Here it is, a post dedicated to the Transfomers lead star, Shia LaBeouf, pronounced "Shy-a La Buff". Most of you probably know him when he was still little, from the Nickelodeon TV Series, Even Stevens, where he plays Louis Stevens, Ren's "annoying little brother". This 66-episode show is a family/comedy show about the quirks and misadventures of the Stevens family, and Louis particularly gets into a lot of mishaps that he tries to solve them in his crazy way. He also starred in 1 episode stints in several TV shows like ER, The X Files, Suddenly Susan, Touched by an Angel, Freaks and Geeks, and lent his voice to an episode of The Proud Family.
In 2001, he starred as Ronny Van Dusen in Hounded, the headmaster's son and rival of Jay for a scholarship, then as Eddie Walker in a family drama, Tru Confessions, a film adapted from a novel with the same title. As Eddie Walker, he acted as the twin mentally-disabled brother of his fame-aspiring sister, Trudy Walker. He appears again in comedy movies, this time in Holes (2003), as Stanley Yelnats IV, who was wrongfully placed in a juvenile facility, which he attributed to his family's supposed bad luck streak. The juvenile delinquents are punished by being forced to dig holes every day.
Even Stevens released a movie where Shia again played as Louis Stevens. The movie revolves around a Survivor-like theme where the family is stranded in an island and are forced into two groups when Louis supposedly angers the gods of the island. They later on realize that there is more to the predicament than meets the eye, and that they are just pawns in a new reality TV show. Also in 2003, he stars in more popular films - Dumb and Dumber and Charlie's Angels. In the latter, he plays Max, a Motocross champion whom the angels have been tasked to protect.
In 2004/2005, he starred in 2 very popular, kickass shows: IRobot, and Constantine. While he only plays a small role in IRobot, and gets just a couple of screentime trying to defeat the robots gone wild, he gets a larger role in the latter movie. In Constantine, he is John Constantine's apprentice in demon-expelling.
Then, he plays in a more serious show, a golf drama, The Greatest Game Ever Played, where he is Francis Ouimet, a young American who wishes to participate in a US Open amidst the prejudice of English society.
He goes on to play other roles in the year 2006, and finally stars in Transformers, which is arguably his shining moment. Earlier this year (or for some people in other countries, later this year), you might have seen him in a thriller Disturbia, where he is a teenager placed in House Arrest, who finds out some deadly secrets about his next-door neighbor.
Over the years, we have seen his natural comedic sense as well as his ability to star in more serious, intense roles. His talent, versatility, and friendly, unassuming manner are qualities I am certainly something looking forward to in more movies to come. In 2008, expect to see him in the fourth installment of Indiana Jones, which will definitely be a good watch.
I wish you all the best, Shia! You deserve it!
And here is a teaser to the 4th installment of Indiana Jones. Go pompadour Shia!!!
