"EL ACTOR QUE SE SOMETIÓ, CUATRO HORAS EN UNA OPERACIÓN DE EMERGENCA, FUE DETENIDO POR LA SOSPECHA DE CONDUCIR BORRACHO, LO DEJARON EN LIBERTAD".

"Ed Stoppard interview: Arcadia".

"20.07.2009."It seemed his personal life had spiralled out of control and his soaring professional career was in danger of imploding in July when his pick-up truck was involved in a 3am accident which seriously injured his left hand and brought filming of the Transformers, sequel to an abrupt halt".

"The actor, who underwent a four-hour emergency operation, was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, but was not charged".

"More seriously for the mercurial director Michael Bay, LaBeouf could not return to work for several weeks and the production schedule of the 120 million pounds Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen had to be rescheduled and the script rewritten so that LaBeouf’s Sam Witwicky character suffered a hand injury, too".

"LaBeouf still bears the legacy of the early morning crash in West Hollywood and is due to undergo another operation on his injured hand, which entails straightening his crooked middle finger and inserting a screw".

"It should be fully functional again by August but I’m in therapy until then,” he said, talking in a suite at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. “I’ve just been hanging out with family and friends and healing".

"The accident, he says, affected him “in a multitude of ways,” adding somewhat portentously: “Adversity has a way of introducing a man to himself.” Then he explained: “That’s out of my mom’s mouth and it makes it easier to deal with things are way above you and way beyond you and way bigger than you".

“I’ve been floating on a cloud and this was the first real problem I’ve had to deal with in a while and it’s the first time I’ve ever dealt with mortality, which is a major thing for a man to deal with in his life. It’s a major learning curve and something I’m still dealing with".

"Probably because he grew up as an urban street urchin in the gangland of Los Angeles’ Echo Park area, where his father dealt drugs and his mother sold beads on the street and he began acting at the age of 12, LaBeouf has an air of confidence and self-awareness about him rare for someone of his young age".

"His professional career began when he started performing stand-up comedy at local clubs while he was still at school as a means of contributing to his cash-strapped family".

"He decided acting would be a good way to earn more money quickly so he found an agent in the telephone book and in 2003 landed the title role on the television series Even Stevens".

"After starring in the Disney film Holes, he astutely divided his work between major studio productions such as I, Robot and Constantine and smaller movies like The Greatest Game Ever Played, Bobby and A Guide To Recognising Your Saints, all the time bolstering his profile as a young actor who could carry a movie".

"He starred in the surprise youth-oriented hit Disturbia, a thriller inspired by Rear Window, and then his career really took off when he starred in two Steven Spielberg productions, Transformers and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, sparking speculation that he would take over from Harrison Ford if there is another Indiana Jones adventure".

"But off-screen things did not go so well. He was arrested for criminal trespass when he refused to leave a Chicago pharmacy while reportedly drunk but the charges were later dropped".

"A warrant was issued for his arrest in March last year after he failed to turn up for a court appearance regarding a citation for smoking in a smoke-free zone. The charge was dismissed when a lawyer went to court on his behalf and he paid a 300 pounds fine".

"All of the things that have happened in my life have been self-propelled,” he admitted. “I can’t blame anybody else or point a finger at anybody".

"He is currently rehearsing for his next role as a broker in Money Never Sleeps, Oliver Stone’s follow-up to Wall Street, but he knows better than many more experienced performers that he has a duty to drum up interest in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen".

“The whole point of doing interviews is to get people to read the article so that they can see the movie is coming out,” he said bluntly. “I’m not just talking to people because I have a fondness for talking; I do it so I can sell my movies".

"In Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen, LaBeouf’s Sam Witwicky and his girlfriend Mikaela "Megan Fox" once again join up with the Autobots to do battle with the Decepticons, who have returned with a Lucifer-like title character named the Fallen who is seeking revenge on humanity for his downfall. The movie also features the debuts of the one eyed mechanical jaguar Ravage and its master, Soundwave".

"The original Transformers brought in almost 500 million pounds and Paramount has high hopes the sequel will do even better".

"In describing the movie LaBeouf does not shrink from hyperbole: “It’s not just me stretching the truth, it is literally the biggest movie ever made in terms of size and scope and set pieces and action".

"The movie isn’t a continuation of the previous one; it stands on it’s own as an entity in itself.” Shia LaBeouf lives modestly, in a two-bedroom house in a Los Angeles suburb not far from his mother, to whom he remains extremely close".

"His parents are divorced and his father, a former rodeo clown, entered rehab for a drug addiction and is now clean and lives in Montana. “I support my parents. It’s like having two 50-year-old children,” laughed the actor".

“My mom is the pillar in my life and without that woman I don’t have a life. She’s very real and normal and she’s a very beautiful woman and I’d like to find a woman who treats me as good as my mother.” There is an appealing resilience and honesty which, along with his innate brashness, will help Shia LaBeouf to survive any future personal and professional buffetings".

“Life. I don’t have all the answers,” he mused. “What are you going to do? You take it on the chin and just keep walking. I’m trying to figure it out and do what I love at the same time. It’s a hard balancing act".

"I don’t think I’m becoming disillusioned with Hollywood. I think I’m just coming to terms with it and understanding it more".