Last week, Shia LaBeouf made headlines for sitting at the Angelika Film Center in New York City while he was watching all of his movies from his very first film to his most recent. He didn’t lock off the theater so he could watch hours and hours of his own material, but he invited the public to sit down and watch his life flash before his eyes.
In the room, there was a small camera that recorded Shia’s every movement throughout the three-day affair, and that included watching LaBeouf cry, laugh, yawn, and sleep through his work in the Transformers s eries. His reactions were streamed in real time and broadcast for all to see, just in case someone couldn’t rush down to the theater to wait on the line that was growing throughout the lobby of the cineplex.
The best part is someone could sit for as many movies as they wanted without getting kicked out. The only stipulation was that you couldn’t take a photograph of Shia, though during that time, LaBeouf shared a can of pringles and pizza with his guests.
So now that it’s all over and done with, why did the actor decide to create the #ALLMYMOVIES festival?
Well, he doesn’t offer up the purpose behind it but he does say that it might have been to build his self-esteem.
“I always go into these things every time — and this is my self-hate at work — what if they light my hair on fire? … This is a genuine fear of mine. I think people hate me. That’s just what goes on in my head. And all I want to do is be liked,. I walked out loving myself. Not in some grandiose, you’re f—ing awesome way, but in like, you’re a part of a community. You’re a part of this human thing.”
He mentioned that what he got out of the whole experience was that people supported him as a human, and that what started as a spectator’s sport of people walking into the theater and watching him, had changed midway to people sharing an experience as they watched the movies with him.
“Once you press play on your life and you open up and there’s that vulnerability, and not only are people getting the artistic side of you but they’re getting the human side of you, watching that, you’ve shared everything,”
He continued.
“And the fact that you can walk out of there and people are still nodding at you and giving you a thumbs-up…it’s something else. I really don’t even know what it is yet, because I haven’t sat on it or done any writing or thought about it at all. I just know if I can explain a feeling, I feel lighter today. I feel love today. “
@BillCorbett @kwmurphy @michaeljnelson Shia Labeouf watching Transformers. Even he thought they were terrible. pic.twitter.com/aYUkLZ9tcA
— Rebecca Lombardo (@BekaLombardo) November 16, 2015
The one big news story to come out of his #ALLMYMOVIES exhibition is the fact that he fell asleep through his work in Transformers . When asked if that was intentional, LaBeouf said that it was, because he felt like he was going through a crisis. The reason why he fell asleep during that particular period of his career, is because he thought, “I hate myself…I’m dying right now.”
He said that it wasn’t just him, as other viewers were falling asleep throughout the Transformers movies.
i would like this photo or any other photo of shia labeouf watching “surf’s up” framed and given to me as a gift pic.twitter.com/e3YbBev1LR
— Caroline Sears (@CarolineSears) November 12, 2015
That said, it’s not all hate, the film he seemed to enjoy immensely was Surf’s Up .
Who do you think of Shia’s experimentation?
[Screen grab by New Hive / ALLMYMOVIES]
