Michael Bay says his old leading man is going through it — but the "Transformers" director is still rooting for him from a distance. In a wide-ranging interview with TMZ published Tuesday, Bay revealed he spoke with Shia LaBeouf about six months ago, and the conversation had nothing to do with LaBeouf's string of legal troubles — it was all about family.

According to Bay, LaBeouf told him he'd taken his four-year-old daughter, Isabel, on the "Transformers" ride at Universal Studios, and watching her experience it through her young eyes brought him to tears. Bay, who directed LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky in the first three "Transformers" blockbusters, called his former star "a very talented kid" and admitted he essentially "fathered him" on set. "A couple times he acted up," Bay said, "but he's a very talented kid."

The catch-up comes as LaBeouf, who has run into a series of legal issues over the last decade-plus, continues to navigate a rocky stretch: he was arrested in New Orleans around Mardi Gras earlier this year and has since acknowledged drinking "daily" despite previous stints in rehab — troubles that have kept him off the roster for Bay's upcoming fourth "Transformers" installment. Still, Bay made clear there's no bad blood. He told TMZ that Shia is "a great actor, a great guy," and that he treasures the years they spent building the franchise together, even though the two haven't discussed the headlines directly.

Bay's comments, first reported by TMZ and echoed in a companion Yahoo Entertainment piece revisiting the director's "Transformers" era, arrive as fans continue to speculate about whether LaBeouf could ever return to the franchise that made him a star. For now, Bay says the door is open in spirit if not in casting news — and that a theme park ride, of all things, was enough to remind two old collaborators why they made those movies in the first place.