LOS ANGELES??How can you work with Megan Fox and not fall in love with her??

?Buddy, that is a tough question,? a smiling Shia LaBeouf reacted to that question from a reporter during our press con with him. Megan had just left the room and the query was obviously inspired by the actress? hot looks and smart answers.

But after a pause, Shia offered a reply that indicated he has given the matter about his ?Transformers? sequel co-star some thought. ?I?m a professional so you know, I?m not out of my mind,? began the actor who at 23 is still shedding his teen looks but is gradually taking on a grown-up appearance (the mustache and beard help). ?Megan and I are co-workers, first and foremost. But the truth is, as crazy as I could be, how good will a relationship between us turn out? What am I betting on? What would become the important topical matters in my life? Would I have to talk about it? Where would we go? How would we hang out? It?s just not for either one of us. I don?t think it?s the right move. But there is no secret to it. I?m attracted to her. She?s a beautiful girl. She?s a sweetheart.?

Youth and humor

An appealing mixture of youthful braggadocio and self-deprecating humor, Shia can never be accused of being a boring interviewee. Asked if he teases Megan about being ranked often as the world?s sexiest woman by men?s magazines, Shia answered, ?She thinks it?s awkward. Anyone who is over-complimented starts getting weird about it. I tease her about everything. She?s a friend of mine. We spend a lot of time with each other because we make these films back to back. It?s like we almost haven?t left each other the entire time we?ve been making these movies. I?ve been able to watch her mature and see her star rise. It has been fun to watch. She?s handling it well.?

On Isabel Lucas, his other female co-star in ?Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,? Shia said, ?She?s a very talented actress. She?s beautiful. And she was thrown into a boiling pot of hot water. The set was bubbling from the minute we started on the first one. So for Isabel to come from Australia, essentially a newcomer, and virtually her first film is this large, it?s pretty impressive. It?s fun for her?new and exciting. She?s dealing with it the best she can. She?s a quiet girl, very different from Megan. She?s less outspoken, less aggressive and a totally different personality. But she?s just as enjoyable.?

Isabel was with Shia when he flipped his truck and crushed his left hand in an early morning collision accident in LA last July. Although Shia was found to be not at fault for the accident (the driver of the other vehicle ran a red light), his license was temporarily suspended because he refused to undergo chemical tests following the accident. In an interview with Playboy magazine, the actor, admitting that he had ?a whiskey and three beers? before the accident, revealed that he has joined AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) to seek help.

Hand injury

Shia, who underwent a hand surgery, arrived for the interview with his left hand still bandaged in a plastic brace. ?My hand will be fully functional come August,? he said. The accident happened while Shia was in the middle of filming ?Revenge?? so his injured hand had to be written into the script. The movie, directed again by Michael Bay, is predicted to be a huge hit just like the first one. ?This movie isn?t a continuation,? Shia claimed. ?The movie stands by itself. You don?t have to see the first one to enjoy this one.?

On whether the accident got him thinking about his life, career and family, especially since it happened as he was poised to become one of the biggest actors of his generation, Shia quickly replied, ?In a multitude of ways, yes. Adversity has a way of introducing a man to himself. It?s the first real problem I?ve had to deal with in a while. I?ve been floating in a cloud. This was the first time that I?ve ever dealt with mortality which is a major thing. It?s a major learning curve and it?s something that I?m still dealing with. I don?t have all the answers. I?m trying to figure it out and do what I love at the same time. It?s a hard balancing act.?

When does he find time for self-introspection? ?I do it with you guys,? he quipped to laughter. ?This is like a therapy session.? He added, ?Clearly, if you read the Playboy interview, that was also like a therapy session.?

Unconventional childhood

Shia had an unconventional childhood that has often been written about. He doesn?t shirk from talking about growing up poor with hippie parents, Jeffrey and Shayna LaBeouf (now divorced). Parade magazine recently quoted him as saying, ?My humor came from seeing my parents have sex, smoke weed, my mom being naked?just weird hippie stuff, twisted R-rated humor.?

?I had a crazy upbringing,? Shia told us. When he praised his mom, he said it as it is, without rancor or bitterness toward his father who had a history of addiction. Shia gets along with his father. ?She was my only parent,? he said of Shayna. ?My father is a father. He?s not a dad. My mother is a mom. She?s the pillar in my life. Without that woman, I don?t have a life, literally and figuratively. I have nothing else sacred in my life other than my mother. She?s the only ?for sure? in my life. She?s the only thing that I can bet on and win every time. Because of those reasons, she has been the most consistent thing in my life.?

Shia revealed that a ?nugget? he said earlier, ?Adversity has a way of introducing a man to himself,? was a sample of Shayna?s guiding lines to him. ?That was out of my mom?s mouth,? he shared. ?She says things like that. I?ve dealt with all types of situations in the last two years?positive, negative and extremes of both. She?s a good person to have in your corner. My mom is just mellow, no matter what. She has never changed. She never changed her name for Hollywood or started wearing make-up for set life. None of that s**t. She has always been real, normal and never became a set mom. She never had a book deal. She was never like, ?Hey, it?s time for the world to see me?let?s do the Shia LaBeouf Reality Show.?

The Big S

Asked how he has paid back his mom, Shia said, ?I support my parents. It?s like having two 50-year-old children.? He spoke those lines with bemused affection.

Shia, pressed to comment on Steven Spielberg, who produced his surprise solo hit, ?Disturbia,? and the two ?Transformer? films (and who directed him in the last ?Indiana Jones? movie), and Michael Bay, obliged with, ?My relationship with Steven is a business one. He?s my boss and I work for him. When your boss is Steven Spielberg, that never goes away. He never becomes just Steven, Steve, Stevie or Big S. He?s Steven Spielberg. It?s like shooting free-throw shots with Michael Jordan. It?s the best situation you could possibly ask for. I?ve never spent time with Steven and felt the lesser for it. I always come out the other side with some kind of positive effect. There?s always some kind of gain or update, in knowledge, for example. I don?t have that feeling with many people.

?With Michael, he?s more like a big brother. I?m his little brother. We like to mess with each other. We have a lot fun. I can?t say our relationship is friendlier?just different. I look up to Steven as though he?s a superhero. I see more eye to eye with Michael. There are less smoke and mirrors to go sift through.?

?Wall Street? sequel

Clearly, Shia is the actor du jour. He is working with no less than Oliver Stone in a sequel to ?Wall Street.? ?The film picks up the story from the first ?Wall Street,?? he confirmed. ?We?re rehearsing. We?re planning to shoot in August. The title has changed from ?Wall Street 2? to ?Money Never Sleeps.? That?s still up in the air. But it?s essentially ?Wall Street 2.? ? He added, ?It has to do with the financial meltdown we just went through.?

On what he likes to do when he?s not making films, Shia said, ?I like to make other art. I like to paint toilet seats and make big music videos. I like to create things. I made a music video with a friend (rapper Cage) which played on MTV recently. That was a real treat. It was the first time I?ve been able to share it with someone. That has been fun. My friend had never been on TV before. It?s such a big thing for a music artist. It?s a cool way to be able to use your leverage?to be able to get your friend on MTV.?

Starting at comedy clubs in LA as early as when he was 10 years old, Shia was asked what he missed out on. ?Maybe it?s the social things that you miss out on as a youth.? He caught himself and laughed. He quipped, ?It?s so funny?young people (like me) saying, ?A youth.? I sound like the oldest man in the world.? Make that the youngest oldest man in the world. Because for someone who was a teenager just a few years ago, Shia has already accomplished and experienced so much.

E-mail the columnist at rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com and read his blog, ?The Nepales Report,? on http://blogs.inquirer.net/nepalesreport.