Shia LaBeouf is one busy man. Although his intense press tour in promotion of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, has taken him all around the world in recent weeks, the actor who plays Sam Witwicky in the film had time to stop in for a conference call with The Diamondback. Here is what the 22-year-old star had to say.
On how Revenge of the Fallen differs from the original film …
“I think that definitely like the easiest way that I could point at and say that it’s going to be a better film is it’s definitely the most explosive thing that you can possibly buy tickets to this year. We broke like four or five Guinness World Records making it.”
On the movie’s special effects …
“This guy named John Frazier is, like, the oldest practical effects guy in the business. He was the dude that used to hang out underneath the wheel of fortune and bankrupt people with a stick. He’s been in it that long. And so he rigged an explosion for seven months, which is basically a 1,000-gallon gasoline bomb. And for seven months, which is longer than what we were filming for, they were rigging the bomb for longer than we took to make the entire film. And that bomb wound up being the biggest bomb ever filmed with actors in it in the history of cinema. So that’s one way.
“The stunts and everything are just on a whole other level. But there’s humor – there’s a lot more humor, and there’s great additions in terms of character and cast, and you see more robots. So it’s a win for everyone I think.”
On how he prepared for the role …
“Again, it’s not Elephant Man. We’re not making Citizen Kane. It’s not like some crazy Stanislavsky emotional preparation stuff. You know? It’s none of that. A lot of it is physical exertion. So having to physically exert yourself when you have a broken hand is rough. So that made it difficult.”
On his much-publicized hand injury during filming …
“You know there [were] a lot of people that got injured beyond just that injury. I got injured multiple times beyond that injury. That wasn’t even the scariest injury I dealt with. I mean, but it’s just a very physical, physical movie and [director Michael Bay] makes you do as much as possible because he has seven or eight cameras going at once.
“So it’s not like you can just pull the actor out of this shot and replace him with a stunt man because you’ve got seven other cameras that are at top angles that need to see that actor in that position because you can only blow the building one time.
“And situations like that arise everyday, and you wind up putting your actor in the middle of it, so it’s fun for me because I feel like a bad ass. But you all feel you’re in a very safe situation. They’re not going to risk your life on a stunt ever because there’s so much money riding on the fact that you need to be able to stay alive to be able to make the rest of the movie. I actually am safer on set than I am in life. So that was the only thing: just dealing with the physical aspect.”
On his character’s role in Revenge of the Fallen …
“Well, Sam saved the world the first time, right? So just imagine Brad Pitt going to Trader Joe’s to go get a granola bar. Like that’s a real hard f—ing go, right? So, if you save the world you have a real problem trying to buy a granola bar, you know? Like anywhere you go, you’re the guy who saved the world.
“And you’re trying to go to college and have like a normal life. And as you know college is a humongous, humongous deal for kids who didn’t enjoy their life in high school because it’s a chance to start over. And Sam was this nebbishy, neurotic, dorky kid in high school who fell into the most ridiculous situation.”
On the storyline in Revenge of the Fallen …
“The movie starts two years later from where the last one left off. He’s on his way to school to start a new life, to get away from his parents, to get as far away from his parents as he can because he’s stifled and feels like most kids do who have extremely protective parents. He’s sheltered, or they’re attempting to keep him sheltered.
“And on top of that, he’s got Bumblebee living in his garage who is his guardian. And he’s just sick of having guardians. He’s trying to create his own world and create his own personality free from other people’s input. And he goes off to college, and when he gets to college, he starts having problems, meaning he starts having these spastic fits of information.
“Where like his great, great grandfather, Archibald Witwicky, starts having these visions. These things just start popping up into his head. And he’s seeing symbols and, come to find out, the symbols wind up being a map which lead to Decepticons to … the Energon source that is still being held here on earth.
“Decepticons and Autobots need Energon to create armies, to revive fallen comrades, to create new worlds, to create armies – to do everything. It’s their main resource. And the little bit that’s left here, the only way to find it is through this map, and the only way to use the map is through my mind. And so they stop my little stint at college to handle business.”
On why he didn’t attend college like his character does in the film …
“I wanted to go to college – f— man. I wanted to go to college so bad, and I was going to go. I was set to go. I had my backpack picked out, all my cool little pump up pencils and stuff. I was ready. And at the last minute, a guy named Steven Spielberg called up and had a plan for other things. And I wasn’t like, “Well listen Steven, you’ve got great ideas and all, but I don’t think so boss, I’m headed to school. So I didn’t do that because I’m not insane. And so I decided to listen to Steven Spielberg as opposed to listening to myself.
“But still, I mean even though I’ve done these movies, and I’m very fortunate and blessed to have done them, I always feel lesser than [college graduates]. I always feel like … anytime I’m around anybody who’s gone to school, they have a superiority, you know, about them. It’s just … I don’t know, it’s just one of those insecurities I’ll deal with for the rest of my life unless I go to school.
“I don’t want to go do school like, you know, here’s this movie star. Of course he got into this school type of stuff because that’d just be lame, so trying to wrap my head around how to do school – it’s rough. But I do [want to go] – I am extremely envious.”
On being friends with Revenge of the Fallen executive producer Spielberg …
“It ain’t bad. It’s fantastic, man. It’s a blessing. It’s the answer. It’s the quickest way to be successful in the industry is to befriend the most successful person in the industry.”
On who from the first Transformers he enjoyed working with again on the sequel …
“Okay, now which … hmm. Interesting. I mean the obvious is [Megan Fox] – right? I’m a red-blooded American man, age 22, so there’s that. And I think [John] Turturro. I think honestly Turturro was so insane, man. Turturro is like one of the craziest people I’ve ever come across in my life, not even on some actor stuff, just on some people stuff. He’s a crazy, crazy dude. Man he’s really out of his mind.
“And so the beauty of that is he uses sanity, whatever he has left sanity-wise, at the hotel room, and then he comes to work every day. So you wind up with this dude that’s just outrageous , outrageous man. And Michael Bay is not going to say anything to him because he’s John Turturro.
“So he just gets free reign to just be insane all day long in the middle of the most insane explosions, and I don’t know how to describe it to you man. It’s just … I don’t know. Sometimes he’s like Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now, and then sometimes he’s like Gene Wilder in [Willie Wonka &] the Chocolate Factory. I mean he’s just on another level.”
tfloyd1@umd.edu
