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Shia LaBeouf's transformation from silly to sexy

Shia LaBeouf has transformed himself from child TV star to major movie star to… porn star? LaBeouf landed a role in director Lars von Trier's upcoming drama Nymphomaniac, where he will strip down and perform some "genuine" sex scenes. He even admitted to sending sex tapes of him and his girlfriend (Karolyn Pho) to von Trier to land the role!

For those of you who remember LaBeouf as Louis Stevens from Disney's hit TV show Even Stevens, this may be difficult to imagine. But according to Susan Knabe, assistant professor in the Faculty of Media Studies and the Faculty of Women's Studies at Western University, this could be the image he is trying to break. "He comes out of the Disney franchise, so you know there's the kind of innocence and purity that gets associated with Disney ... I think that if you want to actually reinvent yourself and cut the ties with the good boy you might have once been, doing a film like this will actually allow you to do that."

He's not the only Disney star who has tried to break the innocent and wholesome stereotype, but Knabe suggested it's his gender that makes this case particularly interesting. "We can just look at Miley Cyrus, Disney's Hannah Montana — now all of a sudden she's super sexed up. It's less common that we turn to look at male child stars who then end up doing something risqué."

LaBeouf has continuously worked on his "big boy" image since leaving the Disney series in 2003. He's had big roles in films such as Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Disturbia and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and he really made a name for himself after landing the starring role in the Transformers trilogy. His leading roles have given him the opportunity for some steamy scenes with actresses such as Megan Fox, Sarah Roemer and Carey Mulligan, but nothing quite like what we might witness in Nymphomaniac.

Von Trier has been known to experiment with "real sex" scenes and erotic images. His company Zentropa was the first mainstream film company to produce hardcore pornographic films. What's interesting is that many of his porn films focus on female desire and female sexuality, which is what Nymphomaniac is centred around. The film will be released in "hardcore" and "softcore" versions. The plot focuses on female protagonist Charlotte Gainsbourg as Jo, a selfdiagnosed nymphomaniac who recounts her life. "The narrative, it seems, is about her sexual desire and her escapades throughout her life, so I'm guessing probably what will happen is that he (LaBeouf) will be one vignette in her story," Knabe said. Although discovering female sexuality isn't an uncommon narrative, von Trier has promised to do something unique with the storyline. "It's less about whether Shia LaBeouf ... has an orgasm on screen," Knabe pointed out, "but rather how von Trier is actually helping to reimagine female sexuality in a way that could be more progressive." So this could be more than a media ploy.

LaBeouf does identify himself as a "method" actor, using techniques that have been highly criticized by the public. It was reported that he drank moonshine on the set of Lawless and took acid in The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman to help portray his characters more accurately. There is something about "realness" that contributes to the overall effect a film has on its viewers, but where do you cross the line?

The fact that LaBeouf has a girlfriend has placed his decision under much scrutiny. But, besides the possibility of damaging his relationship, Knabe suggested that LaBeouf could complete these scenes without ruining his reputation. "I think that one of the differences that happens between men and women is that he will not necessarily have to answer to this for the rest of his life, whereas I think if he were a woman who was doing this, that would always be mentioned. I think he can do this and walk away with it."