Nobody can say that Shia LaBeouf isn’t committed to his job.
The 34-year-old is set to star as a tax collector for a crime lord in the upcoming crime thriller The Tax Collector, which requires a certain kind of look.
But instead of just turning to a make-up artist for some help, Shia decided to turn to permanent solutions to look as hard as nails.
It turns out that the elaborate tattoos all over Shia’s chest are not only real, but were for one solitary role.
Earlier this year, The Tax Collector David Ayer confirmed that the former child star underwent the extensive inkings to play Creeper, a man who collects taxes from gangs around LA on behalf of a crime lord called Wizard.
Ayer told Slash Film: ‘He’s one of the best actors I’ve worked with, and he’s the most committed to body and soul.
‘He had a tooth pulled on Fury, and then on Tax Collector, he got his whole chest tattooed. So he kind of goes all in, and I’ve never known anyone that committed.’
Shia showed the tattoos earlier this year, and it’s quite a commitment to the role.
He got his character’s name, Creeper, tattooed across his stomach, while above the name is a Madonna figure cradling a clown.
They are accompanied by two Mickey Mouse gloves pointing towards each other below Shia’s belly button – and there isn’t much room left on his torso for ink not related to his gangster character.
Shia previously got tattooed during the filming of American Honey, although that wasn’t for a character.
The Disturbia actor got 12 tattoos at various tattoo parlours with the rest of the cast, including tattoos of Missy Elliott on his knees – which annoyed the director greatly as Shia kept showing up to set with different inkings at different parts of the movie.
He told Variety: ‘I don’t love Missy Elliott like I wanna get two Missy Elliott tattoos. But you’re in a tattoo parlour and… peer pressure.’
But perhaps the most commitment he’s shown to a role – on par with his chest illustrations – was when the lengths he went to for his role as a soldier in 2014’s Fury.
To play WW2 soldier Bible, Shia slashed his own face and got a tooth removed for the height of authenticity.
His co-star Logan Lerman told GQ: ‘We were in make-up and they were putting cuts on Shia and I said, “Yeah, yeah, it looks good”. And Shia was like, “No it doesn’t look real”.
‘Then he walks out into the hallway and says, “Hey man, wanna see something fun? Check this out…” and he takes out a knife and cuts his face. And for the whole movie he kept opening these cuts on his face. That’s all real.’
Lerman added: ‘He did go to a dentist and asked them to pull his tooth out, but yeah, what an odd request.’
Let’s hope the tattoos were all worth it, as The Tax Collector is released on 7 August.
MORE : Lin-Manuel Miranda’s wife Vanessa Nadal hilariously boos his on-screen kisses in Hamilton
Share this with