In an alternate universe, Call Me By Your Name almost looked quite different. 

James Ivory, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of the drama, has revealed in his new book that Shai LaBeouf was almost cast as Oliver opposite Timotheé Chalamet.

Titled Solid Ivory, the out 93-year-old notes that at the time of casting and before Armie Hammer got involved with the project, LaBeouf "had been contacted for the part of Oliver. At this, I was doubtful. I didn’t know much about him, so I watched some of his films. He’s an extremely good actor. But as an academic writing about the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, he would be a stretch."

Once LaBeouf auditioned, Ivory changed his tune. "Shia came to read for us in New York with Timothée Chalamet [who played the lead, Elio], paying for his own plane ticket, and Luca and I had been blown away. The reading by the two young actors had been sensational; they made a very convincing hot couple."

Some troubles in LaBeouf's private life cut that journey short. "Shia was dropped. He had had some bad publicity. He’d fought with his girlfriend; he’d fended off the police somewhere when they had tried to calm him down. And Luca would not call him, or his agent. I emailed Shia to offer reassurance, but then Luca cast Armie Hammer and never spoke to, or of, Shia again.”

We can't imagine the film any different but we can still imagine what might've been.

Ivory talks more about the film in an excerpt from Solid Ivory shared in GQ Magazine. The book comes out November 2.