Shia LaBeouf on "Transformers" and Losing Megan Fox

On his third go-round as Sam Witwicky, the nerdish hero of the Transformer films, Shia LaBeouf as well as his character, is more confident, well-traveled and well, grown up. In Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Sam is entering the job market and has a new, blonde girlfriend. Does he miss Megan? We’ll let him tell you.

Q: Can you talk about Megan Fox being absent this time and how it was working with Rosie (Huntington-Whiteley) as your leading lady?

Shia: Well, Megan was a good friend when she was here. This time, I was presented with a different script, and different role.  These two people have completely different energies.  This is Rosie’s first one out of the gate, and she soared. It takes a lot of strength to be in this position.  Rosie is very poised and great at her job, as well.  I think they’re both very good at the job.  I enjoyed Megan; I enjoyed Rosie.  I think they’re both great actresses.

For the fans, I think actually, it’s beneficial to have a new set of eyes.  Because in the first movie, what you had was this discovery of these people seeing these robots for the first time.  You lose that in the second movie. And Mikaela (Megan’s character) and Sam almost became one character with no arc, in the second movie.  So selfishly, it hindered my performance because I had less to chew on, and it hindered her performance, as well.  And I think it hindered the movie. 

Here, you have a fresh set of eyes, in Rosie.  That makes Sam more heroic. When two people have (reached) the same status, they’ve been through the wars together, there’s nobody for Sam to be heroic for.  And so (having Rosie in this movie) just ups the heroism in Sam and therefore makes my character more interesting.  So selfishly, I was very happy that Rosie was here.

Q: They are both very beautiful girls. You might have the entire male population envying you.

Shia: These women are very beautiful, clearly.  So yeah, that’s enjoyable, on a purely 14-year-old male level.  But also, the whole cast is really strong.  But yeah, I’d be lying if I said it’s not a pleasure to be around these women and especially because there was so much machismo on this set.  You know, Rosie would always come to the set with levity, joy, a break in the monotonous which you needed.  She was sort of like the mascot, like the cheerleader for all of us.  So you know, that’s all very enjoyable.

Q: How has your character Sam changed in this film?

Shia: You pick him up in this movie, his maturation has continued. He’s now gone through two wars. He has sort of a PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) thing going on on top of the neurosis that was already instilled in him from youth from his family. He’s in the middle of a new relationship and in the middle of joining the work force. The government can’t just hire you as the guy who saved the world …twice and put you in an office. With all the credentials he has and after getting an award from the President, he goes off seeking a job for his future.

Q: Tell us more about this new relationship.

Shia: Sam finds comfort and solace in a woman who is a diplomatic assistant that he meets in the midst of his internship as he’s walking out with this medal he just got from the President. They develop a relationship and she is sort of nurturing Sam. He doesn’t need the darker “machine shop” type chick who is loving and nurturing now (Megan’s character).  He needs a lighter vibe and finds it in this woman who becomes sort of a champion for him.

Q: Talk about shooting this one in the city of Chicago. The movie sort of took over the town.

Shia: We flew into Chicago and the whole city was at our disposal. Michael would send rigging teams to rope off the street and that would be Transformers property. It was everywhere. Even on my off days, I’d skateboard around and see rigging everywhere all taped off (for us).

I remember on “Indiana Jones” when we were filming at Yale and you would have sixty or seventy (fans) in the streets dressed up as Indy. You get to Chicago on this one and there’s 20 thousand people in the streets. You feel like you are some kind of a rock act. I walk out with Tyrese, he’s used to that and he’s playing the crowd. I’m kind of shy and it’s weird to look out at a sea of 20 thousand people who are watching you go to work. Everybody came to play this time so it was a different vibe on set.

We blew Chicago up completely but Michael was very respectful to the city and the people there and they were incredible to us. Great place to work.

Q: What was your favorite scene to shoot on this one?

Shia: I like different scenes for different reasons. All the scenes with Sam’s parents are always fun and I think the job interview with (John) Malkovich was a lot of fun. The Decepticons are coaxing and using humans as tools.  I have a Transformer who punishes me every time I step out of bounds of how they want me to conduct myself. So, there’s this physical comedy that plays into Sam’s neurosis on top of what’s already there. That physical element was very fun for me.

Q: Is it wild in Russia for the premiere?

Shia: Yeah. That’s the Kremlin behind me, not a set. It’s real. They got a free Linkin Park concert with a screening of the movie. That’s pretty cool.

Q: Can you talk about working in digital 3-D on this film?

Shia: In a lot of scenes, where we’re trying to find humor, because it’s a huge balancing act in these movies, and this being the darkest of the three, Mike (Michael Bay, director) was very intent on making sure we kept the humor involved.  And the way that we find our humor here on “Transformers” is sometimes it’s written but I would say about 90% of the time - we’re riffing and adlibbing and trying to find it on the day.

And so the beauty of digital is, it’s conducive to that because you never have to cut; you never have to stop.  You can stay in it constantly, to find good ideas. That alleviates the stopping and the starting.  The pacing, when you’re shooting on 3D with digital, is very conducive to us trying to find the humor in these movies.