We're still wondering why Shia's didn't join his fellow Transformers team on stage for their big win at the MTV Movie Awards, but in the meantime we can enjoy the finished product of that photoshoot we saw him working on back in March for Arena magazine. In the issue, Shia talks about his childhood and how much he regrets the mistakes he's made in the past year and shows his gracious side. Here are highlights:

  • On why he took up acting: "I thought it could bring me security, it could bring me structure, it could bring me my family. You see, finances ripped my family apart. That's when my dad's addictions went haywire and he lost his sh*t and had to leave. So, at a very early age, my thinking was, 'If I can fix this sh*t, then it will all be alright.' And in a way it has been."
  • On why Steven Spielberg chose him for Indiana Jones: "If I knew the answer to that I'd be a real a**hole. I don't know. We get along very well. I try not to put up much of a fight... ever. I show up on time every day. I do my job. The rest of it I couldn't tell you. IT's CRAZY to me."
  • On his childhood: "My parents weren't home because they were working. I'd be at the apartment, messing around. Talking to myself in the mirror and acting crazy. That was my upbringing."

To see what else Shia had to say about working on Indy and his arrest, just read more.

  • On the cast and crew: "It's playing basketball when you've got Michael Jordan on your team. It really doesn't matter what you do. You've just got to take the ball and pass it. That's it. And let him just do his thing. And we had five Jordans on our team. We had a stellar cast and the best crew assembled, ever, and you're in the middle of it. It was like walking into a brain. It was insane."
  • On his arrests going very public: "It's the demise of movie stars. All my favorite actors I know nothing about. There's mistakes that I'm going to have to make in my life, to grow, but those mistakes seem so permanent when everybody's talking about them. You almost want to be a recluse - but I need to live life, to experience pain so I can show up on set and express that. I'm not complaining about it. It's the life I chose. But fame is just weird in general. It doesn't get normal. I think when it does you become an a**hole."

Seems like Shia didn't take his run-in with the law lightly, so hopefully in the future he can use the energy he brings to his acting into keeping himself out of trouble. At the same time, as much as we love how humble he is — Shia should give himself a little more credit for his awesome record of making blockbusters.

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