Shia LaBeouf knew
what he wanted while
writing the Honey Boy
screenplay. “I’m an
actor whore. The only thing I like
about movies is people, so I spent
my time writing dialogue.”
The autobiographical film,
directed by Alma Har’el, centers
on LaBeouf ’s alter ego Otis (Lucas
Hedges) during a court-ordered
rehab stint, and in flashback,
unpacking his traumatic relation-
ship with his father (LaBeouf ) while
he was a child actor (Noah Jupe).
Finishing it required LaBeouf to
travel to Central America and read
the script to his fugitive father. It
went well, but he still had to tell his
dad that it was being made into a
film. “He looks over to me, his eyes
well up, and he says, ‘Well, all right,
make me look good, honey boy.’ ”
—Marcus Jones1
“What I remember
of my parents’
romance was
pushing of buttons
and volume,”
says LaBeouf.
2
“I never wanted
to write my mother
because it felt
sacred past any-
thing I wanted to
f--- with, and then
Alma told me that
it’s necessary, and
I came to middle
ground where I said,
‘But you can’t ever
show my mother.’ ”
3
“I wanted to play
with the idea that
one is always act-
ing, and that in life
you’re constantly
performing, and
that I would use
my life in my work
even then.”
4
“I wanted to show a
young actor pre-
paring in the midst
of the drama of
my domestic life,HONEY BOY
ANATOMY OF A SCENE
S
which informed
my set life and
made me who I
was on film.”
5
“Natasha [Lyonne,
who voices Otis’
mom,] has the
sensibility and soul
of my mother.
Natasha came in
after we shot it
and [overdubbed]
those scenes.”
6
“This [was] a way
of getting exposi-
tion about my
father’s history
as a felon and
the relationship
between him
and my mother.”
7
“They had different
languages,
and Otis is the
translator.”
8
“These are two
people whose love
leads to drama,
which feels a lot
like romance....
They’re addicted
to each other.”
DIRECTED BY Alma Har’el STARRING Shia
LaBeouf, Noah Jupe, Lucas Hedges,
FKA Twigs IN THEATERS Nov. 81 2 3 6 7 8
4
5
↑ Above Otis (Noah Jupe) playing a very
adult version of telephone in Honey Boy
Below Shia LaBeouf channeling his father