New 'Indy' Star Seeks Fortune and Family

May 25, 2008 -- For Shia LaBeouf, acting was never about fame; it was about family.

Now starring alongside Harrison Ford in the new "Indiana Jones" blockbuster, not only has LaBeouf become one of Hollywood's hottest young actors, but he has provided for his family and found new fatherly figures along the way.

"I was poor, and I didn't want to be poor. It had nothing to do with acting," he told Peter Travers candidly on ABC News Now's "Popcorn" about his childhood decision to seek a career in acting. "Money seemed to tear my family apart. ... For me, money was the glue."

In the new Indy film, the Los Angeles-born LaBeouf plays the role of Mutt Williams, a 1950s-style, switch-blade-wielding rebel, modeled after Marlon Brando in "The Wild One." As Mutt he dodges bullets and hunts for treasure together deep inside the South American jungle alongside Indy. In real life, the experience also helped bring him closer to his own father and fostered a paternal relationship with the film's creators, Stephen Spielberg and George Lucas.

"This business gave me my family back. … That's what I have now, is a solid group of people," he said proudly.

LaBeouf's career has enjoyed a meteoric rise since his debut on the Disney Channel's "Even Stevens." That's when he first got to know his own father, whom he describes fondly as a "hippie" who never had a "job job."

"I didn't really get to know my father till we were living in a motel for three years, and he was driving me on a motorcycle to the Disney set. … It was wild, but we got to know each other in that room."

Time with his own dad was often spent watching "Indiana Jones," which he calls "bonding time with pops." In fact, now that he's in an Indy film, it's the first time he said his dad has wanted tickets to a premiere.

Reflecting on his relationship with his dad, LaBeouf told Travers "both George and Harrison had pretty strange relationships with their fathers. … The business is how Stephen and his father reconnected, too."

When asked if he's nervous about how well the film will do, he said with an earnest smile that all that counts for him is winning over Stephen, George and Harrison. The response reflects just how grounded this talented young actor is, and just how focused he is on avoiding the common pitfalls of Hollywood celebrities his age.

Click here to read Peter Travers' Rolling Stone review of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull".