Holes

The actor makes his feature debut in Holes, a comedy adventure film based on the 1998 novel of the same title by Louis Sachar (who also wrote the screenplay). LaBeouf plays Stanley Yelnats IV, a decedent of an unfortunate family that has been cursed 100 years due to an ancestor who didn’t keep a promise to a fortune-teller.  Always in the wrong place at the wrong time, Stanley is sentenced to attend Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention camp, for a crime he didn’t commit.  The detainees have to dig a 5 foot hole in the desert each day to “build character.”

Everyone just thought I was a big goofball. Holes changed that. When your movie makes almost $ 70 million, it’s a different ball game.