Maddie Ziegler Gets Advice From Shia LaBeouf

Maddie Ziegler is a hard working 12-year-old who seems to be on the fast track to success after starring in Sia’s “Elastic Heart” video. But her costar in the video, Shia LeBeouf, shared some advice with her to make sure she stays on that path.

Ziegler of Dance Moms‘ fame and who also starred in Sia’s video for “Chandelier” told Cosmopolitan that when she first learned who she would be dancing with, she responded, “Wait, who’s Shia?”

Ziegler then had to look him up online and realized who the famed actor and her soon-to-be dance partner was.

Ziegler went on to say that when she first met Shia, that he took Ziegler and her mom out to eat “to get to know each other” in order to “build that bond” and make it less awkward having to dance together.

Shia also made it less awkward by sharing some advice with the young star. In an interview with Elle, Ziegler admitted that she learned quite a bit from Shia. So what were his words of wisdom to Ziegler?

“Don’t ever drink. Don’t ever do this. Don’t ever do what I did.”

Shia was also a child star, much like Ziegler, starring in the popular show the Even Stevens and the movie Holes. He continued working as he got older starring in Transformers with Megan Fox but soon met with some harder times. Within the past few years, his odd behavior, such as wearing a paper bag over his head, has earned him a less than ideal reputation.

How was Shia’s heartfelt advice received? Ziegler responded to Elle that she felt “so bad” but that she realized she was “learning from him.”

Although Ziegler could teach Shia a lot about dancing, he was able to impart some of his acting wisdom on her also. Ziegler stated that Shia “really gets into character” stating that he was punching the cage and screaming in order to warm up before they began filming.

Although it wasn’t “full dancing” as the young star admitted, Ziegler went on to say that Shia “wasn’t that bad at dancing” and that there was a lot of “acting and a lot of running around and chasing each other.”

While many have criticized the video due to the fact that the young Ziegler is wearing a nude leotard with a 28-year-old scantily clad Shia LeBeouf, Ziegler has explained that she was once again just playing a part of Sia as was Shia. By the end of the video though, the two warring parts of Sia “become friends” as Ziegler tries to pull Shia out of the cage through which he cannot fit.

Now that the two have bonded and become friends in real life, let’s hope that Maddie Ziegler takes her costar’s advice to heart and stays on the high road to success.

[Photo Courtesy of HitFix]