SHIA LABEOUF has gone from jobbing child actor to international superstar almost as quickly as a car can morph into a robot.

He’s now one of the hottest young actors in Hollywood and is commanding the column inches to go with it.

In the weeks leading up to the release of Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen, the stories have been rife.

"I’m living a meaningless life", shouted one magazine headline. He’s been labelled an alcoholic and called "resentful" and "foul- mouthed".

Yet today, sitting in a posh London hotel, the 23-year-old is keeping that side of him, if it exists, firmly hidden. In fact, his lips are almost as tightly buttoned as the shirt he’s wearing.

Shia says he takes the attention in his stride, and even reveals the details of one article that made him laugh out loud.

"Reading that I found my mum very attractive. That was hysterical," he says with a smile.

Life has changed out of all proportions for the LA-born actor since the release of Transformers, the highest-grossing film of 2007.

Despite acting since he was 12, the leading role in the blockbuster catapulted Shia into one of Tinseltown’s hottest – and most talked about – young stars.

It won him awards and the starring role as the young Indy in Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, sparking speculation that he’ll take over from Harrison Ford once he’s done with the franchise.

The attention is sure to get even more intense with the Transformers sequel, in which he reprises his role as plucky teenager Sam Witwicky, who gets caught in the robot battle between the Autobots and their Decepticon enemies.