Entertainment
Shia LaBeouf lands ‘comeback role’ playing Padre Pio amid FKA twigs sexual battery lawsuit
LaBeouf has been cast in Abel Ferrarra’s new film (Picture: John Phillips/Getty Images)
Shia LaBeouf has landed a ‘comeback’ role amid allegations he subjected ex FKA twigs to ‘relentless abuse’ during their relationship.
The 35-year-old was sued last year by FKA twigs, who accused the actor of sexual battery, assault, and infliction of emotional distress.
Among the singer’s allegations were that LaBeouf threatened to crash a car unless she professed her love for him, allegedly threw her against a car at a gas station, and knowingly gave her a sexually transmitted disease.
A former girlfriend of LaBeouf’s, Karolyn Pho, also alleges that the actor once headbutted her after drunkenly pinning her to a bed.
LaBeouf has denied ‘each and every’ allegation in the lawsuit.
Months after the suit was filed, the star has been cast in the lead role Abel Ferrarra’s new film as the Italian Saint Padre Pio.
The actor has been cast as a young Padre Pio (Picture: Archivio Cicconi/Getty Images)
Ferrarra told Variety that LaBeouf had been tapped for the role, saying: ‘We’re doing a film about Padre Pio, he’s a monk from Puglia. It’s set in Italy right after World War I. He’s now a saint, he had stigmata. He was also in the middle of a very heavy political period in world history.
‘He was very young before he became a saint, so Shia LaBeouf is going to play the monk.’
Willem Dafoe is also reportedly in talks to join the film.
The independent movie is set to film in Puglia this October.
Selling Sunset star Chrishell Stause was among those criticising the casting, as she tweeted: ‘Ummmm I’m gonna pass. Glad he got a Comeback Role though’, followed by an unimpressed emoji.
It had been believed that LaBeouf was taking a break from acting after parting ways with his agency CAA in February, to focus on his recovery.
FKA twigs has accused LaBeouf of ‘relentless’ abuse (Picture: David Fisher/REX)
The Transformers star had begun treatment at an inpatient facility, after his attorney said that they were ‘actively seeking the kind of meaningful, intensive, long-term inpatient treatment that he desperately needs’ to address issues with alcohol and aggression.
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LaBeouf’s last movie was the 2020 drama Pieces of a Woman, in which he played the grieving husband of a woman (Vanessa Kirby) whose baby dies during childbirth.
After FKA twigs’ lawsuit was filed, Netflix scrubbed the actor from its awards season ‘for your consideration’ page.
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