Sheenfamily findsTheWay

6
Friday, April 27, 2012
THE PRESS, Christchurch
GO film
Shine on: Martin Sheen, centre, stars in The Way
with Yorick van Wageningen and James Nesbitt.
The Sheen-Estevez family
has had its gloss knocked
off by a prodigal son but
they’re still standing tall,
writes HELEN BARLOW.
offspring. ‘‘As parents, you can only love
your children and be yourself.’’
Let’s talk about Charlie. The older Sheen,
a devout Catholic, riffs on the parable of the
prodigal son from the Gospel of Luke: ‘‘All of
us have been prodigal. You just don’t know
you are hurting people sometimes. You don’t
know you are hurting your parents or your
wife or your children because of your
selfishness.’’
Sheen is referring as much to himself as
to his 46-year-old son, who seemingly threw
away his career as reputedly the world’s
highest-paid TV actor in a blur of drink,
drugs and porn stars.
Sheen senior, who has admitted to being
very drunk on camera at the beginning of
Apocalypse Now, has been sober since about
the age of 50 thanks to Alcoholics Anonymous. He tried to get Charlie to attend
meetings but the wayward actor accused his
father of treating him like a child, which
Martin says he is.
‘‘Addiction is a roller-coaster ride, you
never get used to dealing with it,’’ he says.
Sheen is confident Charlie will survive.
The family came together last December for
Martin and Janet’s golden wedding
anniversary at Estevez’s Spanish-style
home, 200 metres from his father’s residence
on a vine-covered, 4000-square-metre lot in
Malibu, where he also makes wine.
Estevez, 49, says he is happier than ever
with his life, which he shares with his
influence he was on me,’’ the veteran actor
partner, writer Sonja Magdevski.
says.
After our interview, Sheen charges at me
In the film, Sheen was cast as Tom, a
with impressive speed, armed with rosary
reticent ophthalmologist who undertakes
beads and attempting to bring me back to the
the pilgrimage after his son (Estevez, seen in
fold (I had explained I am a lapsed Catholic).
flashbacks) dies en route. It was a wise
How has he stayed so youthful, given his
choice: Sheen – best known for his
troublesome earlier times?
portrayals of President Bartlet on The West
‘‘I don’t know. If you just stay alive long
Wing and a burnt-out soldier in Apocalypse
enough, you are bound to get old. I’m just
Now – has long had an ability to say a lot
very happy. And I intend to stay that way,’’
with few words.
he says, emitting his trademark grin.
‘‘I am such a windbag, I
Martin Sheen made
think it is a good idea,’’ the
madcap appearances as
youthful 71-year-old says,
Rose’s father on the sitcom
Addiction is a
chortling. ‘‘But people don’t
Two and a Half Men, yet his
roller-coaster
say they heard a good
eccentric exuberance in real
movie.’’
life comes as a surprise.
ride, you never
Watching the sardonic
He’s keen to chatter about
get used to
Tom in The Way, we can see
his family, his work,
dealing with it.
where Charlie gets his sense
humanitarian issues – just
of humour.
about everything.
Martin Sheen
‘‘Oh, I wouldn’t know
We think of Charlie as a
actor
about that, because his
rabble-rouser but it doesn’t
mother has a great and very
take much to work out where
subtle sense of humour,’’
it came from. The older
Sheen says of Janet Templeton, his wife of 50
Sheen has been arrested 67 times, protesting
years. The couple have four children: Emilio, for causes including opposition to nuclear
Ramon, Carlos (aka Charlie) and Renee, all
weapons and support of the United Farm
actors.
Workers union.
‘‘Janet would sting you and she is so
clever and bright and funny. I think Charlie
❏ The Way (PG) is now screening. Review in
tomorrow’s Your Weekend magazine.
probably gets it more from her, because she
is very deadpan about it, too.’’
The family has had its difficulties.
WIN ★ WIN ★ WIN
Estevez’s came after failing to build on early
GO has five double passes to see The Way
success as a member of the 1980s’ Brat Pack
in movies such as The Breakfast Club and St. to give away. To enter the draw to win a
double pass, email go@press.co.nz with My
Elmo’s Fire.
Way or the highway in the subject line before
‘‘We can’t choose our families but we can
5pm on Sunday.
choose who we love,’’ Sheen says of his
Sheen family
finds The Way
M
artin Sheen and his eldest son,
Emilio Estevez, bonded as
never before on The Way, a
movie set along El Camino de
Santiago in Spain.
When things got tough and they needed
more money to finish editing the film (it was
deemed too long at its premiere screening in
Toronto), guess who came to the rescue?
Charlie Sheen came up with the cash.
The Sheens or, rather, Estevezes (Martin
took his stage name from a Catholic bishop)
have always been close. The three bear a
striking resemblance and sound almost
identical. While Charlie and his dad are big
talkers and share the same wacky sense of
humour, Emilio is more laidback and
usually found behind the camera.
Eztevez wrote the screenplay after his
father and Taylor Estevez (Emilio’s 27-yearold son) made the pilgrimage, which ends in
Santiago de Compostela, near the birthplace
of Martin’s father, Francisco Estevez. Sheen
wanted to pay tribute to his ‘‘shy’’ Spanish
dad.
‘‘I adored him but he didn’t know what an
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Comic Opera
■ Jules Massenet’s five-act comic opera
Manon is the latest Met Opera production to
screen at the Sumner’s Masters Hollywood
Cinema. First performed in Paris in 1884, the
opera is based on the 1731 novel L’Histoire du
Chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by
the Abbe Prevost. Directed by Laurent Pelly,
this production stars Anna Netrebko, Piotr
Beczala and Paolo Szot. ‘‘The Russian
soprano’s supercharged voice is a fine fit for
a production that paints a picture of
ravishing Paris – with a knife in it,’’ wrote
Associated Press’ Verena Dobnik. For more
information, see The Press Entertainment
pages, or nzmetopera.com.
Transcendence
■ CPIT’s DL Lecture Theatre will host a oneoff screening of graduate Josh Neilson’s
adventure documentary Transcendence next
Wednesday. The film follows four extremesportspeople in an effort to explain why some
people willingly base-jump off cliffs, free-dive
down into a dark ocean or kayak off
waterfalls. The screening begins at 7pm.
Tickets $15 (cash only). The trailer is
available for viewing at vimeo.com/35864145.
Q&A Sessions
■ New Zealand-based film-maker Jan
Bieringas will be at the two World Cinema
Showcase screenings of her documentary Te
Hono ki Aotearoa next week. She will hold
question and answer sessions at the Tuesday
6pm and Wednesday 1pm sessions of the
movie about the commissioning and delivery
of a new waka taua for the Museum
Volkenkunde in Leiden. For more
information, see The Press Entertainment
pages, or hollywoodcinema.co.nz.