Actor Shia LaBeouf said he converted to Christianity during filming his next film “Padre Pio” and to have become a member of the Roman Catholic Church.
Shia LaBeouf revealed her conversion in an interview released Thursday to Bishop Robert Barron of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.
The actor first approached the Church when he lived with a monastery of Capuchin Franciscan friars to better understand the figure of Padre Pio, whom LaBeouf plays in Abel Ferrara’s next film.
Ahead of the project, the actor said he was in the darkest moment of his life after a series of public scandals. He was drawn to spirituality and joined various faith groups to find meaning, battling thoughts of helplessness and suicide.
“I had a gun on the table. I was leaving, ”Shia recalled in the nearly 90-minute interview. “I didn’t want to live since all this happened. A shame I’ve never felt before, the kind of shame that makes you forget how to breathe. You don’t know where to go. You can’t go out and get a taco like it’s nothing ”.
“But I also had this deep desire to resist”he later added to the heavy and personal intimate statements.
Shia LaBeouf described the surprise of finding faith during her quest, saying that her mindset during the film was focused on her career, not God.
“The directions to take were few by now, I was already there, I had nowhere to go. It was the last stop on the train. There was nowhere else to go, in every sense, ”LaBeouf said in the interview.
And he continued: “Now I know that God was using my ego to draw me to Him. Pulling me away from worldly desires. All of this was happening simultaneously. But I wouldn’t have had any incentive to get in the car and drive to the monastery if I hadn’t thought, ‘Oh, I’m going to save my career and my life too.’
Shia LaBeouf converts to Catholicism after studying for the film about Padre Pio!
During the research and interpretation of the role, however, Shia LaBeouf stated that he heard himself “Deceived” from God.
“And when I got here, an exchange took place. It was like the three card game. It seemed that someone had deceived me. Not in the negative. In a way I couldn’t see it. I was so close that I couldn’t see it. Now that time has passed I see it differently ”.
LaBeouf described dialogue with his feelings and knowledge of the Christian conception of sin and forgiveness as the key to getting out of a dark period in his life.
The actor said he didn’t feel worthy to pursue pity of any kind until he met others who had fought morally in ways he had never seen before and felt safe.
Last year, we recall that Shia LaBeouf was charged with two minor offenses – theft and beatings – after stealing a man’s hat during an argument that escalated into violence. Just a couple of months later, his ex-girlfriend and pop star FKA Twigs sued him for allegedly abusive behavior.
Another ex-girlfriend was also cited in the lawsuit and claimed that LaBeouf was abusive towards her.
It was seeing other people sinning beyond anything I could ever conceive of being found in Christ that made me feel like “Oh, this gives me hope,” LaBeouf told the bishop. “I started hearing experiences of other people with similar problems to mine who had found their way into this, and it made me feel like I was allowed to try and get on with my life despite everything.”
LaBeouf plays the protagonist in the film “Padre Pio” directed by Abel Ferrara which explores the life of the mysterious and complex Capuchin Franciscan friar.
Shia LaBeouf converts to Catholicism after studying for the role of Padre Pio