Shia LaBeouf: ‘God Was Using My Ego to Draw Me to Him’

Published: August 25, 2022

Shia LaBeouf: ‘God Was Using My Ego to Draw Me to Him’

By Movieguide® Staff

Actor Shia LaBeouf says he’s drawing closer to Christ following his role in the movie PADRE PIO.

LaBeouf, who often practices method acting, says that God really used the movie to draw the actor to Himself. Prior to filming, LaBeouf said he was really wrestling with suicidal ideation.

“I had a gun on the table. I was outta here,” LaBeouf said. “I didn’t want to be alive anymore when all this happened. Shame like I had never experienced before — the kind of shame that you forget how to breathe. You don’t know where to go. You can’t go outside and get like, a taco.”

As filming drew closer, God began to tug on on LaBeouf’s heart. LaBeouf resisted, at first.

“I know now that God was using my ego to draw me to Him. Drawing me away from worldly desires,” LaBeouf said. “It was all happening simultaneously. But there would have been no impetus for me to get in my car, drive up [to the monastery] if I didn’t think, ‘Oh, I’m gonna save my career.’”

Then, the actor says he began to see the heart of Christ.

“It was seeing other people who have sinned beyond anything I could ever conceptualize also being found in Christ that made me feel like, ‘Oh, that gives me hope,'” LaBeouf said. “I started hearing experiences of other depraved people who had found their way in this, and it made me feel like I had permission.”

This is not the first time LaBeouf has professed Christ. While filming FURY, LaBeouf said he was impacted by his character’s Christian faith. However, the actor drifted away.

Now, he says there’s a profound change in him.

Bishop Robert Barron, who conducted the interview, said there’s a change in LaBeouf that his friends will notice.

Please pray that this seed takes roots in LaBeouf’s heart and he will live a life that inspires others to Christ.

Watch the video below to see his full interview.