Shia LaBeouf turns 22 today.

The young actor has already earned comparisons to Tom Hanks, though he has a long way to go to achieve such lofty status in our eyes.

Still, Shia’s early film resume is solid:

• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
• Transformers
• Disturbia
• Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle

In honor of the actor, and for his many female fans out there, here’s a photo montage of the actor. Click on the following thumbnails now for larger versions…

Shia LaBeouf recently sat down with Entertainment Weekly for a discussion about his character in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Mutt Williams.

Here are highlights from the interview:

Entertainment Weekly: What was it like meeting Harrison Ford?
Shia LaBeouf: He’s the John Wayne of my generation, for sure. He’s the quintessential movie star. And the fact that he doesn’t really care is beautiful.

Your Crystal Skull character, Mutt, is pretty handy with blades and swords.
Steven and George wanted the character to have a switchblade. The thing became like a third arm. The floors are now disgusting in my house because there’s all these knife gouges in the floor from me throwing the knife. I was on the Transformers press tour while I was getting my knives ready. So I’d take this knife with me to Italy and to Germany, and I’m trying to stash this switchblade in different places in my luggage so I don’t get in trouble.

I’ve read and heard that you watched a lot of old movies — The Wild One, Blackboard Jungle, Rebel Without a Cause — to get ready to play Mutt.
I also remember Steven telling me to watch Red River, watch Montgomery Clift, and his cadence and his mannerisms and the way he dealt with John Wayne. That was my homework. George, of course, made American Graffiti and knows all about the demimonde of the ”greaser.”

Continue reading this article …

As part of their promotional campaign for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (as if that movie even needs to be promoted), Harrison Ford and Shia LaBeouf showed up on MTV’s Total Request Live this week.

When asked about a fifth Indiana Jones film - which George Lucas has admitted to contemplating - Shia smiled and said:

“I know Harrison would love to, I know that Harrison, when he’s 80, will still be jacked. Is there going to be an 80-year-old Indiana Jones? No one can say never.”

Let’s hope this is part of the story in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

If not, Shia LeBeouf has some serious explaining to do to Cate Blanchett’s family, friends and fans…

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull comes out on May 22. We hope Shia and Cate will have made up by then.

Shia LaBeouf has signed on to star in the techno thriller Dark Fields.

Variety reports that Neil Burger (The Illusionist) will direct the film, which is based on Alan Glynn’s 2002 novel “The Dark Fields.”

The story centers on a young man who comes into possession of the ultimate smart pill, as events ensue from there.

LaBeouf will next be seen in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Eagle Eye. He starts filming Transformers 2 this summer.

Shia LaBeouf injured himself during the filming of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

“I pulled a rotator cuff in my hip,” LaBeouf told MTV. “It’s the only time in my career I’ve ever been injured. What happened was, because the injury got worse and worse as the movie went on, I pulled my groin also. [The groin] is not a good thing to have anything happen to.”

Don’t worry, though, fans: the young star will be fine in time for the summer, when filming on a certain, much-anticipated sequel begins.

“We’re gearing up for [Transformers 2] in June,” he said.

As for what he’d like to see out of his robot friends, Shia has just one request: “It’s got to be more badass. It has to be.”

Shia LaBeouf is a busy young actor.

As he gets ready to go on a publicity tour for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the young actor is also filming Eagle Eye.

Below, he talks to ComingSoon.net about the new movie. He’s joined by pretty co-star Michelle Monaghan (pictured)…

CS: Can you talk about your relationship in the film and how your characters meet?
LaBeouf: We’re strangers. I don’t know who she is and she doesn’t know who I am. We’re being led to each other and on this journey together by a voice named Aria who is basically commanding us to do various things.

CS: Such as?
LaBeouf: Such a jump into this tour bus, rob that Brinks truck…
Monaghan: Go to the airport.
LaBeouf: Grab this case. Jump in this car.
Monaghan: It’s almost like a scavenger hunt in a way. We don’t know what we’re doing.
LaBeouf: You have 15 seconds to leave this building or you’ll die. Stuff like that. There’s no explanation. There’s no conservation.
Monaghan: It’s life or death.

CS: What makes you take the voice seriously?
LaBeouf: We both have situations where we both come very close to death. But very strategic planned close to death. It’s enough for us to realize it, but this voice knows we’re safe.

Read the full interview with these stars now.

Shia LaBeouf recently chatted with Comingsoon.net about a pair of blockbuster movies: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystall Skull and Transformers 2.

Here are highlights of the chat:

CS: Any word or update on Transformers 2?
Shia LaBeouf: We’re in the middle of a strike so you can’t write a script and you can’t make a movie without a script, so that’s where we’re at.

CS: Is there any truth to you continuing the “Indy” franchise on your own?
LaBeouf: Am I into it? Who wouldn’t be? I don’t think that’s reality. It’s a fun rumor.

CS: Is there anything you’re looking forward to seeing in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull?
LaBeouf: The movie. I’m just as anxious as you guys are. I haven’t seen anything. [Spielberg's] just secretive with certain people. He’s locked in a room. And then George [Lucas] gets his cut. It’s not like, “Hey it’s Shia’s viewing time.” I’ll see it when the premiere.

Read the full interview with LaBeouf now.

“I’ve never been more athletic in my life,” Shia LaBeouf told MTV News, referring to his early training for Indiana Jones 4, and not, as one might have guessed, his nimbleness at dodging questions regarding the eagerly anticipated flick.

“We haven’t gotten to any rehearsals [yet],” he said, indicating that the film will start shooting in June. “It’s just been a lot of stunt rehearsals and weapons training.”

Wearing a t-shirt and shorts, Shia looked buffer than usual, sporting greased back hair more reminiscent of Gordon Gekko than Harrison Ford. This would seem to jibe with leaked news posted earlier this morning that said Shia will play a biker in the upcoming sequel. The actor was mum on the topic, announcing of his wardrobe only that his character won’t “be wearing a fedora [in the film].”

It’s a veil of secrecy that starts at the top, he affirmed, and one he aims to uphold without any objection.

“You don’t make any demands to Steven Spielberg. You say ‘Oh yeah, alright great, that sounds like a good thing to me’,” he proclaimed. “Of course, you have to find your voice as the artist. You’re the tool, and you gotta have some say. [But] I don’t imagine I’ll be questioning anything he says. It’s [not] very easy to say, ‘You know Steven, I don’t think that’s correct. I think I should do it this way.’”

Either way, the 20-year-old star knows he’ll be a focal point of fan criticism. “Nobody expects anything from that film,” he joked, eyes rolling.