Shia LaBeouf's profession of faith

Along with news this week that Brad Pitt’s World War II drama Fury claimed the top spot at the box office, we heard reports that one of the movie’s other stars, Shia LaBeouf, became a Christian during the filming process.

In a rather esoteric, profanity-laced response to a question from the Andy Warhol–founded magazine Interview, LaBeouf (Transformers, Indiana Jones) said, “I found God doing Fury. I became a Christian man, and not in a [expletives deleted] way—in a very real way. I could have just said the prayers that were on the page. But it was a real thing that really saved me. And you can’t identify unless you’re really going through it. It’s a full-blown exchange of heart, a surrender of control.”

Mainstream media outlets like Entertainment Weekly, Extra, and E! Online subsequently picked up on LaBeouf’s assumed profession of faith, as did The Blaze and various Christian news websites.

But in reading the entirety of LaBeouf’s comments in context, it becomes clear that there is another way to interpret them that isn’t quite so headline worthy. Rather than making a personal declaration of his devotion to Christ, the actor could have been merely commenting on his immersive style of acting.

LaBeouf is a well-known method actor—a technique where the performer tries to simulate the psychological motives, behavior, mannerisms, and thought patterns of a character so deeply that he essentially becomes that character. Christian Bale, Val Kilmer, and Al Pacino are other, well-known practitioners of this technique. Looked at in the light of his working process, LaBeouf’s subsequent statements in the interview that Pitt and Fury director David Ayer helped him navigate the giving up of control that is essential to becoming a disciple of Christ while at the same time maintaining control as an actor makes more sense.

“I had good people around me who helped me,” LaBeouf said in response to the Interview reporter’s question of how he handled playing the evangelical Boyd “Bible” Swan. “Brad was really instrumental in guiding my head through this. Brad comes from a hyper-religious, very deeply Christian, Bible Belt life, and he rejected it and moved toward an unnamed spirituality. He looked at religion like the people’s opium, almost like a Marxist view on religion. Whereas [Fury writer-director] David [Ayer] is a full subscriber to Christianity. But these two diametrically opposed positions both lead to the same spot.”

LaBeouf then went on to discuss Pitt’s approach to acting and how the megastar brings much more effort to roles than the public knows.

I certainly hope I am wrong in my reading of LaBeouf’s comments, and there seems little doubt from the interview that he does have an interest in the answers Christ provides to life’s greatest questions. But completely apart from what LaBeouf meant, the incident makes me wonder how much our celebrity-saturated, TMZ culture has influenced our thought patterns in the church. Are American Christians flirting with secular method acting?

The Apostle Paul tells us in Corinthians that not many who come to Christ are influential or powerful on earth. As our nation grows more and more secular, scrapping even the emptiest lip service to honoring Christianity, it’s understandable that it’s exciting to see a public figure proclaim our God every now and then. Sadly, the names of those who arrive on the scene professing Christ (Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Jessica Simpson, Kristin Chenoweth and, for that matter, Brad Pitt) and then appear to change their tune once their popularity reaches critical mass are legion.

Others announced conversions in the public eye (Anne Rice, Jane Fonda, Charlie Sheen) but appeared to back off from their declarations once they discovered that adhering to the teachings of God’s Word conflicted with the world’s wisdom. When it looks likely to cost them too much in terms of money, career prospects, or reputation, many entertainment idols follow the example of the wealthy, young ruler and wander away.

It’s tragic and we should pray for their return, but we must recall that unlike some political party or trendy cause, the gospel doesn’t require the validation of rich and famous mascots. It is not injured or aided by the response of celebrity. That is one of the paradoxes of Christianity—throughout history it has been the refuge of the poor, wretched, unwise, and powerless, yet the gates of hell never prevail against it.

Right now, no one but God knows whether Shia LaBeouf meant to profess a genuine, saving faith that will stand the test of time and the tremendous pressure of the industry he works in. For his sake, I hope he did. I don’t know LaBeouf’s heart, but I do know that his portrayal of Christian love in a time of war touched mine.