Reflecting on the past! Christy Carlson Romano decided to get very honest with her fans about the state of her relationship with former costar Shia LaBeouf.
On Tuesday, August 24, Romano, 37, posted a video to her YouTube channel titled “Why I Don’t Talk To Shia LaBeouf” where she discussed the time they spent together on Disney and what that has evolved into since then.
“We were these young kids put in this very unique situation. We had very raw talent. He had a knack for comedy and my comedy was a lot more of a straight man. And so we were like an instant comedic team,” the actress explained in the clip.
While the Even Stevens alum was “honored” that viewers enjoyed the fictional sibling bond between her and LaBeouf, 35, she admitted that they weren’t actually that close.
“People just assume you know people just because you work with them,” the Kim Possible star noted about the assumptions that came with working on the Disney Channel show.
Romano noted that her costar, whom she worked with from 2000 to 2003, was “dealing with so much more” at the time that even she realized.
“Honestly, when I look back, I just feel stupid. I know I’m not stupid because I care,” she detailed. “And I think I did care even then. And I think that’s why we had a little bit of animosity.”
For the Connecticut native, the level of success that the American Honey actor received was something she struggled with in comparison. Since then, the duo have significantly drifted apart, although Romano acknowledged that she values that time in her life just as much as she thinks LaBeouf does.
“I know that he cares a lot about that timeframe. Not only because of a movie that he did and exposing all that stuff that was going on behind the scenes,” she shared in the video. “But also because when he did the performance art piece, he had such love in his face when he watched Even Stevens and he was smiling.”
But when it comes to fans asking her questions about the filmmaker, she can’t offer much now that they “went from seeing each other every day to then not seeing each other for years.”
“I am piecing together reactions from a person I don’t know. I want to give all the knowledge that I have about this person,” she explained on camera. “But the person I knew is not the same person now, just based on all of this life experience that he’s had. And I’m not the same person that he knew.”
The singer ended the video by sharing her regrets when it came to the time wasted between the twosome on set.
“The only thing that I can say is that I really do kind of wish at the time when I was younger I would have given him a little more time and energy and love, like a real sister,” she mentioned. “I really do regret that. It kind of makes me sad.”
As for whether she would be interested in seeing LaBeouf again, Romano wasn’t sure based on their lifestyles.
“I have a very specific life. I am sober, I don’t drink alcohol. I have a very specific amount of time and energy that I can put towards having anyone in my life,” she noted. “That’s for business, that’s for pleasure, that’s for anything, I just don’t have a ton of time.”
She continued: “If I’m around somebody or taking the time to invest in a friendship, it needs to be with somebody that I can trust understands and respects me on an equal level. I’m not sure how he ever felt about me. To be honest with you. He never really let me know. I feel like there was a missed opportunity to bond.”
Since his time on Even Stevens, LaBeouf has dealt with alcoholism and PTSD. In June 2014, he was charged with disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing. He pled guilty to disorderly conduct and the other charges were dropped. The following year, he was booked for misdemeanor public intoxication and was later released. In July 2017, the Holes star was taken into custody for disorderly conduct and public drunkenness. While pleaded no contest to the disorderly conduct charge, he was found guilty of obstruction of justice. Three years later, he was charged with counts of battery and petty theft after allegedly assaulting a man in June 2020. He was ordered to complete a judicial diversion program within 12 months, after which his charges would get dropped.
Five months later, LaBeouf’s ex-girlfriend FKA twigs accused him of “relentless abuse” and sexual battery in a lawsuit. In a statement to The New York Times, the actor acknowledged that “many of these allegations are not true” but accepted “accountability” for his actions.
“I’m not in any position to tell anyone how my behavior made them feel. I have no excuses for my alcoholism or aggression, only rationalizations. I have been abusive to myself and everyone around me for years,” he explained at the time. “I have a history of hurting the people closest to me. I’m ashamed of that history and am sorry to those I hurt. There is nothing else I can really say.”
Scroll down for all the details Romano shared about her ups and downs with LaBeouf over the years:
Looking back at their time on Even Stevens, Romano revealed that she wasn't sure that they "were ever really friends."
"We were coworkers. We had this really good on screen chemistry. People assumed we were, in real life, brother and sister. And that in real life, I had an influence over what this guy did," she said. "Watch Honey Boy and it's like he's a completely traumatized young man at the same time that I'm working with him."
Although they "weren't really close," the Broadway alum explained that there is still a connection that continues to exist because of the time they spent filming as children.
“I guarantee if I saw him walking on the street, there would be a bond there that is undeniable,” she clarified. “When you grow up with somebody in that particular way ... you’re bonded together. You can’t help but want to see the person succeed.”
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“I always wanted him to really appreciate what I gave to him,” Romano detailed about the source of the "animosity" between them back in the day. As LaBeouf continued to book more roles, Romano struggled with the direction her career was going because of her decision to go to college.
"I was a bit salty. I felt like he had gotten a better agent, a better manager. So I felt kind of jilted by the whole situation," she admitted. "I felt like, here he is making a big splash in Hollywood and here I am. I chose to go to college ... There was definitely an undercurrent of regret but also an undercurrent of comparison. Sibling rivalry, if you will."
Romano chose not to watch any of LaBeouf's movies as a result.
"I couldn’t. I couldn’t bring myself to watch them," she revealed. “For a while, I think the ghost of who Shia was and who he became was really frustrating for me.”
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An upsetting moment that still stands out for Romano is when they both attended the Daytime Emmy Awards together in 2003.
"He was on the podium. I was sitting there with the rest of our team, and he thanked, like, everybody at the table. But he didn’t thank me,” she detailed. “I was hurt at the time, because I felt like since day one, it was him and me. It was, like, our show. But because it was so life or death for him, it was his show and I was just, like, around because I was a girl.”
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Years later, Romano confirmed that LaBeouf's home issues weren't something she was aware of at the time.
"I didn't know a lot of the backstories that came out about where they were living at that time and how much hardship they'd seen and stuff like that," she explained, adding that she loved her costar's mother when she met her on set.
Now, Romano wishes she had a clearer picture of what was going on with LaBeouf. "I just kick myself because I really do kind of wish, if I'd known anything about him I could have been, I don't know, more patient? But I was dealing with my own thing," she mentioned. "I was moving across country for the opportunity. I was sad about a breakup when I was 16, and I was dealing with my own drama."
In October 2019, the Transformers star opened about the pressure he felt to help his family financially while filming Even Stevens.
“In a very simple way, to me, having money meant having a family,” LaBeouf said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter’s "Awards Chatter" podcast. “The more money I had, the more I could have my family around. That’s just how I equated it.”
It took many years for the Fury actor to realize that his upbringing contributed to his mental health struggles. It wasn't until he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder that he realized what he was going through.
“I just thought I was an alcoholic, like, a true-blue drunk and I needed to deal with that," he noted. "I knew it was an issue but didn’t know there was this extra whole other thing that was hindering my ability to have any peace in my life and my ability to deal with people.”
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While reflecting on their past together, Romano ended the video with a message for the performance artist.
"Shia, if you see this, know that I love you. I'm sorry we didn't connect well when we were kids," she told the camera. "And I hope that you are taking it one day at a time ... Be well, because I'll always love you."
Alex Berliner/BEI/Shutterstockfrom Celebrity News – Us Weekly https://ift.tt/3ynWxQc
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