project has had LaBeouf connoisseurs truly blinking in disbelief; with an autobiographical film where he appears to quite literally transfigure into his own father.

This new biopic – entitled Honey Boy after Shia’s father’s childhood pet name for him – is loosely based on the early years of LaBeouf.

The plot follows a child star as he deals with his ‘law-breaking, alcohol-abusing’ dad, James Lort, inspired by LaBeouf’s own father Jeffrey.

LaBeouf takes on the role of Jeffrey for this film, during a time period when he was ordered to undertake a 10-week stint in rehab.

And boy, does it look like the eccentric method actor is committed by the look of recently released photos from the film set.

Gone is the curly crop of hair, swapped with a partially balding wig of thin blonde hair. LaBeouf looks years – even decades – older; with a get-up made complete with grubby denim, full sideburns and outdated, circular glasses.

Getty

Manchester By The Sea actor Lucas Hedges will star as Otis Lort, the young LaBeouf inspired character at the centre of the film. Interestingly, there is really only a 10-year age gap between the two actors.

Maika Monroe, Martin Starr and Natasha Lyonne are among some of the other actors starring in the Alma Har’el directed film.

According to the movie description on IMDb, the plot is as follows:

A child actor works to mend the relationship with his hard-drinking, law-breaking father.

Backgrid

People do not know what to make of this dramatically different look, tweeting about the transformation in pure shock.

One baffled person commented:

Shia LaBeouf as Shia LaBeouf’s dad is definitely a look.

Another shuddered:

These images of Shia LaBeouf will haunt me.

Speaking with Esquire about the highly personal movie, LaBeouf revealed:

I went to sleep last night thinking that this is going to be some boo-hoo piece: ‘Oh, here he is not trying to own his s***. He’s trying to put it on his father’…

My dad handed me a lot, and his legacy was an emotional one. And it wasn’t scarring. He handed me texture. My dad blessed me that way.

LaBeouf’s father Jeffrey is now 68 years old and has led a troubled life. A former Vietnam veteran, he battled with addictions to heroin and alcohol throughout LaBeouf’s childhood.

Jeffrey is also a convicted paedophile who attempted to rape a minor back in 1981, MailOnline reports.

LaBeouf – whose parents broke up when he was just three-years-old – told Esquire how his father was the motivating force behind him becoming an actor:

A lot of my shit has to do with my relationship with my dad… That dude is my gasoline.

Nobody prepares for a role quite like Shia LaBeouf.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues, and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000. If you are a child seeking advice and support call Childline for free on 0800 1111.

If you have a story you want to tell send it to UNILAD via [email protected]

Julia Banim

Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.