Shia LaBeouf 
Actor Shia LaBeouf has been cast as Padre Pio for a film which will focus on the life of the Italian saint. Veteran actor Willem Dafoe is also set to receive a role in the movie.
A former Disney Channel star, Mr LaBeouf, 35, recently appeared in a video with a group of Franciscans, as he spends time with them in preparation for his role in the movie.
“I’m completely immersed in something way bigger than myself,” Mr LaBeouf says in the video.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever met a group of men as immersed in anything in my life,” he says of the Franciscans, continuing, “it’s super-attractive to see people give themselves to something so divine”.
“It’s heart-warming to know that there’s a brotherhood like this that exists. I’ve been met with nothing but grace since I’ve been here.”
Mr LaBeouf said that those involved in the production of the movie, under the direction of Abel Ferrara, are looking to get an “as close to accurate” depiction of what it’s like to be a friar as possible.
Showing the human side of the saintly life is an important goal of the film, Mr LaBeouf said, explaining that they’re looking to get as close to the “tangible, tactile relationship that this man had with Christ and in bringing the Good News to the world”.
