The director of The Rooster Prince opened up about Shia LaBeouf‘s intense on-set experience while working with him on the film. Josh Penn Soskin also revealed an unexpected phrase the actor improvised that gave him goosebumps.
Josh Penn Soskin says Shia LaBeouf’s Rooster Prince shoot blurred performance and pain
Writer-director Josh Penn Soskin recently published an open letter in Variety about Shia LaBeouf’s intense performance in his debut feature, The Rooster Prince.
Soskin described how LaBeouf’s portrayal of a man experiencing a bipolar episode blurred the line between acting and reality. He wrote that LaBeouf “was in deep pain” and “in even more pain than all the pain he was causing.”
Notably, the film draws from Soskin’s relationship with his late brother David, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist who experienced a manic episode in 2017. David’s condition eventually led to his death by suicide. Soskin channeled years of grief into the screenplay, describing the writing process as “cinema-catharsis.”
After reading the script, LaBeouf connected deeply with the character. Soskin noted that his “devotion to the work became nearly religious” and that “it seemed he rarely slept.” The actor also memorized David’s books and told Soskin “that at times it felt like Dave was speaking to him.”
However, the production grew volatile as LaBeouf’s process intensified on set. Soskin recalled that they “could fight terribly one day, and the next find ourselves in a deep embrace.” He further described the experience as “less like a movie and more like an Ayahuasca trip.” Meanwhile, during one late-night rehearsal, LaBeouf improvised a line asking to be treated with “maximum empathy.” The filmmaker said, “There were tears in his eyes. And now mine. Goosebumps spiked the skin on my arms.”
Subsequently, Soskin shared that phrase with the crew the next morning in an emotional speech. He explained that both his brother and LaBeouf were asking for the same thing. Ultimately, the filmmaker called LaBeouf’s work “the truest depiction of mental illness I’ve ever seen on camera.”
The film reportedly began shooting in late October 2025 and wrapped in December. LaBeouf was later sentenced to two years of probation following a February 2026 altercation in New Orleans.
Originally reported by Anubhav Chaudhry on ComingSoon.
