Shia LaBeouf's Roller-Coaster Life — from Disney Star to Legal Troubles and Controversies

Actor Shia LaBeouf, also known for films like "Transformers" and "Indiana Jones," has had plenty of ups and downs throughout his life and career, but he is apparently back on his feet.

Born in June 1986, LaBeouf has been involved in the entertainment industry since he was only a child, landing his first acting gig in the made-for-TV film "Breakfast with Einstein."

[LaBeouf] plagiarized "Justin M. Damiano," an indie comic.

SHIA LABEOUF'S EARLY CAREER

For years, he kept appearing in different films and TV shows like "Monkey Business" and "The X Files" before making it big in the Disney Channel series "Even Stevens."

Due to his outstanding performance of Louis Stevens in the show, he took home a Daytime Emmy Awards in 2003. It was also in 2003 that he got his breakout role in "Holes," where he portrayed Stanley.

At that point, it was evident that Shia LaBeouf had a bright and promising career ahead. However, different circumstances have prevented him from being the star that everybody expected.

One of the first negative experiences in his life happened when he was only 21 years old. While drunk, he tried to get some cigarettes at four in the morning from a Walgreens store.

DOWNFALL OF SHIA LABEOUF

Things went wrong, and he ended up being arrested and charged with a misdemeanor for criminal trespassing.

During an interview with David Letterman, Shia LaBeouf explained the arrest in detail and admitted that he deserved it. Fortunately for him, the charges were dropped.

Another highly-publicized incident took place in 2013 when he released a short film online that was supposedly written by him. However, it was later revealed that he plagiarized "Justin M. Damiano," an indie comic written by comic book creator Daniel Clowes.

Although he alleged that he got "lost" in the creative process, it was not the only time that he plagiarized somebody else's work. In fact, for some of his comic books, he copied the work of authors like Charles Bukowski and Benoit Duteurtre.

Trying to defend himself, LaBeouf said that copyright laws were too restrictive and that, for that reason, ideas could no flow freely. His apology was difficult to accept because, according to Forbes, he basically copied Clowe's comic book "word-for-word."

In 2014, a few months after the incident took place, he went to the red-carpet event of the Cannes Film Festival with a paper bag on his head that read, "I am not famous anymore."

SHIA LABEOUF'S MOST RECENT ARRESTS

Also that year, he launched the #IAMSORRY project, which consisted of wearing the same paper bag on his head while silently sitting in a room so that visitors, one by one, could interact with him with different props.

LaBeouf later admitted that one of the visitors molested him. No charges were filed against the alleged molester.

Later, in June, he was arrested for disorderly conduct during a Broadway performance of "Cabaret" for interrupting the show. He was arrested again in October 2015 for public intoxication in Texas.

Then, in 2017, the actor was put behind bars for public intoxication, disorderly conduct, and obstruction. After he pleaded guilty to the obstruction charge, he was released and ordered to pay $2,680 in fees and fines, as well as to complete 100 hours of community service, anger management, and drug and alcohol evaluation.

SHIA LABEOUF IS A CHANGED MAN

It was that arrest that apparently changed his life because, while on rehab, he wrote the script for "Honey Boy," his autobiographical film released in 2019 that was nominated to several awards and for which LaBeouf took home a Hollywood Film Award.

For all those arrests and erratic behaviors, Shia LaBeouf's mental health has been in question. Nowadays, the actor considers that he is on his "ninth life," revealing that he had never felt more human.

As per his love life, he was married to actress Mia Goth between 2016 and 2018. The former couple tied the knot in an impromptu ceremony in Las Vegas, reported People, and "amicably" separated.

However, in March 2020, it was reported that Shia LaBeouf and his ex-wife were spotted together in Pasadena, California, sparking dating rumors.