How is the once toxic Shia LaBeouf staging his Hollywood comeback?

Even Shia LaBeouf would probably agree that he is playing against the type when the actor faces the role of the saint in his new movie.

But it may be on the road to Hollywood redemption.

For the past year and a half, LaBeaouf has shunned the spotlight after being charged with sexual assault by the singer’s ex-girlfriend, FKA Twigs, in a case that they may soon face head to head in court.

During this time, he is reuniting with his wife Mia Goth and, as recently revealed, they have a 5-month-old daughter, Isabel, who she says has given him a “new target”.

In an open letter to actress-director Olivia Wilde, defending herself in a boiling feud, he revealed that he had been sober for over 600 days.

Multiple sources told Page Six that the 36-year-old former child star is making a return to Hollywood favors – including an announcement this week that he has been hired by Frances Ford Coppola for the $ 100 million epic “Megalopolis” director. starring Adam Driver, Forest Whitaker, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight and Laurence Fishburne.

In LaBeouf’s latest film, “Padre Pio,” which debuted at the Venice Film Festival this week, he plays a true 20th-century “radical saint rebel,” who fights both his spiritual demons and his burning rage on screen.

An actor – coming from a Jewish family – recently told Bishop Robert Barron of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries that he had switched to the Roman Catholic Church while studying for the role of Pio.

Now he even claims that Twigs and her accusations saved his life.

LaBeouf told Bishop Barron that “suffering is actually a gift,” Twigs added, “When I think about what happened in my life this way … When I walked in, the old me was so upset, so offended by the woman who accused me of all.

“I wanted to go on Twitter and write all these things. I wanted to justify it all and explain it. Now I can see: the woman saved my life. She is a saint to me in my life. She saved my life. It just happened, the change of perspective seems wonderful … There is no other way I can do it myself. “

He also said that he had contacted his mother, Shayna Saide – with whom he had a tense relationship – after the message “Call your mother, tell her you love her” appeared in his head while learning to pray the rosary.

“I have bullied women, shot dogs, and have been willing to give women sexually transmitted diseases,” he confessed to Bishop LaBeouf. “This is disgusting. This is depraved. My mother is embarrassed beyond imagining.

Despite the actor’s public humiliation, his former Twigs – real name Tahliah Debrett Barnett – are still pending a lawsuit against the actor in December 2020 for sexual assault, assault and emotional distress.

The two met on the set of the 2018 movie Honey Boy and dated for eight months. She accused him of “incessant abuse”, including throttling her, threatening to crash the car they were both in, and knowingly contracting her with a sexually transmitted disease. Twigs also said the actor kept a gun by his bedside. LaBeouf has denied her claims, although the actress appears to be confessing a lot in public.

The Los Angeles hearing was scheduled for April 17, 2023 (Twigs now resides in London). When asked about the actor’s return, the former LaBeouf confidant told Page Six: “Shia is very much on the path of redemption. He plays the saint in his new movie and takes this character, which he often does in his movies. But just because you play a saint doesn’t mean you are a saint. “

“All Twigs ever wanted was for Shia to get the proper help and take responsibility for his actions,” said a source familiar with the situation. “He wants to prevent others from being hurt and give a voice to the survivors.”

Sources close to the singer “Cellophane” previously told Page Six that she was “terrified” by her relationship with LaBeouf and continued to suffer from PTSD from the time they spent together.

Twigs and LaBeouf representatives did not comment.

LaBeouf’s discovery of enlightenment was in part triggered by Olivia Wilde, an actress / director who has long claimed to have forced him to quit his upcoming movie “Don’t Worry Darling” because of her “No a-holes”. policy.”

It became part of the story behind the movie, which stars Wilde’s real boyfriend – Harry Styles, who took over the role of LaBeouf – and Florence Pugh.

However, when Wilde repeated his claims, adding that his trial required “combat energy” to Variety magazine last month, LaBeouf responded with revenge.

In an email to Wilde and shared with Variety, LaBeouf denied that he was fired, claiming that he “resigned from the film due to lack of rehearsal time.”

He said, “I have embarked on a journey that seems redeeming and just (ugly but fitting word). I am writing to you now with 627 days of sobriety and a moral compass that never existed before my great humiliation that was the last year and quarter of my life. I contacted you a few months ago to make amends; And I still pray one day that you’ll find a place in your heart to forgive me for the unsuccessful collaboration we shared “

LaBeouf also used the email to talk about his ex.

“My failures with Twigs are fundamental and real, but they are not the narrative presented. There is time and place for such things, and I try to navigate in a nuanced situation with respect for it and the truth, hence my silence, ”he wrote.

A well-known source said Twigs is focused on making their music and movies, but added, “She tried to continue, but of course, every time this sort of thing comes out it can’t be difficult.”

“In all these stories, she says she has a job, but she has no idea what she’s doing,” said the former confidant of LaBeaouf. “Going to AA is not the same as dealing with anger.”

A source LaBeouf knows said Page Six that he is “totally committed to living a healthy life, making better decisions, and taking care of himself and his family.”

The actor has been arrested 11 times before and has had many other clashes with the law for crimes, ranging from public drunkenness and disturbing order to attempting to stab a neighbor.

But as he wrote in an e-mail to Wilde: “I have a little girl, Isabel; he is five months old and is just beginning to make himself the last half of a laugh; it’s amazing. Mia, my wife and I have found each other again and we are traveling towards a healthy family with love and mutual respect ”.

Regarding how he “fucked up” and “hurt a lot” before his daughter was born, LeBeouf this week told podcast host Jon Berthnal that becoming a dad is like hitting “some kind of weird reset button”, how he lives his life.

“She’s testing me,” he explained. “It’s almost like having the best probation officer. I need someone to hold me accountable.

LaBeouf said he is “learning to be a man of principle” and plans to fix “the long list of people” he has hurt in the past. “I was a pleasure-seeker, selfish, self-centered, dishonest, mindless, timid person, and operated on a survival instinct,” he said. “All my loves and friendships were transactional.”

He added: “For my wife, I will fix it for the rest of my life.”

The actor also said he was inspired to sort out his actions by the thought that one day his daughter would google his name and learn that her father was seen as a “regrettable, disgusting piece of shit … I have now until he learns to form a relationship with her.” in which he knows me better than who I am in public ”.

Despite Wilde claiming LaBeouf was difficult on set, “Pio” director Abel Ferrara told Variety this week that he had no objection to working with the actor: “I know the journey he is on. I’ve been fighting drugs and alcohol and I’ve been sober for 10 years … This movie is about Shi’ite struggle, and so is Padre Pio because … there are scenes where he is him, working on his own shit outside. “

One of Hollywood’s top producers told Page Six that “Shia is a real talent, so it’s exciting what she will do next.” His email to Olivia seems to be honestly taking responsibility for his past behavior and that he has remorse. Actions speak louder than words, so let’s see how it behaves on the set of upcoming projects. “

But another industry insider, while optimistic, suggested caution.

“Shia is out, and showing that she can shoot movies and not get spoiled or summoned is helpful,” said the initiate. “But it will be a while before the studies trust it 100 percent.”