The actor explained the origins of his conflict with Baldwin during their time preparing for the 2013 Broadway production, “Orphans,” before LaBeouf eventually withdrew, and discussed their current relationship.
Shia LaBeouf is looking back at working with Alec Baldwin.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Hollywood Reporter while promoting his new film, Henry Johnson, the actor recalled on-set tension he experienced with Baldwin when the two were set to co-star in the 2013 Broadway play, Orphans.
LaBeouf said he had prepared for the role for years alongside Al Pacino, before Pacino dropped out, and Baldwin came in as his replacement. According to LaBeouf, Baldwin joining the cast last minute ultimately resulted in them not getting along, with the Even Stevens alum admitting that he was mainly to blame.
“By the time Baldwin got there, it was almost unfair. So he’s dealing with both my fractured little weak ego, right?” LaBeouf told THR. “All this hard prep that I’d done for two years, and my desperate need to show him all my prep, or that he would accept me somehow. I was so insecure. Well, that got contentious in the room. Then he got competitive. That’s just what our relationship turned into.”
“I’d be off book, he’d be on book, and he didn’t want me to look at him be off book. That makes it hard to play these scenes out or block this thing even. And no fault against him, he had two weeks to come in because Pacino [dropped out],” he continued. “I had built the whole thing based on my relationship with Pacino. And that’s gone. So I was kind of heartbroken.”
The Honey Boy star added that he was at a low point in his life when Baldwin joined the production, revealing that he was “living” and “sleeping” in Central Park and was “on steroids” during “most of the prep.”