Shia LaBeouf as Boyd “Bible” Swan in Fury

In Fury, Transformers man Shia LaBeouf plays Boyd “Bible” Swan, a staid and serious World War II army gunner who kills mercilessly and won’t let anything or anyone come in the way.

Tell us about Boyd Swan...

He’s the gunner and basically the second-in-command of (the war tank) Fury. He operates the main gun system, the 76mm high-velocity cannon. He’s a stone-cold killer, but he’s also a man of faith — it’s interesting for me to explore how a man who reads the scriptures and has faith — a Christian — reconciles that with being in combat.

So you’re saying he is a god-fearing man who kills?

He’s a Christian man, a righteous man, who will tell you the difference between killing and murder — and there is a big difference. He lives his life by the book, but still will kill you if you are on the other side... and he will have no problems sleeping at night. I guess God put certain people here to collect souls — the “grim reaper” for God.

How did you prepare for this role, seeing as there are conflicting emotions in the character?

I met a captain named Shane Yates — he’s a captain, but he’s also a minister and a preacher and a chaplain in the army, for the Forty-Second (cavalry). I got permission from them and from David (Ayers, the director of Fury) to go live with them on a forward operating base and in the middle of their deployment. I spent about a month-and-a-half with the National Guard, then linked up with the rest of the boys and we went to another little bootcamp at Fort Irwin (in the Mojave Desert, California).

The bootcamp training was reportedly crazy...

We got to know each other. Six days in the woods, you get to know a little bit more about each other and become more of a unit. We are all part of something we know is bigger than us and we are doing this for a lot of men. I think camp really made us look at the (American) flag differently... it’s a talisman, it’s very religious... it’s spiritual... it’s transcendent. My dad’s a veteran, so I’ve always had a respect for it, but sitting with Kevin (Vance, who plays Sergeant Peterson) and the boys out there in the woods, it got very emotional.

When you came in, you had no godfather in the industry and your story is actually one of rags to riches. Tell us something about your childhood, some memory held dear...

My daddy (Jeffrey Craig LaBeouf) used to have a freezer, an industrial freezer, and he used to make these big bricks of ice, shave them, put syrup on it and dance around, juggle, smile. Nobody wants to buy anything from frowning clowns, so everyone in my family was always really happy. At that age... three or four... you don’t really know the difference between performance and reality.

As Sam Witwicky, you have been an integral part of the Transformers films. But now you have apparently said you will not be a part of the franchise anymore...

Just the wrong time for coming at me. You know maybe if I am 40, you know what I’m saying, and I have a kid and that kid wants to be a fashion designer and I don’t have the bread for it, then let’s have this conversation. I’m at the point now where it’s not really important to me.