Shia LaBeouf, star of “Honey Boy,” recalls his mother’s final moments and expresses gratitude for one of the “greatest gifts” she left him during his redemption journey.
According to Shia Saide LaBeouf’s statement to The Hollywood Reporter, his mother, Shayna Saide, died at 80. During the interview, LaBeouf stated that he was present during her final moments in a Los Angeles hospital when she died of heart failure and emotionally recalled the moment.
LaBeouf explained:
“My mother was full of fear in her last moments: asking the doctor what this tube was and what that machine did. She was frantic. She was deeply interested in God and spirituality her whole life, but she didn’t know him. Hence her last moments.”
LaBeouf credited his newfound faith to his mother, whom he described as a “good girl” who is “loved by many but known by too few.”
He shared:
“Her greatest gift to me was to promote, in her dying, the necessity of a relationship with God. Not an interest, not just a belief, but a relationship built on proof as tangible as a hug. Her last gift to me was the ultimate persuasion for faith.”
Following his role as priest Francesco Forgione in the upcoming biopic film “Padre Pio,” the 36-year-old actor recently converted to Catholicism. Staying at a seminary in San Lorenzo was part of his preparation for the role.
LaBeouf was born in Los Angeles to a Jewish mother and a Christian father. His conversion to Catholicism represents a significant departure from his initial statement in 2007, in which he stated that religion “never made sense” to him.
Following the veteran actor’s baby steps toward redemption, LaBeouf recently revealed in an episode of “Bishop Barron Presents” that he had reached out to his mother, who had been “embarassed beyond all imagination” by his troubling behavior in recent years.
LaBeouf was charged with misdemeanor battery and petty theft in 2020. Recently, the 36-year-old actor made headlines after his ex-girlfriend, FKA Twigs, filed a sexual assault lawsuit against him. On April 17, 2023, LaBeouf and singer FKA Twigs are scheduled to appear in court.