Shia LaBeouf to play his father in movie based on his own life

Shia LaBeouf will draw upon his own painful life experience in new drama Honey Boy, playing his 'law-breaking, alcohol-abusing father'.

The movie is loosely based on the actor's life, according to Variety who broke the news, telling the story of a child star trying to mend a broken relationship with his father over the course of a decade.

Manchester by the Sea's Lucas Hedges will play the younger version of LaBeouf, though Hedges is only 10 years his junior.

"Honey Boy" was LaBeouf's childhood nickname.

Alma Har’el will direct, a filmmaker best known for her Tribeca Film Festival-winning documentary Bombay Beach who has directed videos for Sigur Ros, The Rolling Stones, Beirut and more.

Hedges is enjoying a good run at the minute, this film coming off the back of Martin McDonagh's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird. Last year, he earned an Oscar nomination for Kenneth Lonergan's Manchester by the Sea.

LaBeouf will next appear in The Peanut Butter Falcon, an adventure film about a young boy with Down syndrome who runs away to fulfill his dream of becoming a professional wrestler.