Berlin Film Festival 2014: Shia LaBeouf walks out of Nymphomaniac news conference

Shia LaBeouf has walked out of a news conference for director Lars von Trier’s new film Nymphomaniac at the Berlin Film Festival.

Shia LaBeouf, 27, left after 10 minutes, quoting footballer Eric Cantona’s famous 1995 line: “When the seagulls follow the trawler, it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea.”

The actor later appeared on the red carpet wearing a paper bag on his head.

Written on the paper bag were the words: “I am not famous anymore.”

LaBeouf had walked out of the news conference after being asked about the film’s explicit s** scenes.

His parting line was taken from a cryptic quote Eric Cantona delivered after he had caused a furor by kicking a fan in the crowd while playing for Manchester United.

Shia LaBeouf is known for films including Transformers, Wall Street II, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

The film’s stars Christian Slater and Uma Thurman later laughed about their co-star’s comments, joking that the script contained a lot of sardines.

Lars von Trier missed the news conference but did turn up for an earlier photocall wearing a T-shirt bearing the words “Persona non grata” alongside the gold leaf logo of the Cannes Film Festival.

That was a reference to the divisive director’s expulsion from Cannes three years ago after he suggested in a news conference that he sympathized with Adolf Hitler.

Lars von Trier no longer takes part in such news conferences but the incident did not deter him from arriving in Berlin to promote his film.

The two-and-a-half hour Nymphomaniac Volume I “premiered to cheers” and “went down a storm at an afternoon press preview on Sunday, the AFP news agency reported.