Shia LaBeouf is not quite in the running to be the next Sean Penn, but he’s making a run at it by being all … method, apparently. According to The Playlist, LaBeouf claimed that he dropped acid for his role in The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman, taking his inspiration from Mr. Penn.
In an interview with USA Today, LaBeouf said:
“There’s a way to do an acid trip like ‘Harold & Kumar,’ and there’s a way to be on acid. What I know of acting, Sean Penn actually strapped up to that (electric) chair in ‘Dead Man Walking.’ These are the guys that I look up to.”
Although Charlie Countryman is not quite about dropping acid – it’s really about a young man who saves a woman from a crime boss – it is indeed true that LaBeouf’s character trips on acid during the film.
This all seems to be part and parcel of Shia LaBeouf’s attempt to be taken seriously as an actor. As such, it might be a little mean to make fun of the guy. He’s simply trying to follow in some very deep footsteps. Much like Johnny Depp, who took his cues from Marlon Brando, or Penn himself, all young actors want to emulate their heroes.
It’s tough, though, when LaBeouf appears to compare himself to Penn and makes claims that his “Method-like” acting might have been “too real for a director trying to keep a diplomatic set.”
Too real indeed. LaBeouf will continue his possibly ill-advised adventures in pseudo-Method in Lars von Trier’s Nymphomaniac, which is now filming and is said to feature real sex.
The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman is set for release in 2013.