One only needs to look at the way Dakota Johnson shut down Ellen DeGeneres over her alleged missing birthday invitation lie to know that the actress values honesty. When Johnson insists one of her co-stars is her favourite actor, then, there’s simply no question whether or not she really means it.
In 2019, Johnson starred in The Peanut Butter Falcon, a drama about Zak, a young man with Down syndrome (Zack Gottsagen) who makes an unlikely friend in a convict named Tyler, played by Shia LaBeouf, after Zak flees his assisted care facility. In the film, Johnson portrays Eleanor, a woman who watches over Zak in the facility and crosses paths with Tyler in her search for him.
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In a new interview with Marie Claire, Johnson gushed over LaBeouf’s performance, telling the outlet: “I think Shia might be the greatest actor of my generation, which I wouldn’t say to his face.”
The Peanut Butter Falcon was the film LaBeouf was working on when he was arrested for disorderly conduct in Savannah, Georgia. Following his arrest, he headed to rehab, where he worked on what would become the script for his autobiographical film Honey Boy. LaBeouf would go on to receive critical acclaim for his script and performance in Honey Boy, where he played a version of his father.
In her 2019 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Johnson expressed her support for LaBeouf as he embarked on his mental health journey.
"It was a really kind of sad and I felt very protective of him and I felt… that’s a really terrifying and difficult journey for somebody to experience and I felt really aware of that," Johnson explained to DeGeneres.
Johnson may never want to wax poetic about LaBeouf to his face, but should he ever Google his name, he’ll likely find plenty of supportive comments from his former co-star.