The actor wasn’t doing well at all when she cast him for Don’t Worry Darling. But he refutes his dismissal from the film, explaining that it was he who left the project.
A few days before its cinema release, Olivia Wilde finally explained why she no longer wanted to collaborate with Shia Labeouf on Don’t Worry Darling. “I say it while being a person who admires Shia’s work: his creative process was not compatible with the ethics that I ask for on my productions, explained the director this week in Variety. In a way, he needed a fighting energy, and I don’t think that leads to delivering the best performance. Many things happened because of his behavior (the article then evokes the complaint for psychological and sexual abuse filed by his partner at the time and partner in Honey Boy, FKA Twigs, editor’s note), which troubled me. For our film, on the contrary, we needed incredible support. I knew that with this particular project, I was going to put Florence in a position of vulnerability. My priority was for her to feel safe and supported. I believe that by creating an environment of trust and security, you get the best out of people. Ultimately, my responsibility to the entire production team, and therefore to the cast, is to protect them. It was my job.”
Don’t Worry Darling: Olivia Wilde fired Shia Labeouf to protect Florence Pugh
An interview that did not escape the actor, actually replaced by Harry Styles during the production of this psychological thriller, in 2020. In turn interviewed by varietyas well as Pastor Robert Barron, who shared their discussion on YouTube, he looks back on this dark period of his career, his behavioral problems both on film sets and in his private life. He confirms that he was not in a good state of mind when Olivia Wilde chose him for her film, but assures that it was he who asked to leave the project. Over the course of this very cash interview, he also reveals that he has thought about suicide.
“At that time, I had become nuclear, he regrets. No one wanted to talk to me anymore, not even my mother. My manager wasn’t calling anymore, neither was the agent. I no longer had a connection with this business. I had a gun on my table, right at my fingertips. I didn’t want to live anymore when all this happened. I felt so ashamed, a shame I had never felt before and it was making it hard for me to breathe. I didn’t know what to do, where to go. I couldn’t leave my house to buy myself a thing, a taco.” He then recounts having regained hope by participating in a spiritual retreat which led him to meet Abel Ferrara, who was preparing his film on a controversial priest of the last century, Father Pio. Converted since to Catholicism, he details how their joint research for this project and the complaint filed by his ex-girlfriend finally helped him get out of it. “When she accused me of all these things, I wanted to go on Twitter, I wanted to tell my version, to justify myself, to explain… Now I understand. This woman saved my life. For me, she was a saint in my life. She saved my life.”
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More specifically about his departure from Don’t Worry DarlingShia LaBeouf shares text messages they exchanged at the time with Olivia Wilde, and responds directly to the director in a long, very personal open letter, in which he frankly discusses his new family life (he married Mia Goth and they have a 5 month old daughter), but also his violent behavior towards FKA Twigs: “I left your film. You know very well why and so do I. Because we didn’t have enough time to rehearse with the other actors”, he writes in particular. Among the messages he shares with the American magazine is one from Olivia Wilde, who sent him in August 2020, after discussing his departure: “Thank you for letting me into your process. I know it’s not fun. It’s never nice to say no to someone and I respect your honesty. I’m honored that you wanted to to do this project with me, that I can tell this story with you. I’m sad, because it could have been something special. I want to make it clear how much it means to me that you trusted me . It’s a gift that I keep.” Explaining in his letter that he “is and may remain persona-non-grata in Hollywood”he denies having been fired, asks him to respect his departure and explains why it is important in his eyes to tell the truth in the press. “My mistakes with Twigs are big and real, but things didn’t turn out the way they were portrayed in the press. There is a time and a place to deal with these things, I’m trying to navigate this issue , respecting it and also respecting the truth, and sometimes keeping silent. But this other problem with your film, the story that I was ‘fired’, it’s not true. If these lies are repeated enough to the public, they become facts. Then it will be more difficult for me to come out of the hole that I dug myself with my past behaviors, and to be able to devote myself to my family.”
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Shia LaBeouf Responds to Olivia Wilde and Reveals He Thought About Suicide While Crossing the Desert