Shia LaBeouf Got Tattoos Of Missy Elliott On His Knees And Isn't Sure Why

Tattoos are for life, kids.

And now Shia LaBeouf has to go around with two portraits of the rapper Missy Elliott on his kneecaps. And he’s not even that much of a fan.

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Speaking to Variety magazine, he revealed that he was inked with a total of 12 new tattoos while making ‘American Honey’, British director Andrea Arnold’s hotly-tipped road movie.

He got some on his neck, some on his arms, and Missy on his knees, a move with apparently drove Arnold to distraction because of the obvious issues with on-screen continuity.

It was all because the group at the centre of the movie, a crew of young, hard-partying magazine sales folk, lead by LaBeouf’s character Jake, were as close off camera as they were on it.

“We bonded hard,” LaBeouf said.

“You do whatever is required for it to be true, for it to be honest. I had to run this group, sort of like a pimp.

“One of the things we’d do as a group, we’d all go to the f**king tattoo shop.

“I don’t love Missy Elliott like I wanna get two Missy Elliott tattoos. But you’re in a tattoo parlor, and” – he shrugs – “peer pressure.”

It must have been intense.

LaBeouf, who says he’s been sober now for almost a year, reckons that his recent ‘issues’ – fighting, drinking, putting bags on his head – have proved beneficial in some way to his work.

“I don’t think I’d be working with the directors I’ve been working with if I had not f**ked up a bit,” he said.

“They wanted a f**king fireball. They wanted a loose cannon. I’m learning how to distill my ‘crazy’ into something manageable, that I can shape and deliver on the day.”

Prior to getting things more under control, he says he ‘was an open wound bleeding on everything’.

But just don’t call him a method actor.

“The word is getting embarrassing,” he adds.

“You don’t hear about female method actors. The whole thing has turned into weird, false masculinity sh*t.”

‘American Honey’ is due out in the UK on October 14.

Image credits: Universal/Getty