Shia's first break -- three months after being signed by his agent -- came in the Disney TV show Even Stevens.
His character Louis Stevens was a huge hit with audiences, and won him a Daytime Emmy. After some other Disney work, and some sketches on the Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Shia was cast in the Disney feature film, Holes.
It was while watching Holes that Steven Spielberg spotted Shia and earmarked him for future stardom, saying he was reminded of a young Tom Hanks.
Meanwhile, high-profile producers kept casting him regularly in supporting roles, and he appeared in movies like Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, I, Robot, and Constantine.
Advertisement
