Christy Carlson Romano on Shia LaBeouf: ‘Oil and Water’ on Even Stevens

• Christy Carlson Romano, 42, says she and Shia LaBeouf were “oil and water” while making Disney Channel’s Even Stevens, which ran from 2000 to 2003.
• She wrote in her memoir that LaBeouf “might as well be my little brother, except we rarely interact off-screen,” and told USA TODAY she regrets not having closer bonds with the Disney stars.
• The memoir, Once Upon a Trainwreck: The Fall and Rise of a Child Star, comes out Tuesday, Oct. 6.

Christy Carlson Romano says the on-screen siblings of Even Stevens never became friends off set. Romano, who played Ren Stevens opposite Shia LaBeouf‘s Louis, described their dynamic as “oil and water” on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast, in an episode posted Sept. 29.

She is promoting her memoir, Once Upon a Trainwreck: The Fall and Rise of a Child Star, out Oct. 6. It covers her years on Even Stevens, Kim Possible and Cadet Kelly.

What did Christy Carlson Romano say about Shia LaBeouf?

On the podcast she traced the clash to their childhoods. Romano called herself a Type A kid shaped by traditional Disney stardom. She described LaBeouf’s upbringing as “vagrant, fun, but also very chaotic and very scary.”

She also called him a “legend,” and said he showed his drive early: as a child, she said, he got himself a manager by cold-calling numbers he found in the phone book.

In the memoir she writes: “Shia might as well be my little brother, except we rarely interact off-screen.” She says the two spent three years in adjoining trailers, “both of us enduring painful childhoods.”

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.

Christy Carlson Romano, Once Upon a Trainwreck

Did Christy Carlson Romano and Shia LaBeouf ever talk about their rift before?

Yes. In August 2021 she posted a video on her own YouTube channel titled “Why I Don’t Talk to Shia LaBeouf.” Their roles went on past the series: the pair also made The Even Stevens Movie in 2003.

Even Stevens ran for three seasons on Disney Channel. LaBeouf played Louis Stevens, and Romano played his older sister, Ren.

What did Christy Carlson Romano say about Hilary Duff?

Romano writes that she enjoyed making the 2002 TV movie Cadet Kelly with Hilary Duff, but could not shake a competitive feeling. She says she sensed that “Hilary has so much support, people who know how to play the game and win,” while she felt she had to keep fighting for recognition at Disney.

Romano told USA TODAY that she would like closer ties to her Disney peers. “I do regret not having closer bonds with the Disney stars,” she said. “I think that we all went through something very special and unique that only we can really explain to one another and understand.”

She pointed to her friendship with Sabrina Bryan of The Cheetah Girls as proof that reconnecting is possible.

More from Celebrities: Michael Douglas’s memoir, out the same day, and his admission about Kathleen Turner, how little the Saved by the Bell cast says it earned and what Tom Brady’s book says about Gisele Bündchen.

— Bruno Monteiro

Sources: Christy Carlson Romano on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast, Sept. 29, 2026; Romano, Once Upon a Trainwreck: The Fall and Rise of a Child Star (out Oct. 6, 2026), excerpts as reported Sept. 30 – Oct. 1, 2026; Romano to USA TODAY. Reality Tea (Vipul Dhawas), Sept. 30, 2026; Yahoo Entertainment, Oct. 1, 2026. Photos and video: Not Skinny But Not Fat (2026); Christy Carlson Romano (YouTube), 2021 and 2026; Off the Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe (2026); Disney Channel (Even Stevens opening credits); Jimmy Kimmel Live (2019); The Hollywood Reporter (2019); W Magazine (2020).