Actor Shia LaBeouf is known for both his on-screen roles as well as his controversial antics off-camera. A former child star, LaBeouf is most famous for his stint as Sam Witwicky in Michael Bay’s Transformers franchise. He also was part of other blockbusters such as Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
The actor has moved away from blockbusters and has been starring in independent films lately. While on an actor’s roundtable interview a few years ago, LaBeouf stated that he found his Lawless co-star Tom Hardy intimidating.
Shia LaBeouf Was Intimidated By Tom Hardy On Set
In 2012, Shia LaBeouf starred in director John Hillcoat’s crime drama film Lawless. Set during the Prohibition era and focuses on the Bondurants, a crime family who were successful moonshine bootleggers during the time. The film was based on the book The Wettest County in the World by Matt Bondurant, the grandson of Jack Bondurant and the youngest member of the family. Jack was played by LaBeouf.
Years later, in an actor’s roundtable interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2020, Shia Labeouf picked Hardy as the most intimidating actor he had worked with. He was in the presence of other actors such as Jamie Foxx, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, and Adam Sandler. LaBeouf was invited for his performance in Honey Boy. When asked who was he most intimidated by on a set, he said,
“Probably been around [Tom] Hardy. Hardy is a bit of a gorilla on a set. I was most intimidated by him…Well, he runs the set, you know…It’s his set. You know it when you get there. It doesn’t feel like a shared space, it feels like his space. He’s a very good actor and super loving. But on a set, you’re in his church.”
Tom Hardy played Forrest Bondurant in Lawless, who is a seemingly invincible and violent presence in the film. The two actors also reportedly had an altercation on set but the LeBeouf has since clarified that the fight happened due to a lot of aggression they had while playing the characters.
How Did Shia LaBeouf Convince Tom Hardy To Join Lawless?
Though Tom Hardy had an intimidating presence on set, the actor had to thank Shia LaBeouf for his casting in Lawless as he was not the global star he is now. The crime drama was in development since 2008 before finally being released in 2012. The first iteration of the project had Ryan Gosling, Amy Adams, James Franco, and Scarlett Johannson attached to the project along with Shia LaBeouf.
But in 2009, production fell through as Sony Pictures found the drama written by Nick Cave to be too dark and pulled their funding. John Hillcoat told in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter,
“We went to every other studio and every other distributor, and no one would touch it. They said there was no hope for a period film, and because it was a rural gangster movie, they couldn’t wrap their heads around it.”
All of the cast except LaBeouf reportedly dropped out of the project. However, the Transformers actor was still running high on excitement for the project and tried to get funding for the film. He also reportedly brought on Tom Hardy for the film after seeing his performance in the crime comedy Bronson. LaBeouf recounted his experience of approaching Hardy,
“That sh*t [Bronson] changed my life. I went home and wrote Tom a letter saying I was a fan. He sent me a script, and I sent him Lawless. He called me back and said, ‘This is f*cking amazing.’”
John Hillcoat was reportedly already eyeing Hardy as a potential actor to work with and once he got an equal amount of excitement from Shia LaBeouf, he signed on The Dark Knight Rises actor.
