Vents MagaZine Music and Entertainment Magazine
Related Articles
I was a latecomer to the Shia LaBeouf party, having early on written him off as yet another Disney tween star with a lot of Transformers flash, but not much substance. Of course, I was way off the mark with that unfair and early assessment and I admitted as much after checking out solid performances by the 35 year old Los Angeles native in such films as Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (an ‘eh’ Oliver Stone film with an amazing turn by LaBeouf), Lawless, Fury, Borg vs. McEnroe, Honey Boy and The Peanut Butter Falcon. The young thespian’s talent obviously ran deep and, much to my chagrin as a newfound supporter of his consummate work, so too did his personal demons. We’ve all seen enough episodes of The E-True Hollywood Story to know how these types of stories go: An at first widely celebrated talent lands onto the scene only to have their own darker inclinations take control just when they seem at the cusp of some real breakthrough film work. It’s a parable that has broken many-a film fanatic’s heart and it seems as inescapable as a recurring narrative as it is a sure-bet the sun will rise in the morning. Most of us don’t know the exact particulars of Shia LaBeouf’s troubles over the years, just what we’ve read secondhand or as a He Said/She Said media spectacle. What little we do know does not, however, seem to indicate that this is someone who needs to be discarded by an already fickle industry. Redemption should be something worked at and for, and by most accounts the former star of Holes has striven mightily to overcome his own shortcomings and trappings. Prominent director Abel Ferrarra who has been known to weave magic with actors such as Richard Panebianco in China Girl and Harvey Keitel in Bad Lieutenant certainly sees something quite worthwhile in LaBeouf with the news from Variety over the weekend that the erstwhile helmer has cast the actor in a leading role as the Italian Saint Padre Pio in an upcoming biopic on the revered figure.
Set to explore the early and formative years of Saint Padre Pio, Ferrarra has tapped longtime collaborator Willem Dafoe in a role to co-star alongside Shia LaBeouf. In an exclusive to our friendly neighborhood competitor, Ferrarra said that “We’re doing a film about Padre Pio, he’s a monk from Puglia. It’s set in Italy right after World War I. He’s now a saint, he had stigmata. He was also in the middle of a very heavy political period in world history. He was very young before he became a saint, so Shia LaBeouf is going to play the monk.” The famed director added that with the addition of LaBeouf in the lead role, the production is now officially “all set” to begin shooting quite soon on location in Italy.
As an admirer of LaBeouf’s acting, this pop culture pundit hopes that clearer sailing is in the horizon both personally and professionally and a leading role in an Abel Ferrarra film is a great start for a comeback.
