Actual Catholic Shia LaBeouf

With St. Padre Pio’s feast day having just passed, the arrival of Padre Pio, the new film on his life story, and its effect on the star actor playing his role have reemerged as a topic of conversation. While the film has not yet become available in the United States, it has gotten attention for Shia LaBeouf’s conversion to Catholicism and his recent interview with Bishop Robert Barron. The way performing this role has changed his life gives a significant view into the ways some films can help both actors and the audience find their relationship with God.

LaBeouf would be the first to admit that he has had a troubled past. In the interview, he provided his own account for this history, saying, “You know when I walked into this my life was on fire. I was walking out of hell … I didn’t want to be an actor anymore and my life was a mess … and I had hurt a lot of people.”

LaBeouf had been a successful actor, leading in several blockbuster films like the 2007 movie Transformers. However, in the years following, he had controversies and was no longer viewed as a hireable actor. In recent years he has starred in smaller, more art focused films like Honey Boy.

Despite this new comeback to acting, LaBeouf was still struggling with his feelings for acting and the direction his life was taking, saying, “I threw up my hands like my plans are garbage and I don’t want to be here anymore.”

It was at this low point that the opportunity for Padre Pio came to LaBeouf. At the start it was mostly a career move to him and he said in the interview he was “back on the hustle. Back on the ego.” But it was in this experience that he began to find his own faith forming.

LaBeouf related deeply to St. Padre Pio in the way that they both were thrown into wild situations which they had to face. He said that the role coming to him at that time felt “way too coincidental to be a coincidence.”

As an actor, LaBeouf’s relationship with the celebration of the Mass struck him the most. He said, “I like all immersive experiences, not just acting. It’s probably why I like Catholicism as well.” This was especially important to his role as well because St. Padre Pio was known for the way he celebrated Mass with his whole being, making the experience of Jesus’ sacrifice even more immediate to the congregation through his voice and actions.

This brought up a conversation between LaBeouf and Bishop Barron about the way the priest’s celebration of the Mass is a kind of performance with Barron calling it, “a sort of recapitulation of the drama of Christ’s life.” He also went on to reference Aristotle on the catharsis of theater. Seeing someone act can be cathartic for those who watch and help them feel cleansed.

It was experiences like these through the making of the film that encouraged Shia LaBeouf to become Catholic. He too was able to have a catharsis experience through playing St. Padre Pio where he was cleansed of his previous hopelessness and doubt and able to find peace.

For artists, this experience can be inspirational for their own relationship with their art. Art can be transformative and, when pointed in the right direction, it can help them cleanse themselves of their own problems and strengthen their faith and relationships with God. Perhaps that art can help their audience as well. 

While audiences in the U.S. will have to wait for Padre Pio to become available, we can still hope for a film that will help viewers find this same faith and strength.