Christy Carlson Romano Could Never “Fully Be There” for Shia LaBeouf

Romano posited that LaBeouf—who was 14 when he took on the role of Ren’s younger brother Louis Stevens—struggled with the idea that they were both leading the three-season show.

“Initially it was going to be his show,” the 42-year-old shared. “That’s what fueled his ambition, his competitive streak, and it’s unfortunate because I did come to understand that he had this complicated relationship with his dad.”

“At the same time,” she continued, “I wanted to be there for him, but I knew that I could never really fully be there for him because we had this work-life imbalance.” 

Navigating her complicated Disney Channel run is just one of the chapters Romano candidly details in her new memoir Once Upon a Trainwreck: The Fall and Rise of a Child Star, out now.

And chief among her recollections from Even Stevens involved overhearing an argument between LaBeouf and his dad Jeffrey LaBeouf(a relationship the Holes actor described as a “negative gift” in a 2014 conversation with Interview magazine).

“I’ve never heard Shia sound vulnerable before, like a kid,” she wrote. “Usually he’s bouncing off the walls, acting annoying and crazy, but I feel bad for him. He sounds so small over there on the other side of the thin wall we share. This experience is making me feel like I am in the room with him. I feel so small and helpless as he does.”

Before Romano—mom to daughters Isabella, 10, and Sophia, 7, with husband Brendan Rooney—could think about the situation any further, she said they were called back to set. But it did make her speculate about the Honey Boy actor’s personal life.

“Shia doesn’t tell me much about his parents,” she wrote. “He just jokes to everyone about them and to me they sound like hippies. They didn’t push him into acting, and Shia was the one who wanted a career. He looked in a phone book and found his manager when he was eight or something.”

“He seems desperate for fame,” she continued. “It’s really sad because I wonder if his home life is tough. I think it’s kind of a miracle he’s even functioning.”

Although Romano and LaBeouf, now 40, lost touch in the years after Even Stevens wrapped, only reuniting publicly at a 2005 premiere, the Kim Possible alum wishes her onscreen little brother the best.

“I pray for Shia often,” she told E!. “Whenever something comes out in the news that’s positive, I’m rooting for him. And whenever something negative comes out in the news, my heart breaks. Society has a way of writing child actors off.”

However, she did emphasize LaBeouf—who has faced several legal battles over the years, most recentlypleading guilty to simple battery in June after a fight in New Orleans—is still responsible for his own actions. 

“Some things—I will be very clear about—some things shouldn’t be written off,” Romano explained. “We can’t infantilize the man. He’s a grown-up. His actions, if they’re illegal, deserve ramifications.”

“He’s gotten himself into his own messes,” she continued, but added, “I just hope for the best for him. I truly do.”

For more bombshells from Romano’s new memoir Once Upon a Trainwreck: The Fall and Rise of a Child Star, keep reading.