Lauren ZimaShia LaBeouf's on a press tour for his new movie "Fury" and for the past week has been giving explanations for that big bunch of "what is happening" he gave us earlier this year.
The plagiarism accusations, the "#IAmSorry" exhibit — it all culminated with a June arrest at a Broadway showing of "Cabaret."
The world had had enough of LaBeouf. But with just a few interviews, he might be turning the tide.
On "Ellen," an introspective, apologetic explanation.
"I went through like an existential crisis, which turned into some exploration, really. I had some hiccups, you know? Some judgment error. ... I spit on a cop. It's a no-no. ... I'm sorry. Dude, if you're watching, man, I'm sorry."
On "Jimmy Kimmel Live," a hilarious story crediting his mistakes to a gargantuan amount of whiskey.
LABEOUF: "I had been drinking a lot of whiskey. ... I'm sittin' at a bar, and I'm drinkin' a whole lot of whiskey. ... I get another double whiskey. ... I go back to the bar; I get two more double whiskeys. ... Out comes Alan Tutig — Alan Cumming. It could've been Allen Iverson at this point."
And in a lengthy sit-down for Interview magazine, LaBeouf credited that same incident — he grabbed actor Alan Cumming's rear-end at "Cabaret" — to his craft.
"I was reading about ... performance art of the '60s and '70s. So I thought, 'All right, I know a little about that.' We're all involved here. It's not just you on your stage. We're all in here and we're all part of this. I was wrong."
OK. So, for daytime, LaBeouf was thoughtful and apologetic. On late-night, he gave us a hilarious story about partying. Read that interview, and you'll see him as an intelligent, talented actor with a lot of issues. LaBeouf is catering to his audience — being the version of himself we need him to be in the different spaces.
We're not critiquing here. After his various incidents, LaBeouf was at a low. In all three of these interviews, the actor said winding up in jail after that New York arrest was an eye-opener. Overall, LaBeouf is being honest, if a bit contradictory. But he's likable again.
Plus, with a movie that debuted at No. 1 and the public support of one of Hollywood's biggest names, maybe we're ready to try a little more Shia.
