LOS ANGELES–You probably won't add the name Shia (pronounced "shy-a") LaBeouf to the list of child actors who turn to drugs and alcohol when their career ends. For one thing, LaBeouf, who was a TV star at the age of 14 thanks to the series Even Stevens, is doing at least as well as an adult actor. He is starring in Disturbia, which comes out next Friday (April 13) and will also have lead roles in the animated film Surf's Up, to be released in June, and July's Transformers.

For another, he rebelled against his father. "My dad was a drug dealer for most of my life," he says of the parent, who divorced his mother when LaBeouf was a child. "I am sure there was a time when drugs were fun for my dad, but after you have a kid the party's over. I got to grow up in a situation where drugs were demonic. To watch your dad go through heroin withdrawals is something that would put you off doing anything like that.

"I have also noticed that people get into drugs at my age because of curiosity. They want to be seen [in L.A.], so they get involved in the party scene, and I think they [Hollywood parties] are just lame. There are too many people there. Some important people do go there, and I don't want them to think of me in a negative way. I am trying to present myself as a professional, so if I hung out and partied I would be presenting a [negative] perception to them."

In Disturbia, LaBeouf plays a teenager who has difficulty dealing with the death of his dad in a car accident. His character, Kale, who was in the car at the time, feels he could have saved his father and blames himself. When he punches his Spanish teacher for taunting him about his father, he is sentenced to house arrest. Eventually, he runs out of things to do and starts spying on neighbours, one of whom he becomes convinced is a serial killer. LaBeouf says that his relationship with his own father has improved a lot since his dad gave up drugs to work as his manager.

"My dad is great," he says. "The business changed our relationship. After the whole heroin thing, he went into the hospital to kick drugs and he was out of my life. He didn't come back until Even Stevens happened because he needed a job and I needed a parent on-set. Managing me became his occupation. That's how it started, and then we created a rapport. I think the salary kept him around, and after that we had a relationship. I imagine that for the first year or so he was just there because it was a job. But when people ask me about how I feel about working in movies and television, I tell them that the business has given me more than the roles and the people I have been able to meet–it has given me stability in my family."