CO-STAR WITH DOWN’S SYNDROME HELPED SHIA FIGHT HIS TROUBLES
LaBeouf didn’t want to blow his co-star’s first acting role, so he stayed sober
Actor Shia LaBeouf’s The Peanut Butter Falcon costar Zack Gottsagen, who has Down’s Syndrome, is helping him stay sober.
The Transformers star hit rock bottom while making the movie, which is about a man with the genetic disorder who dreams of becoming a wrestler. LaBeouf was arrested following a drunken rant in Savannah, Georgia, in July 2017, reports aceshowbiz.com.
LaBeouf was ashamed with himself after the incident, which could have cost Gottsagen his first movie role if production had been shut down. He then promised to give up alcohol while finishing the film. “I can’t look anyone in the eye. And I can’t come to terms with it. And no one’s talking to me and I’m talking to no one, and I know my life has exploded again. And I am in deep shame,” he told The Guardian narrating how he felt after the arrest.
Gottsagen said that the pair have stayed in touch since, and he’s been keeping an eye on his movie star friend, who is now more than two years sober.
“I have been changing Shia’s life. That’s how I do things. And Shia has proved to himself he doesn’t have to act out. So I’m going to keep taking the chance of being close to him,” he said.
Pledging to stand by the troubled LaBeouf, who has been a child star and a teenage action star, the 34-year-old added: “A lot of people have come to me talking about Shia, and they always tell me: ‘Stay away from Shia.’ But I am not going to do that. My answer is: ‘No.’ Because people don’t understand the real Shia.”
A lot of people always tell me: ‘Stay away from Shia.’ But I am not going to do that. My answer is: ‘No.’ Because people don’t understand the real Shia.
ZACK GOTTSAGEN ACTOR AND LABEOUF’S PEANUT BUTTER
FALCON CO-STAR