Shia LaBeouf said he's 'deeply dissatisfied in life' when he's not on-set

• Shia LaBeouf delved into his off-set troubles during an interview with Kristen Stewart on "Variety Studio: Actors on Actors."
• LaBeouf explained that his "most intimate moments" have happened on-set, but that he was also "deeply dissatisfied" with his life beyond his career.
• "[Acting] feels like the conduit for love to me," he explained. "I hold it that sacred."
• LaBeouf has dealt with his fair share of off-screen controversy in the past, having been arrested multiple times — a source of trouble that "Honey Boy" director Alma Har'el puts down to the actor's PTSD diagnosis.
• Watch the interview below.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

During an appearance on "Variety Studio: Actors on Actors" with Kristen Stewart, Shia LaBeouf talked about his "dissatisfaction" with his life off-set. 

"The most intimate moments of my whole life happened on-set," LaBeouf told Stewart. "I don't know if there's anything more intimate than creating something with somebody. I think I'm deeply dissatisfied in life."

"Yeah, but, this is your life," Stewart replied.

"Exactly. This is where things get tricky for me, it isn't my whole life. I have to get OK with that. That's usually where things go awry for me. When I'm not on a set, life gets hard."

After Stewart (half-jokingly) suggested LaBeouf took a pottery class for his existential crisis, the actor responded: "Maybe I will. I won't like pottery in life, but I will love pottery on set. Like I don't like ice cream in life, but if you give me ice cream on a set, I f---ing love ice cream.

"I think that's what [acting] does for me. It makes me love things. It feels like the conduit for love to me. I hold it that sacred." 

LaBeouf has been no stranger to off-screen controversy. In 2017, the actor was arrested for attacking a man at an anti-Trump protest he had set up.

Just a few months later, LaBeouf was forced to apologize after being arrested again on charges of disorderly conduct, obstruction, and public drunkenness. "I am deeply ashamed of my behavior and make no excuses for it," he wrote in a statement at the time. 

In November, Alma Har'el, who directed LaBeouf in Amazon's "Honey Boy," told Insider that much of the actor's past troubles could be explained by his PTSD diagnosis.

"It was like another person that comes out of him," she explained.

"It's only after he was diagnosed with PTSD that a lot of the anger and aggression that happened in his past make sense." 

Watch LaBeouf and Stewart's interview below:

Variety's "Actors on Actors" issue is on newsstands now, while the comparison series will air on PBS and the World Channel from January.

Read more:

Shia LaBeouf lied and told his dad that Mel Gibson would play him in 'Honey Boy' to get his permission to make the biopic

The director of Amazon's 'Honey Boy' explains how Shia LaBeouf's stint in rehab led her to make the most honest movie of the year

Shia LaBeouf says he prefers to only have sex in missionary position: 'I'm very '50s America'

Shia LaBeouf says a costar with Down syndrome saved him after problems with alcohol resulted in his arrest

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