Francis Ford Coppola wishes 'the best' for Shia LaBeouf
Francis Ford Coppola wishes Shia LaBeouf "all the best", despite their previous clashes on the set of Megalopolis.
Francis Ford Coppola wishes Shia LaBeouf "all the best", despite their previous clashes.
The 87-year-old filmmaker cast the controversial actor in his 2024 epic Megalopolis, and their rows on set are captured in upcoming documentary Megadoc - which focuses on the making of the movie - but the director has stressed he thinks the 40-year-old star is very talented and he has no hard feelings towards him.
Sharing photos of Shia in character as Clodio Pulcher, Coppola wrote on Instagram: “Shia LaBeouf is a great and interesting actor to work with; in the tradition of Dennis Hopper in his search to find the truth, I think he did a great job in Megalopolis. I sincerely wish him all the best!”
In Megadoc, Shia is seen near the end telling director Mike Figgs that Coppola had branded him the most difficult he had ever worked with after they were filmed arguing about the details of a scene.
Shia said: “He says, ‘You know, I have one regret on this show.’ I said, ‘Okay, what’s the one regret?’ He goes, ‘You. You have been the biggest pain in my f****** a** — the only time he cursed — ‘You have been the biggest pain in my f****** a** of any actor I’ve ever worked with.' "
Referring to the filmmaker's problems with Marlon Brando while shooting 1979's Apocalpse Now, he added: "I said, ‘Really? Really? Any actor? Did I show up f****** 700 pounds overweight in the jungle? Really? Any actor? Did I quit 10 days before we wrapped? ‘Really? Any actor? You’re just being dramatic.'
“He’s like, ‘I’m not being dramatic, get out.’ ”
The Transformers star later revealed in the documentary he received a remorseful email from Coppola the day after their argument.
He claimed it read: “Of course I feel badly about my reaction last night. Many crises hit the fan all at the same time.
“My default reaction was to quit. On The Conversation, you must know I quit 10 days before finishing for similar reasons. Just know I didn’t quit the shoot this time.
“Nonetheless, as usual, you’ve done good work and I thank you for that. However, we remain two totally different viewpoints, which of course [is] how people tend to be. I love you.”
In his own interview in Megadoc, the legendary filmmaker described Shia as "not reasonable" on set, but admitted he was talented.
He said: “He drove me nuts, but his performance is great, and I’ll say it’s great, but I mean, I was in the [trailer] saying ‘I’m not even going to deal with him.’ ”
