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Christy Carlson Romano is not holding back about her working relationship with her former co-star Shia LaBeouf on the set of Disney Channel hit series Even Stevens.
Although the pair played siblings Ren and Louis Stevens on the 2000s show, Romano admitted that their dynamic behind the scenes was more tense than familial.
“It was oil and water,” the actor, now 42, confessed on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast Tuesday. She elaborates more on her relationship with LaBeouf in her new book, Once Upon a Trainwreck: The Fall and Rise of a Child Star, which comes out October 6.
Romano said she was 14 and LaBeouf was 12 when they shot the pilot for the sitcom, which centered on the intense sibling rivalry between LaBeouf’s Louis, the chaotic misfit, and Romano’s Ren, the overachieving perfectionist.
When asked by podcast host Amanda Hirsch why the co-stars did not get along, Romano speculated that it was because of “the way they were raised.” She described herself as a “Type A” sort of personality, while LaBeouf had “that kind of vagrant, fun, but also chaotic and very scary kind of lifestyle. And he was very young to be having that.”
Despite their clashing personalities, Romano went on to praise LaBeouf, who is now 40, as “a legend” because he started his own career by calling his manager with the help of a phone book when he was eight years old.
“He needed it because of his childhood and the upbringing that he was having was so bad,” she said. “So somehow he had a dream and he made it happen for himself. And I don’t know if his parents were like, ‘If you want this, go find somebody,’ but he made it happen.”
The Independent has reached out to LaBeouf for comment.
LaBeouf has been open about his tumultuous childhood in the past, most notably with his 2019 film Honey Boy. Directed by Alma Har’el, LaBeouf wrote the film’s script based on his relationship with father — who he played in the movie — as the child star grew up in poverty.
Romano recently reflected on her relationship with LaBeouf in an Instagram post sharing a throwback picture of her on set with LaBeouf and his father.
“Me, Shia, and his dad,” she wrote. “Recently found this picture. Shia and I spent 3 years of our lives right next to each other in adjoining trailers, both of us enduring painful childhoods. If only we could have been there for each other, but we were each going through our own battles and could barely take care of ourselves.”
She continued, “I’m finally sharing everything in my memoir. It might anger some people, but I don’t care anymore. If my story can help just one person, it will have been worth it.”
