Shia LaBeouf Plays His Own Father in ‘Honey Boy’

The trailer has just dropped for Shia LaBeouf’s latest film, based on his original screenplay and centring on his experiences growing up in Hollywood.

Photo Credit: Pitchfork

The trailer for Honey Boy, the hotly anticipated autobiographical film written by Hollywood bad boy Shia LaBeouf, has just been released. And it does not disappoint.

The project details LaBeouf’s traumatic childhood and complicated relationship with his dad, Jeffrey (renamed James Lort). In addition to writing the screenplay, the actor also plays his father in the film. And it’s already receiving festival buzz.

It is the feature film debut of director Alma Har’el, which premiered at Sundance in January of this year, taking home the Special Jury Prize. The name Honey Boy comes from LaBeouf’s childhood nickname, given to him by this father.

It is a semi-fictionalised account of Shia’s childhood and Hollywood career. It portrays the dynamic between son and father throughout two stages of his life. Shia inhabits the role of his dad, an ex-rodeo clown and felon, now stage-parent to his young son.

LaBeouf’s role on Disney Channel show Even Stevens, and his father’s heroin addiction form the backdrop of instability on which the film is based.

Additionally, the trailer features the cinematic debut of songstress FKA Twigs. She plays the neighbour of the troubled young protagonist, named Otis in the film.

Noah Jupe of A Quiet Place and Lucas Hedges of Lady Bird fame play the young and adult Otis respectively.

The film opens in the U.S. in November.

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