Overview
- In a first-person essay published in mid-July, director Josh Penn Soskin said Shia LaBeouf frequently 'exploded' during filming and that a recent parking-lot breakdown ended the day's shoot.
- Soskin wrote that several crewmembers were left 'scared and hurt' by the intensity of LaBeouf’s behavior and that producers grew visibly nervous during episodes he describes as blurring performance and real life.
- The director says LaBeouf deeply immersed himself in the role by studying the late psychiatrist at the center of the film, working without much sleep and citing the actor’s own trauma and PTSD as factors in his state.
- LaBeouf’s on-set conduct comes after a string of public incidents and a June guilty plea in New Orleans that led to a six-month suspended sentence, two years’ probation, and mandatory alcohol treatment.
- The Rooster Prince is in post-production with no release date, and Soskin’s account could affect how distributors, press and audiences handle the movie while raising questions about safety, mental illness and care for those harmed on set.