Shia is still a knockout actor, says fall guy Tom

HE was knocked out cold by Shia LaBeouf on the set of the 2012 movie Lawless, but Tom Hardy has nothing but respect for the American. In an Esquire profile on LaBeouf, Hardy, 40, insisted he greatly admires his friend’s work ethic.

The US star, 31, pictured top centre, famously drank moonshine by the gallon to get into character for their 2012 film Lawless, which led to him punching the English actor.

‘A performer is asked to do two things: to be disciplined and accountable, communicative and a pleasure to work with,’ Hardy, pictured top right, told the magazine. ‘And then, within a split second, they’re asked to be a psychopath. Authentically.

‘It takes a very strong human being to sustain a genuine sense of wellbeing through that baptism of fire,’ he added. ‘Drama is not known to attract stable types.’

The Dark Knight Rises star had nothing but praise for the Transformers actor. ‘Shia has the ability to land scene after scene that builds a reality from utter fantasy,’ he said. ‘We know the robots aren’t really there. They just aren’t. When I watch Shia, they are.’ Back in 2011, Hardy revealed in an interview with Den Of Geek that he had been decked by LaBeouf.

‘He knocked me out sparko. Out cold. He’s a bad, bad boy. He is. He’s quite intimidating as well,’ he said. ‘He’s a scary dude. He just attacked me. He was drinking moonshine. I was wearing a cardigan and, er, went down. I woke up in [my personal trainer] Pnut’s arms.

‘I was like, “What was that? It was lightning fast.’” And he said, “That was Shia.”’

LaBeouf’s profile with Esquire is the actor’s first-sit down interview since his July 2017 arrest in Savannah, Georgia.

‘What went on in Georgia was mortifying,’ he confessed.

At the time of his arrest, LaBeouf was charged with public drunkenness and disorderly conduct, although the former charge was later dropped.

Footage of the incident saw the actor verbally abusing the police, singling out one black officer while resisting arrest.

Last October, he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanour charge of obstruction and apologised for his behaviour, calling it ‘a new low’.