Actor Shia LaBeouf has praised Steven Spielberg for encouraging actors to be inventive with their performances.

The Transformers star has admitted he prepared for his part in the upcoming Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull by watching Marlon Brando in 1953’s The Wild One.

And Spielberg, it seems, wasn’t against the 21-year-old incorporating some of the late screen legend’s mannerisms into his role.

LaBeouf recalls, "I’d bring a switchblade in and say, ‘Hey, Steven, what do you think of this?’ I had worked on it for a month and a half, flipping it and being able to mess around with it in a cool way.

"I’d film myself and bring the DVD to show Steven and he’d say, ‘Yeah, that’s awesome.’ So then we’d implement it. It’s amazing how much freedom he allows."