‘Megalopolis' actor admits Francis Ford Coppola's ‘wacky' vision was confusing
Shia LaBeouf is opening up about his experience working with Francis Ford Coppola on ' Megalopolis,' and it turns out he was just as confused as most audiences.
'It felt like we had to mine his mind to figure out what the f— we were even talking about,' La Beouf, who played Clodio Pulcher in the film, said in a joint interview with filmmaker David Mamet published by the Hollywood Reporter on Thursday, May 8.
LaBeouf went on to explain that his relationship with the Napa Valley filmmaker became 'frustrated' because he kept asking questions about the script.
'It wasn't normal language. It was this archaic rhythm that he was chasing,' he said. 'It's not helpful to the actor to get overt notes … I became a nuisance.'
The film reimagines New York as New Rome, and also stars Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza and Jon Voight, among others. Reflecting on the project, LeBeouf admitted it was 'way wackier' than he expected.
'I never thought we were going for we were going for wacky. I thought my character was wacky and I served that for the film. But I didn't think the whole movie was wacky,' LaBeouf said of Coppola's final product.
The 2024 sci-fi drama cost $120 million, but made just over $14 million at the box office. Production was shrouded in controversy, from allegations of inappropriate behavior on set to artificial intelligence-generated trailers that included fake quotes from established film critics.
The project wound up earning Coppola an award for worst director by the Golden Raspberry Awards, known as the Razzies, despite being a passion project that he helped finance by selling two of his Sonoma wineries.
The 'Godfather' director revealed in March that his money is 'basically gone' because 'Megalopolis' flopped.
'Coppola thinks he's Dave,' LaBeouf said, referring to Mamet. 'He really believes he's this theater director guy. He's not. But he believes he is. He thinks he's the actor's guy — but he's not.
'That's not to say he's not incredible,' he continued. 'It's just not what his incredible is.'
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