- Title: "Honey Boy": Shia LaBeouf's 'cinematic exorcism' revisits his childhood traumas
- Date: 6th October 2019
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (OCTOBER 6, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF ACTOR AND WRITER SHIA LABEOUF POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS AT THE EUROPEAN PREMIERE OF "HONEY BOY" AT BFI LFF DIRECTOR ALMA HAR'EL POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR, ALMA HAR'EL, ON SEEING LABEOUF PLAYING HIS FATHER AND HOW HE FELT DOING IT, SAYING: "I've never seen anybody play their own father in front of, you know, the person who is basically playing themselves when they were little and there was just like such a, kind of a cinematic exorcism of sorts, you know. It's very therapeutic, I think." LABEOUF POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR, ALMA HAR'EL, ON HOW LABEOUF WAS IN RECOVERY WHEN PLAYING THIS ROLE AND HOW PEOPLE NEED TO BE MORE AWARE OF MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES, SAYING: "Shia was diagnosed with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) when he was in court order rehab and when we worked on the set I definitely got to understand better a lot of his behaviours and a lot of the things people don't really know about it and what it means to get triggered and what it means to actually, you know, be aggressive because you are actually feeling attacked in a certain moment that nobody really understands what you are going through. And awareness to that is really important because it can easily be mistaken for other things." (L-R) HAR'EL AND ACTORS NOAH JUPE AND LUCAS HEDGES WHO ARE JOINED BY LABEOUF TO POSE FOR PHOTOGRAPHS
- Embargoed: 20th October 2019 23:49
- Keywords: Honey Boy Shia LaBeouf London Film Festival BFI LFF director Alma Har'el Lucas Hedges Noah Jupe
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM/ VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
- City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM/ VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Film
- Reuters ID: LVA002AZYKPJH
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY THROUGHOUT
Shia LaBeouf bares his soul wide open in "Honey Boy", in what director Alma Har'el called a "cinematic exorcism" of his childhood traumas.
The "Transformers" star plays a troubled character based on his real-life father who battled alcoholism while looking after young Shia, the child actor.
Israeli director Har'el, who is best known for her documentary work such as "Bombay Beach" in 2011, makes her feature debut here and called LaBeouf's brave performance very "therapeutic" for the actor.
LaBeouf was in rehab while penning the idea for the film and diagnosed with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). He was still in recovery when filming began.
Har'el told Reuters on Sunday (October 6) at the film's European premiere that more support and understanding was needed to raise awareness of mental health and alcoholism - the latter she described as a "family illness" as it affects all the family members. It has affected her own. She is also many years sober. Both Har'el and LaBeouf have supported each other throughout, but she learned a lot about his condition from being on set with him.
"I definitely got to understand better a lot of his behaviours and a lot of the things people don't really know about it and what it means to get triggered," she said. "What it means to actually be aggressive because you are actually feeling attacked in a certain moment."
The story sees actors Noah Jupe and Lucas Hedges play 'Otis' at different stages in his life, a character based on a young LaBeouf.
Boy Otis (Jupe) is living in a rundown motel as he earns money acting to support and pay his father and mentor, James (LaBoeuf), but often deals with his father's emotional and physical abuse. Hedges is Otis when he goes into rehab and struggles to control his angry outbursts.
Asked whether LaBeouf's own father, Jeffrey, has seen the film, Har'el said it was tough watch for him but he was their biggest fan while making it too.
"I would get messages from him on Facebook almost every morning wishing us a good shooting day," she said.
"He is so happy that Shia is sober and that we made this film, and he's been really, kind of a real cheerleader."
"Honey Boy" is on general release in the U.S. from November 8. It is also in Official Competition at the London Film Festival.
(Production: Graham Kelly and Lisa Giles-Keddie) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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