50 facts about Shia LaBeouf: became known among younger audiences as Louis Stevens in the Disney Channel series Even Stevens

Shia LaBeouf made his film debut in Holes, based on the novel of the same name by Louis Sachar. Learn 50 facts about LaBeouf.

1. LaBeouf was born in Los Angeles, California.

2. He is the only child of Shayna and Jeffrey Craig LaBeouf.

3. His mother is a dancer and ballerina turned visual artist and clothing jewelry designer.

4. His father is a Vietnam War veteran who had numerous jobs.

5. LaBeouf's mother is Jewish.

6. His father, who is of Cajun descent, is Christian.

7. His first name is derived from Hebrew שי יה shai Yah, meaning "gift of God".

8. LaBeouf has described his parents as "hippies", his father as "tough as nails and a different breed of man", and his upbringing as similar to a "hippy lifestyle", stating that his parents were "pretty weird people, but they loved me and I loved them."

9. During his childhood, he accompanied his father to meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous.

10. His parents eventually divorced, mainly owing to financial problems, and LaBeouf had what he has described as a "good childhood", growing up poor in Echo Park with his mother, who worked selling fabrics and brooches.

11. LaBeouf's uncle was going to adopt him at one stage because his parents could not afford to have him anymore and "they had too much pride to go on welfare or food stamps."

12. As a way of dealing with his parents' divorce, he would perform for his family, mimicking his father.

13. LaBeouf remains close to and financially supports both of his parents.

14. He attended 32nd Street Visual and Performing Arts Magnet in Los Angeles (LAUSD) and Alexander Hamilton High School, although he received most of his education from tutors.

15. In an interview, LaBeouf said that, looking back on his childhood, he feels grateful and considers some of those memories scars.

16. His full name is Shia Saide LaBeouf.

17. He became known among younger audiences as Louis Stevens in the Disney Channel series Even Stevens.

18. LaBeouf received a Young Artist Award nomination in 2001.

19. Won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2003.

20. He made his film debut in Holes, based on the novel of the same name by Louis Sachar.

21. In 2004, he made his directorial debut with the short film Let's Love Hate and later directed a short film titled Maniac, starring American rappers Cage and Kid Cudi.

22. In 2007, LaBeouf starred in the commercially successful films Disturbia and Surf's Up.

23. In 2007 he was cast in Michael Bay's science fiction film Transformers as Sam Witwicky, the main protagonist of the series. Despite mixed reviews, Transformers was a box office success and one of the highest grossing films of 2007.

24. LaBeouf later appeared in its sequels Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Transformers: Dark of the Moon, both also box office successes.

25. In 2008, he played Henry "Mutt Williams" Jones III in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the fourth film in the Indiana Jones franchise.

26. His other films include Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Lawless, The Company You Keep, Nymphomaniac and Fury.

27. Prior to acting, LaBeouf practiced comedy around his neighborhood as an "escape" from a hostile environment.

28. He found an agent through the Yellow Pages and was taken on after pretending to be his own manager.

29. LaBeouf has said that he initially became an actor because his family was broke, not because he wanted to pursue an acting career, having originally gotten the idea from a child actor he met who had things he wanted.

30. In the early 2000s, LaBeouf became known among young audiences after playing Louis Stevens on the Disney Channel weekly program Even Stevens. He has said that "[he] grew up on that show" and being cast was the "best thing" that happened to him.

31. In 2005, he co-starred in Constantine, playing the role of Chas Kramer, with Keanu Reeves in the starring role.

32. He has played real-life people, including golfer Francis Ouimet and the younger version of Dito Montiel in A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints.

33. From 2004 to 2007, LaBeouf dated China Brezner, whom he met on the set of The Greatest Game Ever Played.

34. Hosted Saturday Night Live on April 14, 2007 he would also return barely a year later to host the May 10, 2008 episode.

35. He next played Sam Witwicky, who becomes involved in the Autobot-Decepticon war on Earth, in Transformers.

36. LaBeouf made his music video directorial debut, directing the video for "I Never Knew You", a single by American rapper Cage, from his third album Depart from Me. It was shot in Los Angeles and features several cameo appearances from Cage's Definitive Jux label-mates. When speaking on the making of the video, LaBeouf said: "I'm 22 and I'm directing my favorite rapper's music video. This shit is better than riding unicorns."

37. Through Cage, LaBeouf met Kid Cudi. All three of them have formed a friendship and continued to work together.

38. LaBeouf later worked with Cudi and Cage on a short film inspired by their collaborative "Maniac", from Cudi's second album Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager.

39. Aside from directing the short film, which was titled MANIAC, LaBeouf directed the music video for Kid Cudi's song "Marijuana", which he filmed at the 2010 Cannabis Cup.

40. He dated English actress and one-time co-star Carey Mulligan from August 2009 to October 2010.

41. LaBeouf and Mulligan were introduced by the film's director, Oliver Stone, prior to filming and began dating shortly after.

42. Regarding his performance in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, due to LaBeouf's injury from his car accident, Bay and screen writer Roberto Orci had to rewrite the script to protect his hand throughout filming.

43. Near the end of filming Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, LaBeouf injured his eye when he hit a prop; the injury required seven stitches. He resumed filming two hours later.

44. His only 2010 movie was the Oliver Stone-directed film Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, the sequel to Wall Street. In this, LaBeouf played an ambitious Wall Street trader.

45. LaBeouf completed the 2010 Los Angeles Marathon on March 21, 2010 with a time of 4 hours, 35 minutes and 31 seconds.

46. LaBeouf has created three short graphic novels Stale N Mate, Cyclical, and Let's Fucking Party, and a webcomic series, Cheek Up's through the publishing company, The Campaign Book.

47. He reprised his role in the third live-action Transformers film, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, which was released on June 28, 2011. He did not return for the fourth film in the series, Transformers: Age of Extinction, and Mark Wahlberg was cast as a new lead character.

48. In 2004, LaBeouf contributed an essay to the book I Am Jewish, by Judea Pearl, in which LaBeouf stated that he has a "personal relationship with God that happens to work within the confines of Judaism".

49. He has described himself as Jewish, but declared in 2007 that religion had "never made sense" to him.

50. However, in an interview published in Interview Magazine in October 2014, LaBeouf stated "I found God doing Fury. I became a Christian man, and not in a fucking bullshit 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".