Life's Great in Charlie's World

Life’s great in Charlie’s world NO MATTER how bad things called My Violent Torpedo of seem for Carlos Irwin Estevez, Truth: Defeat is Not an Option. the troubled actor still thinks he The show is supposed to be a is a winner. series of spoken-word mono- The 45-year-old actor — better logues on life interspersed with known as Charlie Sheen — has clips of Sheen’s on-screen work. been a public figure since the But its debut in Detroit saw age of nine, at first acting in the audiences heckle the actor, films of his father, Martin demand their money back and Sheen, whose real name is walk out of the theatre. Ramon Estevez. Subsequent shows, however, He changed his name in the have fared better. In Cleveland hope of avoiding Latino and Chicago last week, fans typecasts, a tactic also adopted chanted ‘‘Detroit sucks!’’ to by the adolescent Charlie when welcome Sheen on stage. he decided to make acting a full- He tells jokes and encourages time career. women in the audience to take An unconventional childhood off their tops (with success in has developed into a thoroughly Cleveland, at least). odd adult life for Sheen, who has It seems even fellow acquired three wives, five celebrities still love Sheen: teen children and a reputation as one pop sensation Miley Cyrus of Hollywood’s most dedicated engaged in a Twitter-flirtation hellraisers. It all came to a with the actor, beginning when crashing climax in November, she announced she was after he filed for divorce from returning to her Twitter wife Brooke Mueller. account so she could follow That sparked a wave of wild Sheen’s tweets. K behaviour that saw Sheen drop ‘‘Dear Miley, Welcome back Y in and out of rehab, take breaks to Twitter! Always felt you were M from his hit show Two And A epic! Now you proved it! Thanks Half Men, engage in an for the love,’’ Sheen wrote. C increasingly bizarre public display of anger, euphoria and excess and launch into abusive public tirades against the show’s producers. Warner Bros studio COLOR: eventually sacked Sheen in March, after a string of 13 interviews in which he spoke openly about his polygamous relationships with porn stars, an apprehended violence order PAGE: sought by Mueller and the removal of his twin sons by police. Despite it all, ‘‘winning’’ has become Sheen’s catchcry and Clockwise from below left: Charlie Sheen with father he’s exploded into a social Martin and brother Emilio Estevez. Photostrip from top: media phenomenon, hailed as Emilo Estevez and Allie Sheedy in a scene from The an anti-hero by celebrities and Breakfast Club; Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now; and millions of fans alike. Sheen is 17-APR-2011 with son Emilio Estevez on a promotional tour for their now on a 20-city US stage tour new film The Way DATE: ‘‘He had this very emotional scene, iginal name (as did and the hairs stood up on the back his other siblings, of my neck. And I began to realise: Ramon and Renee, my God, he’s one of us. He had that who are also actors), same deep and personal thing. I professes himself to thought: ‘Ah, he’s cursed.’ ‘‘ be at a loss as to why But Sheen says he had faith in his brother has strug- NT NEWS Estevez’s ability to plot a steady gled with demons so path through the highs and lows. much more than he He remembered thinking: ‘‘He’s has. PUB: fine, he’ll find himself and he’ll Charlie is three lead an honest life. Which is what years his junior and all of us have to do, but artists part- enjoyed great success icularly. It’s so difficult being in early in his career, no- the public eye as you’re working tably in Platoon, re- out what you’re going to do and leased in 1986, when he how you’re going do it and why. It’s was 21, and, the follow- an effort to unite the will of the spi- ing year, in Wall Street. rit with the work of the flesh.’’ All four children were This seems an opportune time to ‘‘raised under the same mention the elephant in the room. roof’’ in Malibu on the Charlie Sheen, Estevez’s younger California coast. it’s a moment of clarity for him. I brother, has been working his ‘‘We all had the same set of can’t determine that for him. You flesh overtime of late. rules,’’ Estevez says. ‘‘So it really know, Charlie’s 45 years old. He’s He may have been the highest- gives credence to this theory that it not a kid. Emotionally he still is. paid actor in American TV — he is genetic, and that sometimes it Because when you’re addicted, you reportedly received as much as $2 skips either a generation or sib- don’t grow emotionally. million per episode of the sitcom lings. My mother doesn’t drink. ‘‘So when you get clean and Two And A Half Men — but he is My other brother hasn’t had a sober, you’re starting at the mo- more associated with drug addic- drink in over 10 years, my dad ment you started using drugs or al- tion, dalliances with prostitutes, hasn’t had a drink in 20. And I cohol. violent marital breakdown and make wine.’’ ‘‘You’re emotionally crippled. health problems. I ask Martin Sheen if he believes But I know what hell he’s living in. Last month, Sheen’s increas- that faith could help Charlie I’ve had psychotic episodes in pub- ingly aberrant behaviour — in- through his problems. lic. One of them was on camera — cluding a clutch of ranting, un- ‘‘Faith can help all of us,’’ he rep- the opening scene of Apocalypse hinged interviews in the media — lies briskly. ‘‘Addiction is the dark Now. ‘‘So I know what Charlie is led to the latest season of Two And side. It’s a reflection of despair. going through. And when you do A Half Men being abruptly can- And it’s fed by all the other nega- something like that, that is out of celled midway through shooting. tivity.’’ Does Charlie listen to his control, that’s the most difficult Sheen was subsequently fired. father? ‘‘Every now and then,’’ thing. You have to have courage.’’ Estevez, who kept his father’s or- Sheen says. ‘‘Depends on whether ——————————————————————————————————————— www.sundayterritorian.com.au Sunday Territorian, Sunday, April 17, 2011 — 13.

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