14 DAY TRIAL // Shia LaBeouf has been acting very oddly in the past several months, with some saying he’s either having the most scandalous meltdown in showbiz or mounting the most fascinating to watch PR campaign. Even fellow actor James Franco is intrigued.
Franco, who never shies away from labeling himself an “artiste,” wrote an op-ed for the New York Times called “Why Actors Act Out,” in which he discusses this need all actors feel to act out when they consider they’re being erroneously boxed or otherwise limited.
As was to be expected, LaBeouf’s name comes up, with Franco saying that, while he doesn’t know for sure whether he’s putting on a show or really having some issues, he’s praying for the former.
“This behavior could be a sign of many things, from a nervous breakdown to mere youthful recklessness. For Mr. LaBeouf’s sake I hope it is nothing serious. Indeed I hope — and, yes, I know that this idea has pretentious or just plain ridiculous overtones — that his actions are intended as a piece of performance art, one in which a young man in a very public profession tries to reclaim his public persona,” Franco says.
He can’t say he’s a stranger to the feelings LaBeouf must be feeling. Like Shia, he too rebelled against the label pinned on him by the industry and did the exact opposite of what was expected of him.
Franco is drawing a comparison with Shia’s “Transformers” fame, which, though made him an international star and a very wealthy man, he always instinctively rebelled against as being non-representative of his art.
“At times I have felt the need to dissociate myself from my work and public image. In 2009, when I joined the soap opera ‘General Hospital’ at the same time as I was working on films that would receive Oscar nominations and other critical acclaim, my decision was in part an effort to jar expectations of what a film actor does and to undermine the tacit — or not so tacit — hierarchy of entertainment,” Franco writes.
This could be what Shia’s doing as well, what with the plagiarism scandal, the odd performance art show held in LA, and the public appearances with a paper bag on his head.
“Mr. LaBeouf has been acting since he was a child, and often an actor’s need to tear down the public creation that constrains him occurs during the transition from young man to adult. I think Mr. LaBeouf’s project, if it is a project, is a worthy one. I just hope that he is careful not to use up all the good will he has gained as an actor in order to show us that he is an artist,” Franco states.
His full op-ed is available at the New York Times.