What's going on with Shia LaBeouf?

Actor Shia LaBeouf has always been a little precocious, known for making the kind of comments that cause PR managers to cringe. But for the past month and a half, the 27-year-old's already unusual behavior has crossed over into downright bizarre. Take a look at how LaBeouf went from adorable kid actor to the man wearing a paper bag on his head:

LaBeouf was landing TV credits as a preteen, but it was his role on Disney's "Even Stevens" that helped establish him as a working actor. The comedy ran from 2000 to 2003.

As "Even Stevens" wrapped up in 2003, LaBeouf moved on to movies. That year, he starred in "Holes," an adaptation of Louis Sachar's novel, along with Sigourney Weaver and Jon Voight.

And that wasn't all: In addition to "Holes," LaBeouf showed up at the cineplex in "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle," "Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd" and "The Battle of Shaker Heights." The then 17-year-old actor took his mom to the premiere of "Battle" that August.

As his fame grew, LaBeouf joined the parade of kid actors who were transitioning into adult stardom, including Amanda Bynes and his fellow Disney star, Raven-Symone. The three were popular enough to appear on MTV's "Total Request Live" in 2005.

LaBeouf's 2007 film "Disturbia" was a turning point for the young actor. As the movie's lead -- a role he landed with soon-to-be mentor Steven Spielberg's approval -- LaBeouf notched a surprise No. 1 hit at the box office.

That wasn't his only home run in 2007. That summer, LaBeouf became better known as Sam Witwicky in the "Transformers" franchise. He went on to film two more installments of the Michael Bay series before quitting the role in 2011.

In November 2007, LaBeouf earned that other rite of passage in Hollywood: his very first mug shot. The actor, then 21, was arrested in a Chicago drugstore for trespassing. According to People magazine, LaBeouf was repeatedly asked to leave the store by a security guard because he appeared intoxicated, and when he refused, the cops were called.

Back in those semicharmed days of the late aughts, LaBeouf was blessed with Spielberg's support. The Hollywood legend served as a producer on LaBeouf's "Transformers" projects and directed the actor in 2008's "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." Even Harrison Ford adored the kid. The lovefest didn't last long, though: Two years after "Crystal Skull," LaBeouf was telling the world that he and Spielberg "dropped the ball."

Whether he dropped the ball on "Crystal Skull" or not, LaBeouf continued to become one of the industry's in-demand stars. He was famous enough to get called back to host "Saturday Night Live" for a second time in May 2008 -- two months before he was arrested for drunken driving. The actor ended up in a nasty early-morning car wreck, injuring his hand and knee.

In 2010, LaBeouf tried to shake some of his action-star shine with the drama "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps." It starred his then-girlfriend Carey Mulligan along with "Wall Street" vet Michael Douglas, and was directed by Oliver Stone. With this project, LaBeouf tried to turn a new leaf. "My past life did not follow me to New York," he told GQ magazine in 2010. "I created a whole new existence."

By the time LaBeouf was on his third "Transformers" movie, 2011's "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" (in which his former co-star Megan Fox had been replaced with Rosie Huntington-Whiteley), the actor was over being the face of a huge action franchise. "I'm done," he said that year as the movie hurtled toward a $352 million worldwide gross. "I don't have anything new to contribute."

After quitting "Transformers," LaBeouf decided to go strictly indie. "I'm done," LaBeouf told The Hollywood Reporter of his blockbuster past while promoting his 2012 project "Lawless." "There's no room for being a visionary in the studio system. It literally cannot exist."

And thus emerged a new artistic LaBeouf. Not that this version of the actor wasn't there before, but it certainly wasn't as apparent. In 2012, he revealed himself to be a secret comic book artist with a penchant for doing full-frontal nudity.

Indeed, LaBeouf's comfort level with his naked form came in handy when he signed up for Lars von Trier's explicitly erotic drama, "Nymphomaniac." The actor has said -- perhaps jokingly, perhaps not -- that he sent von Trier videos of himself having sex with his girlfriend to prove his on-camera skill. "And that's how I got the job," he told E!'s Chelsea Handler in 2012.

Even if LaBeouf didn't actually offer up his own sex tapes for a role, we do know that he's willing to go to great lengths to perform. For "Lawless," he drank moonshine, and for his role in "The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman," he's said he took acid. "There's a way to do an acid trip like 'Harold & Kumar,' and there's a way to be on acid," he told USA Today last year. "What I know of acting, Sean Penn actually strapped in to that [electric] chair in 'Dead Man Walking.' These are the guys that I look up to."

LaBeouf was poised to continue down his high-brow path in 2013 with a production of "Orphans." Co-starring Alec Baldwin, the play would've been the actor's Broadway debut. Except before he could take the stage, LaBeouf quit over "creative differences" and for reasons only known to him decided to leak correspondence that displayed behind-the-scenes tension. Apparently, LaBeouf and Baldwin didn't see eye-to-eye, as the e-mails indicated, and LaBeouf was eventually replaced with Ben Foster.

With Twitter becoming his primary communication tool of choice, it's not unusual for his fans to be hit with random and surprising Easter eggs. In October 2013, LaBeouf decided to do some guerrilla marketing for "Charlie Countryman" and tweeted out a nude photo of himself from the film.

In December 2013, LaBeouf weathered a storm of accusations that he copied the work of author Daniel Clowes, allegations that LaBeouf admitted were true. He decided to apologize by plagiarizing other public apologies, and then skywriting one of his own.

After his apology tour, LaBeouf announced in January that he was retiring from all "public life" because he's "not famous anymore." Someone must've forgotten to tell the actor that if he really wants to keep a low profile, arriving disheveled at a news conference for "Nymphomaniac" and strangely answering a single question before storming out is not the way to go.

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• Shia LaBeouf's appearance in Berlin has brought him increased attention


• The actor walked out of a news conference and wore a paper bag on his head


• He's done this while also proclaiming that he's "not famous anymore"


• His stunts in Berlin follow weeks of odd behavior

(CNN) -- Shia LaBeouf says he isn't famous anymore, but actually he's rarely been in a brighter spotlight.

For the past several weeks, the 27-year-old actor has gotten more than his fair share of publicity thanks to a rash of bizarre behavior, from his reaction to allegations of plagiarism to his recent stunts at the Berlin Film Festival, where Lars von Trier's "Nymphomaniac -- Volume 1" premiered Sunday.

At a news conference to promote the sexually explicit film, LaBeouf answered just one question before abruptly walking out of the room 10 minutes after the event began.

According to reporters present in Berlin, LaBeouf was asked to describe what it's like to do a movie that includes so many sex scenes. In response, the former child star quoted French soccer player Eric Cantona: "When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea."

Watch Shia LaBeouf's bizarre meltdown

As the room tried to make sense of his answer, LaBeouf made his exit. And that was just the prelude.

Later on at the "Nymphomaniac" premiere, LaBeouf showed up on the red carpet wearing a tuxedo and a paper bag over his head. As if that wasn't eye-catching enough, the mask, which was outfitted with two holes for his eyes, had "I AM NOT FAMOUS ANYMORE" scrawled on it in black marker.

To LaBeouf's fans, that line is all too familiar. He's tweeted the phrase, in all caps, every day since January 20.

Making this situation even more curious are the series of events that led up to his "NOT FAMOUS" proclamation. In December, LaBeouf was hit with allegations that he plagiarized author Daniel Clowes' work for his short film, "HowardCantour.com," and the actor soon copped to using Clowes' art without proper credit.

"I f****d up," he said at the time in a tweeted statement. "In my excitement and naiveté as an amateur filmmaker, I got lost in the creative process and neglected to follow proper accreditation ... I'm embarrassed that I failed to credit @danielclowes for his original graphic novella Justin M. Damiano, which served as my inspiration ... I was truly moved by his piece of work & I knew that it would make a poignant & relevant short. I apologize to all who assumed I wrote it."

A few days after that statement, however, LaBeouf started taking the concept to extremes. He began responding to the vitriol online with more plagiarism, borrowing from mea culpas by Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and even "Nymphomaniac" director von Trier.

In January, LaBeouf literally took his apologies to a higher level, hiring an airplane to sky write "I am sorry Daniel Clowes" in Los Angeles.

Before anyone could figure out what LaBeouf was really up to -- there were rumors that his strangeness was actually performance art -- he announced that he was retiring.

"In light of the recent attacks against my artistic integrity, I am retiring from all public life," he said on January 10. "My love goes out to those who have supported me."

Of course, it appears that LaBeouf has a very different definition of what it means to be retired. Not only is the actor still as publicly visible as ever, but he's also still accepting movie roles. The former "Transformers" actor has been cast alongside Bill Murray in "Rock the Kasbah."