Shia LaBeouf drama crew mark Barry filming with tattoos

Cast and crew from the latest production to be filmed in Barry and the surrounding area have got tattoos to remember filming in the south Wales town.

Boxing crime drama Salvable, filmed across Vale of Glamorgan last year, and featuring Transformers star Shia LaBeouf, has just been released.

Actor Michael Socha was one of many cast and crew members who took up the offer of a free tattoo from a local parlour.

But LaBeouf declined, saying he wanted to save the remaining space on his body for tattoos of his daughter's drawings.

Boxing drama Salvable was filmed entirely in Vale of Glamorgan

It is the most recent in a string of productions shot in the area, following Netflix's Havoc starring Tom Hardy and BBC's Gavin and Stacey.

Salvable stars Planet of the Apes' Toby Kebell as a boxer who grapples with his past, while LaBeouf plays an old friend and bad influence.

It portrays Kebell struggling to escape a small town while battling a damaged relationship with his teenage daughter.

Gloomy shots show a raw and rugged seaside town, with boxing brawls on the port of Barry, shabby side streets and hazy tides at Penarth pier.

Directed by Bjorn Franklin and Johnny Marchetta, the drama also stars Highlander actor James Cosmo and Kíla Lord Cassidy.

LaBeouf was spotted taking selfies with residents while filming around Barry and Penarth in 2024.

But a tattooist got to know crew members much better - after offering them free body art.

Bianca Oliveira, 28, owner of Tattorana in Barry, said her partner Luke heard rumblings there were some famous faces filming near her store.

After plucking up the courage to approach them, Bianca decided to offer them a free tattoo at her store.

They all initially laughed it off, she said, but the following day several of them turned up to take her up on the offer.

Both the directors, the costume designer and Socha, who also starred in This Is England, were among them.

Bianca said getting to tattoo This is England actor Michale Socha was "surreal"

The crew then decided to film along a side street next to the shop, with the parlour used as a base throughout the day.

This meant Bianca could fit their appointments in around the filming.

LaBeouf opted out of getting a tattoo, with Bianca saying he was saving most of the free space on his body to get his daughter's drawings.

"I thought that was really nice and really sweet," she said.

Bianca had a client booked in the morning, but said she didn't want to cancel or rearrange, so the crew waited until she was ready.

"Shia LaBeouf was here just walking around, watching me tattoo, I was like 'no pressure'. Obviously I was nervous, but once it started I just put on productive mode," she said.

"It went well, towards the end of the day I was talking to them like they were regular clients."

Bianca said she loved This is England growing up, so getting the opportunity to tattoo Socha was "surreal".

Socha opted for the word "rebel" on his ribs, as Bianca recalled him saying: "I'm going to get the word rebel, because I'm a rebel."

For the full Barry experience, the crew even sampled some fish and chips from the shop opposite, Fryer Tuck.

Bianca says she treated the film stars like regular clients by the end of the day

Bianca said the team have held on to a can of diet coke LaBeouf sipped from on the pavement of Barry high street as a memento of the day.

After the encounter, Bianca said she regularly got stopped by people who recognised her and the shop from a story in the local newspaper.

"I like Barry. For a small town it's pretty big," she said.