14 DAY TRIAL // In November this year, Brad Pitt returns to the big screen in the war movie “Fury,” which also stars, among others, former “Transformers” leading man Shia LaBeouf. Shia has been going through a rough patch in recent months, getting arrested for public intoxication and disorderly conduct and behaving in the strangest ways in public.
Despite reports saying some time ago that Brad couldn’t stand Shia because he was too Method for his taste, which made him a very annoying presence on the “Fury” set, TMZ is now saying that he might turn out to be instrumental in his attempts at staying sober.
Shia is now enlisted in an outpatient program of the AA type, which is his first step towards cleaning up. He is also determined to make a good impression during the promo tour for “Fury,” which should start in the fall.
He dreads embarrassing Brad in any way, TMZ says, citing sources close to the troubled actor. “The thought of embarrassing Brad is especially sobering for him. […] The movie is a good change of pace... It does seem Shia is serious about diving back into the acting game,” the celebrity publication writes.
For the sake of clarity, we should mention that Shia has never been “out” of the acting game, even though he’s been keeping a lower profile since “Transformers,” by doing mostly indie movies.
Still, “Fury” has the potential of putting him back on the map in a big way and we’re to understand Pitt is like his role model, so he doesn’t want to disappoint him. If you consider the Oscar buzz around “Fury” already (even though we’ve only seen one trailer so far), it’s all the more reason for Shia to stay on the straight and narrow.
He could always turn to Mel Gibson for help in kicking his addiction. Not long ago, the actor / director, who is no stranger to controversies and drunken rages himself, said his heart went out for Shia for the way he was vilified in the media for something he believed was a deeply personal problem he needed help with.
“I’m sure he’s going through some kind of personal, very painful, cathartic thing that he has to exorcise and get out there. And he’ll probably play it out and come back… He’ll be all right. I actually like the kid. I think he’s good,” Gibson also said.
Should Shia reach out to Mel for some help or guidance on how to make a splashing comeback after a fall from grace of almost biblical proportions, he would definitely not get a no for an answer.