Director John Hillcoat: Shia LaBeouf Took It "Too Far" While Filming 'Lawless'

If there's nothing else to be said for Shia LaBeouf, he's certainly committed to bringing a kind of authenticity to his projects. Antics on and off-screen have landed the one-time Even Stevens star in headlines for the past few years, not the least of which include his foray into performance art. While actors who includeBrad Pitt, Mel Gibson, and like-minded meta-troll James Franco have all come to his defense, his co-stars on the cast of the John Hillcoat-directed Lawless have some less-than-fond memories of Yung LaBeouf and his commitment to the craft.

In a new interview with GQ, Hillcoat says that Shia displayed some serious method acting while on set, including but not limited to drinking moonshine excessively (just as Jack Bondurant​ would), meta-quarreling with Tom Hardy​, and carving his initials onto the front door of one of his co-stars. There's method, and then there's really method—this is the latter.

In response to a question about Mia Wasikowska claiming she was "terrified" of LaBeouf, Hillcoat replied, "Well, the way they began was unfortunate, because he did take it too far. He showed up when she first arrived and was overenthusiastic. I understood where he was coming from—he just wanted to work with her straight up, and she was coming from a different sort of place. And he got carried away and carved their character names and a heart on her door. And we had to settle that. You know, we worked it out. But it was fine in the end." And maybe it was fine in the end, but Wasikowska wasn't the only one who had some issues with LaBeouf.