After rising from a troubled childhood in poverty and becoming a teen star on the Disney Channel series Even Stevens, Shia LaBeouf appeared to be the subject of an inspirational success story. His first major role as an adult was the thriller Disturbia, and LaBeouf next starred in Michael Bay's huge budget blockbuster Transformers, which set his career wheels in motion. Transformers producer Steven Spielberg was so impressed that he cast LaBeouf in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and publicly touted LaBeouf as the next big thing even if most audiences and critics didn't agree. Numerous legal troubles made it clear that LaBeouf had personal issues, and his biggest issue was his mouth. He criticized both the Transformers movies and his Indiana Jones movie, earning the ire of the Hollywood heavyweights who had supported him. He was then fired from a Broadway play only weeks before the opening for his erratic behavior during rehearsals and publicly clashing with co-star Alec Baldwin. But that was nothing compared to his latest scandal. A short film that LaBeouf directed was discovered to be almost entirely ripped off a comic by Ghost World creator Daniel Clowes. The fallout over the scandal and his mocking of Clowes by suggesting he would plagiarize his work again has led LaBeouf to claim that he is retiring. From having Spielberg as your #1 fan to being ostracized in five years that's a colossal career meltdown.
Chris McKittrick is a published author of fiction and non-fiction and has spoken about film and comic books at conferences across the United States. In addition to his work at WhatCulture!, he is a regular contributor to CreativeScreenwriting.com, MovieBuzzers.com, and DailyActor.com, a website focused on acting in all media. For more information, visit his website at http://www.chrismckit.com.
