This Actor Got Choked Up Talking About Jesus

Published: March 5, 2026

By Gavin Boyle

Shia LaBeouf would have no words if he were to meet Jesus; rather he would fall at his Savior’s feet in worship.

“I wouldn’t say ****. But I’d kiss Him,” LaBeouf told YouTuber Andrew Callighan while getting choked up in response to a question about what he would say to Jesus if he met Him. “I’d kiss His feet. I wouldn’t say nothing.”

LaBeouf, best known for his roles in Disney’s EVEN STEVENS and the TRANSFORMERS franchise, has not often made positive headlines in the last decade. He has had a fluctuating relationship with faith throughout his life, swinging between public declarations of faith while also saying that he is not sure if God is real. Since 2022, though, faith has become more real to him after living at a Catholic Monastery to prepare for his role in the movie PADRE PIO. He was confirmed into the Catholic church in 2023.

“I know now that God was using my ego to draw me to Him. Drawing me away from worldly desires,” LaBeouf said. “It was all happening simultaneously. But there would have been no impetus for me to get in my car, drive up [to the monastery] if I didn’t think, ‘Oh, I’m gonna save my career.’”

“It was seeing other people who have sinned beyond anything I could ever conceptualize also being found in Christ that made me feel like, ‘Oh, that gives me hope,’” he added. “I started hearing experiences of other depraved people who had found their way in this, and it made me feel like I had permission.”

As he has walked down this path, LaBeouf has also focused on becoming sober, leaning on actors Mel Gibson, Sean Penn and Josh Brolin in this journey. This effort, however, is still in progress, as he was arrested in Louisiana earlier this year for actions that took place while he was drunk.

“[We’re] very close,” LaBeouf told The Hollywood Reporter of his relationship with Gibson. “Big respect, big love. He’s always been very lovely to me…Him, Sean Penn, [Josh] Brolin — these guys got me to sobriety. They got around me and kept me alive…There was a bunch of guys that I looked up to that just started popping up. I had never, ever felt that kind of love — not like that.”

Though he still has his struggles, it is amazing to see just how much the Lord has impacted LaBeouf’s life. Hopefully he will continue down this path and serve as an inspiration for anyone else currently facing substance abuse and searching for hope. Praise God for LaBeouf’s relationship with Jesus.

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