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Highlights

• Shia LaBeouf rejected career advice from Ben Affleck and Steven Spielberg.
• Affleck advised LaBeouf to "keep your head on straight," while Spielberg wanted him to lighten up and laugh more.
• LaBeouf rejected Affleck's advice because he didn't want to model his career after Tom Cruise.

From public clashes with rappers to allegations of plagiarism and a laundry list of run-ins with the law, Shia LaBeouf has found himself mired in controversy on more than one occasion since he ascended to the limelight as the lead in Disney's Even Stevens.

The now 37-year-old's endless scandals, particularly his legal dispute with singer FKA Twigs, have left him on the verge of getting blacklisted from Hollywood on multiple occasions. As it turns out, there were a few people who saw the backlash coming and tried to reel the Transformers actor back in; namely Ben Affleck and Steven Spielberg. Here's why LaBeouf rejected some seemingly sound career advice from both Hollywood heavyweights.

What Career Advice Did Ben Affleck Give To Shia LaBeouf?

Shia LaBeouf has been taking Hollywood by storm since rising to fame as the lead in Disney's hit 2000s sitcom, Even Stevens. The Disney alum has clinched roles in multiple high-grossing films and even racked up a few directorial credits, putting his career on a pretty enviable trajectory.

Unfortunately, the now 37-year-old's talent has frequently been overshadowed by controversy, according to The Daily Mail. From damning allegations by singer FKA Twigs to his numerous brushes with the law, LaBeouf's time in the spotlight has been marred by multiple potentially career-ending scandals.

But before his problematic antics began to threaten his career, LaBeouf received some pretty sound advice from Good Will Hunting star Ben Affleck. “Ben is a really charming dude. He was the first guy who really took me off to the side and made me feel like I could do it,” LaBeouf shared with Interview in 2014.

The sage advice that the Good Will Hunting star had to offer over their sidebar was apparently pretty simple: "Keep your head on straight, kid, and don't let all this get to you," LaBeouf shared with Interview.

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According to LaBeouf, Affleck had taken notice of his problematic tendencies at the wrap party for their 2003 film, The Battle of Shaker Heights, and attempted to rein them in.

“He knew that I had cameras in my face and that there were expectations to perform. I think that’s always been my issue,” he explained. “Ben saw that I turned reality up to 11. I was a wild man at that wrap party. I was still very edgy and remained so for a long time—and that was sort of my appeal to a lot of directors and casting agents. Ben saw that and was trying to curb it before it became an issue. He was unsuccessful.”

What Career Advice Did Steven Spielberg Give To Shia LaBeouf?

But Affleck wouldn't be the first Hollywood heavyweight who'd try to throw LaBeouf a lifeline. Acclaimed filmmaker Steven Spielberg, with whom LaBeouf has collaborated on multiple film projects, including Transformers, Eagle Eye, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, also tried to offer some candid advice of his own.

“Spielberg was the next guy to try—I remember him saying to me, 'Tom Cruise never picks his nose in public,’” LaBeouf shared with Interview. “And all I thought was, “I don’t want to be Tom Cruise.” It was this gut reaction.”

According to LaBeouf, the acclaimed filmmaker was also concerned over his problematic antics and was trying to brighten up his public image to some extent. “When I met Steven [Spielberg], he wanted to take what he liked about me and lighten it,” he explained to Interview. “He wanted me to laugh more. And while he was right, I didn’t feel it.”

And it wasn't the last piece of advice Spielberg would offer LaBeouf. Speaking to Variety in 2016, LaBeouf admitted that Spielberg had also tried to dissuade him from reading his own press.

“There’s no way to not do that,” he said. “For me to not read that means I need to not take part in society. The generation previous to mine didn’t have the immediate response. If you were Mark Hamill, you could lie to yourself. You could find the pockets of joy, and turn a blind eye to the s**t over there.”

Why Did Shia LaBeouf Reject Both Ben Affleck And Steven Spielberg’s Career Advice?

For most, receiving career advice from Hollywood heavyweights like Steven Spielberg and Ben Affleck would be a dream come true. However, though well-intentioned, neither Affleck nor Spielberg's advice resonated with LaBeouf.

For one, the now 37-year-old wasn't particularly interested in modeling his career after Tom Cruise, which presumably made Spielberg's advice a bit too irrelevant to take to heart.

“[Spielberg] made that comment to me right around the time Vanity Fair put out a piece with me in a spacesuit saying I was the next Tom Hanks,” the Fury star explained. “And though I respect both Hanks and Cruise, it just didn’t appeal to my sensibilities. They’re both great actors. But I just didn’t feel like we were cut from the same fabric. My upbringing was darker. The guys who I looked up to were far darker. So, I rejected that label hard.”

What's more, LaBeouf’s once profound admiration for Spielberg had dimmed considerably after their collaborations. “You get there, and you realize you’re not meeting the Spielberg you dream of,” he said of working with the acclaimed filmmaker in his 2016 interview with Variety. “You’re meeting a different Spielberg, who is in a different stage in his career. He’s less a director than he is a f***ing company.”

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As for why he rejected the seemingly sound advice from Ben Affleck, LaBeouf explained to Interview, “I’m prone to theatrics in my life. When you’re in front of a film crew, the worst thing that an actor can be is boring, and that flows over into my life.”

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