Shia LaBeouf is a lot of things. A performance artist, a guy who wore a paper bag on his head, a former Disney kid, and honestly, one of the most intense actors of his generation. People usually remember the memes or the headlines first. But if you actually sit down and look at the list of actor Shia LaBeouf movies, you see a career that’s basically a decade-long wrestling match with fame.
He didn't just stumble into Transformers. He fought his way out of a childhood that most of us wouldn't wish on our worst enemies.
The Disney Era and the Breakout
Most kids in the early 2000s knew him as Louis Stevens. He was the twitchy, hilarious kid on Even Stevens. But 2003 changed everything. That was the year of Holes. Playing Stanley Yelnats was his first real "movie star" moment. He carried that film with a sort of quiet, weary dignity that you don't usually see in sixteen-year-olds. It made $71 million and proved he could lead a studio picture.
Then came the mid-2000s sprint. Constantine (2005) saw him playing sidekick to Keanu Reeves. The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005) had him playing a golfer, which sounds boring but was actually a pretty solid underdog story.
But Disturbia (2007) was the real pivot. It was basically Rear Window for teenagers. It was creepy, it was tense, and Shia was genuinely magnetic in it. It stayed number one at the box office for three weeks. Steven Spielberg was watching.
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Why the Blockbuster Era Almost Broke Him
Then the "New Tom Hanks" label started getting thrown around. Spielberg basically hand-picked him for Transformers (2007). Suddenly, Shia was the face of a billion-dollar franchise. Sam Witwicky was frantic and loud, and for a while, it worked.
But being the "it" guy came with a price.
- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009): Shia famously hated this one. He said it didn't have a heart. He felt like the soul was missing.
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008): He played Mutt Williams, Indy's son. Fans hated the movie, and Shia publicly took the blame. He said he "dropped the ball" on a legacy people loved. Harrison Ford reportedly called him a "f***ing idiot" for saying that to the press.
- Eagle Eye (2008): A tech-thriller that did well but felt like it was trying too hard to make him a generic action hero.
By 2011, after Transformers: Dark of the Moon, he was done. He literally said he was "retiring from all public life." He didn't actually retire, obviously. He just stopped playing by Hollywood's rules.
The Search for Authenticity (The Indie Pivot)
This is where actor Shia LaBeouf movies get weird and actually quite brilliant. He started working with "dangerous" directors. Lars von Trier cast him in Nymphomaniac (2013). He did a nude music video for Sigur Rós. He was looking for something raw.
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Lawless (2012) is a great example of this shift. He played a bootlegger alongside Tom Hardy. He reportedly drank moonshine for real during filming to stay in character. Then there was Fury (2014). To play a tank gunner, he supposedly pulled out his own tooth and didn't shower for weeks. People called him crazy. His co-stars were annoyed. But you can't deny the performance on screen—he's the soul of that movie.
American Honey (2016) might be his best work from this period. He plays a "mag crew" leader traveling across the Midwest. It’s messy, beautiful, and feels completely unscripted.
The Redemption and the Recent Work
In 2019, he gave us The Peanut Butter Falcon. It's a modern-day Huckleberry Finn story. He plays Tyler, a fisherman who befriends a young man with Down syndrome. It’s easily his most tender performance. No screaming, no robots, just heart.
Then there’s Honey Boy (2019). He wrote the script in rehab. It’s an autobiographical look at his relationship with his father. The twist? He played his own father. It’s one of the most vulnerable things an actor has ever done. It laid everything bare—the abuse, the trauma, the reason why he is the way he is.
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Recently, he’s been popping up in unexpected places.
- Megalopolis (2024): He worked with Francis Ford Coppola. He played Clodio Pulcher, a chaotic, gender-bending villain. Critics didn't know what to make of it, but Shia was clearly having the time of his life.
- Salvable (2025): A gritty boxing drama where he plays Vince, a guy who drags a washed-up fighter back into the world of illegal bouts. It’s raw, British, and very "New Shia."
- Padre Pio (2022): He played a saint while dealing with his own massive personal controversies and legal battles. He actually converted to Catholicism during the filming.
Is he still a "Movie Star"?
Sorta. But not in the way he was in 2007. He’s more of a character actor now who happens to have a very famous face. Hollywood is a bit wary of him because of his legal history and "method" antics.
But if you’re looking for a performance that feels like someone's life is actually on the line? He’s the guy you call.
If you want to understand the arc of his career, start with Holes to see the potential, watch Transformers to see the pressure, and end with Honey Boy to see the truth. His filmography is essentially a public diary of a man trying to figure out who he is.
For your next movie night, skip the blockbusters and check out The Peanut Butter Falcon or American Honey. You’ll see a completely different side of the guy who used to scream at giant robots. If you're following his current trajectory, keep an eye out for God of the Rodeo (2026), which is his next big project exploring the prison rodeo system of the 1960s.