Attention is tough for LaBeouf.

Byline: By Ellie Genower

EVER since his hit movie Transformers became the highest-grossing film of 2007, 22-year-old Shia LaBeouf has had to deal with increasing fame, interest in his private life, and inevitable attention from the paparazzi.

"It's crazy and new - I'm figuring it out," the actor says of the growing attention he receives from fans. "It's outrageous. It's new and sometimes it's exciting and sometimes it's scary. I'm getting used to it."

It's been a fast rise to fame for Shia - last year he played a teenager who thinks he witnesses a murder in the Rear Window-style thriller Disturbia, then he picked up plaudits for his role in this summer's Indiana Jones blockbuster.

Now he's playing the lead in new action thriller Eagle Eye.

"For me this was the most vulnerable professional position I've ever been in as far as child to adult transition," he admits.

Shia teams up with Disturbia director D.J.Caruso in the film, which is based on an original idea by executive producer Steven Spielberg.

"In anybody else's hands it would have been very scary," Shia says of his headlining role.

"But because I've kind of grown up with D.J. and Steven, it is like being with a group of friends. In my other movies, I've just been riding the coat tails of something which will be successful whether I'm in it or not.

Indiana Jones was going to be a success whether I was in it or not. You could have put Freddie Prinze Jr. in my part and it still would have been a hit. I realise how lucky I've been. So it's terrifying until you realise that all the people you're working with are all kinds of friends and masters.

"Doing it with someone that you love, trust, respect and feel comfortable with is the best case scenario."