42 Interesting Facts About Shia LaBeouf

Shia LaBeouf is an actor known for films that include the Transformers franchise as well as Constantine, Surf's Up and Eagle Eye. Recently, LaBeouf has been making headlines for his plagiarism antics, walking out of press conferences after only saying a single sentence and wearing paper bags over his head to red carpet events. Here are 42 interesting facts of Shia LaBeouf.

1. He got his name from his grandfather Shia who is a comedian.

2. His upbringing was not easy. His father was a heroin addict and his mother had to make ends meet by selling bread on the street in order to pay rent. He is an only child.

3. As a kid, Shia often attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings with his father, who was an alcoholic and a drug addict.

4. When he was young, he and his parents would dress up like clowns and sell hot dogs in the park across the street from their apartment. They lived in Echo Park, Los Angeles, California.

5. His mother is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. His father has Cajun (French) ancestry.

6. He's a self-reliant person. He looked up a agent in the Yellow Pages at age 12 and his first professional role was in an Oreo's commercial.

7. Ever wonder why Shia got into acting? He said in an interview it's because his family was poor and he wanted to find a way to make a lot of money to support them and himself.

8. Shia LaBeouf's last name is spelled incorrectly. "In French, LaBeouf means 'beef,' but mine is spelled wrong. It should be 'LaBoeuf,'" he told Parade magazine in 2008.

9. French people make fun of his name. "Shia is a bad four-letter word in French. So the literal translation of my name is 'S--t the Beef.' However, Shia is Hebrew for "Gift from God."

10. Shia attended 32nd Street USC Visual and Performing Arts Magnet in Los Angeles when he was younger.

11. Shia got his big break at age 13 as the star of the Disney Channel sitcom Even Stevens.

12. He won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2003 for his role on Even Stevens.

13. He loved playing basketball with "Lizzie McGuire" star Adam Lamberg.

14. He attended the Hamilton Academy of Music in Los Angeles, California, along with actors such as Emile Hirsch, Fernanda Romero, Frank Miranda Will Rothhaar, Rachel Kiri Walker, Candace Lifson, Kyla Pratt, Kaitlin Doubleday and Cherish Lee.

15. What's one of his most embarrassing moments? While on set shooting Holes in 2003, his father came to visit him and started flirting with Shia's co-star, Sigourney Weaver. "That's the most embarrassed you'll ever be as a human."

16. Shia considers The Greatest Game Ever Played as his transition movie from child actor to adult actor.

17. From 2004 to 2007, LaBeouf dated China Brezner, whom he met on the set of The Greatest Game Ever Played. Unfortunately, the broke up due to conflicting schedules.

18. He dated English actress and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps co-star Carey Mulligan from August 2009 to October 2010.

19. He was accepted to Yale which was his first choice of University in high school, but he chose to focus on his acting career instead. So far, the decision has served him well.

20. Shia has a tattoo of a paw print on his left shoulder.

21. He has a scar on his ribs from a fight scene while filming the movie Disturbia (2007).

22. Had only two days off between finishing the shooting of Disturbia and beginning that of Transformers.

    
    

23. He loves comedy movies and some of his favorites include Dumb & Dumber and Saving Silverman.

24. His favorite food is Mexican food - bring on the tacos and burritos.

25. At 21 years old, he's arrested for trespassing in a Chicago Walgreens after allegedly appearing intoxicated and refusing to leave the store. "I was an a--hole, and it was a mistake I'm still completely embarrassed about," LaBeouf tells Empire magazine.

26. In 2008, he was booked for a DUI after getting into a accident which caused him to have extensive hand surgery which caused delays of Transformers 2.

27. His driver's license was suspended for a year in January 2009, as a consequence of refusing blood-alcohol-level testing after his car accident in 2008.

28. Shia LaBeouf is the co-owner and founder of an independent film company, Grassy Slope, along with his best friend and fellow actor Lorenzo Eduardo.

29. He considers his second father and mentor to be Jon Voight, Angelina Jolie's father. The two worked together in 2003′s Holes and have been close.

30. He says Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Jodie Foster and John Turturro are his inspirations.

31. He says he would like to star in a biographical film about New York Horror-Core MC and personal friend Chris Palko.

32. He directed Cage's music video for "I Never Knew You." And through Cage, Shia met rapper Kid Cudi and the three of them all make short films together.

33. Shia went full-frontal nude in a 2012 French music video.

34. He is Selena Gomez's ideal man.

35. He has a tattoo on right wrist, '1986-2004', the latter year marked the year he decided to be an adult.

36. Shia is short-sighted and wears contact lenses.

37. He celebrates Christmas and Hanukkah.

38. Some of his favorite musicians include System of a Down, 50 Cent, Eminem, D12, Led Zeppelin, Jack Johnson, Ben Folds and others.
39. Shia was accused of plagiarizing Daniel Clowes comic for his short film HowardCantour.com which was feadebuted at the May 2012 Cannes Film Festival. Shortly after the video was posted online, BuzzFeed noted the striking similarities between it and Justin M. Damiano, a 2007 comic by Daniel Clowes-a cartoonist of whom LaBeouf is a documented "huge fan." He was then caught plagiarizing his apology from a Yahoo! Answers page.

40. During a press conference in Berlin for Lars Von Trier's Nymphomaniac Part 1, Shia arrived looking scruffy and was quite throughout the conference. At the end when he was asked a question, he answered: "When the seagulls follow the trawler, it's because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea," and then got up and left. However, this "quote" was first made by Eric Cantona, a football player for Manchester United.

41. He wore a paperbag on his head a red carpet event for Nymphomaniac Part 1 with the words " I am not famous anymore" written on them.
42. He has tweeted those same words "I am not famous anymore" daily since January 20. Whatever is happening with Shia, let's hope he comes out of it A-OK and continues to dazzle us with his great performances.