Shia LaBeouf revealed that his mother, Shayna Saide, passed away on August 27 at the age of 80.
The actor – who was by her side when she died – said she was suffering from heart failure and spoke of the anguish she felt during her final days in a Los Angeles hospital.
“My mother was terrified in her last moments: asking the doctor what this tube was and what that device was doing. She was furious,” the 36-year-old Transformers star recalled in an email interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
“She was deeply interested in God and spirituality all her life, but she didn’t know him. Hence her last moments.”
LaBeouf — the product of an interfaith marriage and raised both Jewish and Christian — praised his mother for emphasizing a relationship with God.
“Her greatest gift to me was to promote the need for a relationship with God during her death. No interest, not just a belief, but a relationship built on evidence as tangible as a hug,” he said. “Her last gift to me was the ultimate conviction for the faith.
The actor has embraced Catholicism ever since he starred in Abel Ferarra’s movie “Padre Pio,” in which he plays the titular character, a Franciscan Capuchin monk who rose to fame in Italy after allegedly experiencing stigmata.
LaBeouf further described his mother as ‘a good girl’, adding: ‘She was loved by many and known by too few. God bless you, Mom.”
The ‘Fury’ star is apparently on a redemption tour after being accused of sexual assault by singer and ex-girlfriend, FKA Twigs, in a case they could soon face in court.
He has also defended herself against director Olivia Wilde, who claimed she fired the actor from her movie “Don’t Worry Darling.”
LaBeouf leaked a video of Wilde seemingly begging the actor to stay in the film and hinting at a disagreement between LaBeouf and his co-star, Florence Pugh.
When asked about the feud, he graciously replied, “It is what it is — every blessing to her and her movie.”