Shia LaBeouf Quits Broadway Play Co-Starring Alec Baldwin
Shia LeBouf
Shia LaBeouf has quit The Orphans, a Broadway play he was supposed to star in alongside Alec Baldwin, less than a month before its scheduled opening.
Producers said Wednesday that they were parting ways with LaBeouf due to "creative differences," and were looking to recast his role. LaBeouf took to Twitter, posting pictures of private e-mails between himself and the play's director Daniel Sullivan, playwright Lyle Kessler, Baldwin and their co-star Tom Sturridge, as well as his audition video.
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A Broadway insider tells the New York Daily News that "creative differences" refers to LaBeouf's "difficult behavior and refusal to take direction." According to the News report, LaBeouf — who is known for starring in films such as Transformers and was making his Broadway debut in The Orphans — struggled with acting on stage and "treated the role like he was an action star on a movie set."
In one tweet, LaBeouf wrote that he "put [his] hand thru the door" at one rehearsal.
LaBeouf also posted an e-mail from Sullivan, who wrote, "Alec is who he is. You are who you are. You two are incompatible. I should have known it. This one will haunt me. You tried to warn me. You said you were a different breed. I didn't get it."
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On Thursday, the play's producers announced that Ben Foster will be replacing LaBeouf to take over the role of Treat.
The move comes on the heels of Baldwin's confrontation with a New York Post reporter, which producers already felt was going to negatively impact ticket sales, according to the News.
However, regardless of what happened between Baldwin and LaBeouf during rehearsals, e-mails between the two actors seem to indicate that they're on good terms.
An e-mail to LaBeouf from Baldwin reads, in part: "I've been through this before. ... I don't have an unkind word to say about you." LaBeouf's response: "Same. Be well. Good luck on the play. You'll be great."