‘Honey Boy’ Director and Cast on ‘Artistic Exorcism’ of Filming Shia LaBeouf’s Dark Past (Video)

In “Honey Boy,” Noah Jupe had an interesting task. He plays Otis, a child actor whose life under an abusive father is based heavily on the life of Shia LaBeouf, who plays the father in the film. At the Sundance Film Festival, Jupe told TheWrap that despite the inspiration, he had to separate his performance from the Disney Channel-laced childhood it was rooted in. “I thought this wasn’t necessarily his story,” Jupe told TheWrap’s Beatrice Verhoeven. “He was giving his story but making it into something new, and he said to me before, ‘I don’t want this to be me. I want it to be your version of this character going through these situations.'” LaBeouf wrote the script for “Honey Boy” while in rehab last year and sent it to filmmaker Alma Har’el, who directed the film. Har’el described working on the film as an “artistic exorcism,” and an emotional experience for everyone involved. Also Read: 'Honey Boy' Film Review: Shia LaBeouf Pours Himself into Autobiographical Coming-of-Age Tale “You can’t be too emotional on a set,” she said. “I think he’s done the bravest thing anyone could do…he played his own father with whom he has the most complicated relationship...

Read original story ‘Honey Boy’ Director and Cast on ‘Artistic Exorcism’ of Filming Shia LaBeouf’s Dark Past (Video) At TheWrap