Christy Carlson Romano has opened up about the difficult relationship she shared with Shia LaBeouf while the pair were starring on Disney Channel's Even Stevens, revealing that they were 'like oil and water' despite spending three years working alongside each other as children.
Romano, who played Ren Stevens opposite LaBeouf's Louis, said their very different upbringings contributed to their inability to connect. Looking back now, however, the actress has offered a more emotional explanation for their strained dynamic, saying both young stars were dealing with 'painful childhoods' and were going through their own battles away from the cameras.
'Like Oil and Water' on Set
Speaking to Amanda Hirsch on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast, Romano recalled how different she and LaBeouf were while filming the Disney Channel sitcom.
The actress was 14, and LaBeouf was 12 when they were working together, with Romano explaining that their incompatibility was closely linked to how they had been raised.
'I was being raised and brought up to be this type A, I mean exactly like Ren Stevens,' she said, describing an upbringing where she was expected to know her lines, hit her marks and avoid mistakes.
Romano said her childhood involved a highly structured approach to training. As a New York child, she was preparing for pre-college Juilliard training, while her mother viewed the activities she was doing as a form of 'cross-training'.
LaBeouf, meanwhile, came from a very different background, according to Romano. She described him as a 'Venice Beach kind of bum kid' and said his childhood was 'very chaotic and very scary'.
'Painful Childhoods' Behind the Disney Image
The actress's latest comments take on an added emotional weight because of a throwback photograph she shared on Instagram featuring herself, LaBeouf and his father during the Even Stevens years.
Romano revealed that she and LaBeouf had spent three years in adjoining trailers while working on the show, but said they were both struggling with personal issues at the time.
'Shia and I spent 3 years of our lives right next to each other in adjoining trailers, both of us enduring painful childhoods,' she wrote.
She continued: 'If only we could have been there for each other, but we were each going through our own battles and could barely take care of ourselves.'
The reflection offers a different perspective on the familiar Disney Channel nostalgia surrounding Even Stevens. On screen, Ren and Louis were constantly at odds, with their opposing personalities driving many of the show's storylines. Behind the scenes, Romano now says the two young performers were each attempting to navigate difficult circumstances of their own.
Romano Gives LaBeouf Credit
Despite their differences, Romano did not portray LaBeouf simply as a difficult co-star.
Instead, she credited him with showing remarkable determination from a young age. According to Romano, LaBeouf found his own manager when he was just eight years old, demonstrating how seriously he took his ambition to become an actor.
'He had a dream and made it happen for himself,' she said.
LaBeouf has also previously spoken publicly about his childhood and his complicated relationship with his father. Those experiences later became the basis for his semi-autobiographical film Honey Boy, giving further context to the difficult childhood he has discussed publicly.
A Reflection Romano Has Made Before
Romano's latest comments build on earlier reflections about her relationship with LaBeouf.
The actress has previously acknowledged that, although they spent years working closely together, she did not necessarily understand what her co-star was experiencing away from the set. Her latest Instagram message appears to look back at their childhood with greater perspective, focusing less on their clashes and more on the circumstances surrounding them.
Even Stevens ran from 2000 to 2003 and became one of Disney Channel's best-known early-2000s sitcoms, with Romano and LaBeouf at its centre. Their fictional sibling rivalry helped define the series, but Romano's latest recollections suggest there was considerably more happening in their lives beyond the scripted arguments.
Memoir Promises More Revelations
Romano's comments arrive just days before the release of her memoir, Once Upon a Trainwreck: The Fall and Rise of a Child Star, which is due on 6 October 2026.
The book revisits her experiences as a child star and the personal cost of growing up in the entertainment industry. Romano has indicated that her account may be difficult for some people to hear, but said she no longer wants to hold back from telling her story.
For fans who remember Even Stevens through the lens of Disney nostalgia, Romano's latest comments add a much more complicated layer to the story. Ren and Louis may have looked like two siblings who simply could not get along, but Romano now says the young actors behind those characters were themselves facing painful experiences.
And with both teenagers struggling to deal with their own lives, she believes they simply did not have the capacity to be there for one another.
