Christy Carlson Romano is looking back at her complicated relationship with former “Even Stevens” costar Shia LaBeouf and how she views their time together more than 20 years later.
Romano, 42, starred alongside LaBeouf, 40, on the Disney Channel sitcom from 2000 to 2003, playing siblings Ren and Louis Stevens. While their characters regularly clashed onscreen, the two young actors also struggled to connect behind the scenes.
“We’ve just always come from two completely different worlds,” Romano told PEOPLE while discussing her new memoir, “Once Upon a Trainwreck: The Fall and Rise of a Child Star,” released Oct. 6.
“I think that he was going through a lot … and I was on the sidelines of that, so to speak, also going through my own thing,” she added.
Although Romano writes in her memoir that it sometimes felt like the crew was trying to “pit [Shia and me] against each other,” she does not necessarily blame Disney executives for their tense relationship. She believes their banter may have simply been viewed as something that worked for the show.
Christy Carlson Romano Says She and Shia LaBeouf Were ‘Like Oil and Water’
Romano recently gave more insight into why she and LaBeouf had trouble getting along as kids, describing them as “like oil and water.”
During an appearance on the “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast, Romano said their different upbringings played a major role in how they approached their work.
Romano described herself as a “type A” kid who was raised to know her lines, hit her marks and take her work seriously.
“I mean exactly like Ren Stevens,” she said. “Like, you know your lines, you hit your marks, you don’t mess up.”
LaBeouf, meanwhile, has previously spoken about his difficult childhood, including his father’s struggles with addiction. Despite their differences, Romano credited her former costar for pursuing acting from an early age, noting that he found a manager when he was just 8.
Romano later shared an old photo of herself with LaBeouf and his father on the “Even Stevens” set. Looking back, she acknowledged that they were both dealing with their own struggles.
“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,” she wrote.
Christy Carlson Romano Has Made Peace With How Their Relationship Ended
Romano and LaBeouf are no longer in contact, but she told PEOPLE she has come to accept how their relationship unfolded.
“I honestly think that that relationship played out the way that it was meant to play out,” she said.
Looking back as an adult has also changed the way Romano views her Disney Channel years. While she remains grateful for the opportunities she received through “Even Stevens,” “Kim Possible” and “Cadet Kelly,” she said there were few mentors available to help young actors navigate the industry.
“There are very few mentors in the game. That’s the truth,” she said.
Romano said she understands that the experience was not the same for every young performer. Still, despite the difficult parts of growing up on television, she does not regret spending her teenage years at Disney.
As for LaBeouf, Romano now sees their strained relationship differently than she did when they were young.
“It’s interesting to see it play out over time from the hindsight of 40-year-old me, looking back like, ‘Oh, so that’s how that was meant to go,’” she said.
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Christy Carlson Romano Reveals Why She and Shia LaBeouf Never Really Got Along