Shia LaBeouf [1] covers the November issue of Interview magazine [2], and in addition to looking insanely hot [3] while wearing only a towel, he gets realer than real [4] about his recent troubles in the accompanying sit-down. The actor, who was interviewed by film critic Elvis Mitchell, admits that the majority of his headline-making antics — including a dramatic arrest after watching Cabaret [5] on Broadway and a performance art exhibit [6] "apologizing" for plagiarizing the work of Daniel Clowes — were the result of method acting. He also opens up about his favorite Hollywood actors (Ben Affleck [7], Sean Penn [8], Mel Gibson [9], and his Fury costar Brad Pitt [10]) and makes some startling confessions that are pretty sad. Keep reading for even more candid, thought-provoking quotes from Shia's feature in Interview [11].
![On his performance art exhibit: "The '#IAMSORRY' exhibit that I did in LA was about looking for the empathy of the internet, looking for the humanity of the networks. And if you're a guy being sh*t on by the world — when you're reading millions of tweets accusing you of megalomania and narcissism and sickness — it's hard to have hope. I was like, 'Whoa, f*ck, I'm a villain.' I was broken, and I used that. That piece was an exploration, almost like a test for myself."
On how his method acting in the play Orphans led to a feud with Alec Baldwin: "[Alec] Baldwin and I butted heads hard. I came in method. I was sleeping in the park. I'd wake up, walk to rehearsal. And my whole goal was to intimidate the f*ck out of Baldwin. That was the role. That was my job as an actor. And it wasn't going to be fake. I wanted him to be scared. So I went about doing that for three weeks of rehearsal, to the point that, in the end, it was unsustainable. I've made peace with Baldwin. He was the first dude to hit me up after I got out of court. He sent me an e-mail. It's really beautiful. I was crying on an airplane."
On his public apologies: "I don't see a big difference between method acting and performance art. My work in my film and my work in my life have influenced who I've become. Life imitates art. And so a lot of my choices, these characters that I've been playing, have actually built a person, they've raised me. The way I dealt with the crises in my life, I was very cynical. My apologies [for plagiarizing Daniel Clowes's Justin M. Damiano] on Twitter were stolen from other people's apologies as a wink, a very ironic way of apologizing. I was running with a philosophy to back the play of bad action. I took [Clowes's] work and tried to adapt it into a film out of insecurity, a fear of my own ideas. I ran with that and found that it put me in a f*cking corner. But that existential crisis forced me, like all tumultuousness does, to find new ideas."](https://media1.popsugar-assets.com/files/ps-image-unavailable.png "On his performance art exhibit: \"The '#IAMSORRY' exhibit that I did in LA was about looking for the empathy of the internet, looking for the humanity of the networks. And if you're a guy being sh*t on by the world — when you're reading millions of tweets accusing you of megalomania and narcissism and sickness — it's hard to have hope. I was like, 'Whoa, f*ck, I'm a villain.' I was broken, and I used that. That piece was an exploration, almost like a test for myself.\"
On how his method acting in the play Orphans led to a feud with Alec Baldwin: \"[Alec] Baldwin and I butted heads hard. I came in method. I was sleeping in the park. I'd wake up, walk to rehearsal. And my whole goal was to intimidate the f*ck out of Baldwin. That was the role. That was my job as an actor. And it wasn't going to be fake. I wanted him to be scared. So I went about doing that for three weeks of rehearsal, to the point that, in the end, it was unsustainable. I've made peace with Baldwin. He was the first dude to hit me up after I got out of court. He sent me an e-mail. It's really beautiful. I was crying on an airplane.\"
On his public apologies: \"I don't see a big difference between method acting and performance art. My work in my film and my work in my life have influenced who I've become. Life imitates art. And so a lot of my choices, these characters that I've been playing, have actually built a person, they've raised me. The way I dealt with the crises in my life, I was very cynical. My apologies [for plagiarizing Daniel Clowes's Justin M. Damiano] on Twitter were stolen from other people's apologies as a wink, a very ironic way of apologizing. I was running with a philosophy to back the play of bad action. I took [Clowes's] work and tried to adapt it into a film out of insecurity, a fear of my own ideas. I ran with that and found that it put me in a f*cking corner. But that existential crisis forced me, like all tumultuousness does, to find new ideas.\"")
- On his performance art exhibit: "The '#IAMSORRY' exhibit that I did in LA [12] was about looking for the empathy of the internet, looking for the humanity of the networks. And if you're a guy being sh*t on by the world — when you're reading millions of tweets accusing you of megalomania and narcissism and sickness — it's hard to have hope. I was like, 'Whoa, f*ck, I'm a villain.' I was broken, and I used that. That piece was an exploration, almost like a test for myself."
- On how his method acting in the play Orphans led to a feud with Alec Baldwin [13]: "[Alec] Baldwin and I butted heads hard. I came in method. I was sleeping in the park. I'd wake up, walk to rehearsal. And my whole goal was to intimidate the f*ck out of Baldwin. That was the role. That was my job as an actor. And it wasn't going to be fake. I wanted him to be scared. So I went about doing that for three weeks of rehearsal, to the point that, in the end, it was unsustainable. I've made peace with Baldwin. He was the first dude to hit me up after I got out of court. He sent me an e-mail. It's really beautiful. I was crying on an airplane."
- On his public apologies: "I don't see a big difference between method acting and performance art. My work in my film and my work in my life have influenced who I've become. Life imitates art. And so a lot of my choices, these characters that I've been playing, have actually built a person, they've raised me. The way I dealt with the crises in my life, I was very cynical. My apologies [for plagiarizing Daniel Clowes's Justin M. Damiano] on Twitter were stolen from other people's apologies as a wink, a very ironic way of apologizing. I was running with a philosophy to back the play of bad action. I took [Clowes's] work and tried to adapt it into a film out of insecurity, a fear of my own ideas. I ran with that and found that it put me in a f*cking corner. But that existential crisis forced me, like all tumultuousness does, to find new ideas."
- On working with Ben Affleck [14] on 2003's The Battle of Shaker Heights: "Ben Affleck and Matt Damon [15] were heroes from my generation. It was a level that I didn't think I would ever attain. Ben is a really charming dude. He was the first guy who really took me off to the side and made me feel like I could do it. [He said] 'Keep your head on straight, kid, and don't let all this get to you.' He knew that I had cameras in my face and that there were expectations to perform. I think that's always been my issue. I'm prone to theatrics in my life. Ben saw that I turned reality up to 11. I was a wild man at that wrap party. Ben saw that and was trying to curb it before it became an issue. He was unsuccessful."
- On working with Brad Pitt [16] and finding religion on Fury: "I found God doing Fury. I became a Christian man, and not in a f*cking bullsh*t way — in a very real way. I could have just said the prayers that were on the page. But it was a real thing that really saved me. I had good people around me who helped me. Brad [Pitt] was really instrumental in guiding my head through this. Brad comes from a hyper-religious, very deeply Christian, Bible Belt life, and he rejected it and moved toward an unnamed spirituality. People don't know this about Brad: He's a very thoughtful actor. That's not a motherf*cker who just shows up and does the job. He puts a lot in, so you get a lot out. He's hard on himself, very hard."
- On his tumultuous relationship with his father: "The only thing my father gave me that was of any value to me is pain. The only time my dad will ever talk to me is when I need him at work. He knows to pick up the Skype phone call, and he knows what I'm looking for. It's not to say 'Hey, Dad.' We manipulate each other. It's not a real conversation; it's just an excuse to rev up. He's the marionette puppeteer. My dad is the key to most of my base emotions. My greatest and my worst memories are with my father, all my major trauma and major celebration came from him. It's a negative gift. And I'm not ready to let go of it, because anger has a lot of power."
- On "turning off" his negative emotions: "I don't, that's the thing. I'm trying to find a way to have some control over my actions, my behavior, my ideas, my thoughts, my path in life. But it's very new for me. There hasn't been much off time. And when your emotional state is based on whatever you've committed to for the next six, seven months of your life, you have to be careful about what you say yes to. There's a f*cking price to some movies. Some movies you don't get back what you give."
- On running from his problems: "I've been a runner my whole life, running from myself. Whether to movies or drinking and drugging or f*cking calamity or whatever it is, I've always been running. I'm a dude who loves delusion. It's why I love being an actor — I never have to actually look at myself or be faced with my sh*t or take responsibility. So it's been an eye-opening thing to have to look at myself, at my life, and have these reflective moments."