There are few pop culture figures as controversial as Charlie Sheen. Part Hollywood royalty, part bad boy, and part mad man, Charlie has lived more than two and half lives since he first burst onto the scene in the ‘80s. He’s the poster child for excess and a cautionary tale on the dangers of unfettered access to drugs and unlimited privilege. His crack-fueled trajectory from being the highest paid actor on television to late night punchline and number one on everyone’s celebrity death watch has solidified him as one of the biggest celebrity downfalls of all time. Now, a new Netflix documentary attempts to unpack it all and goes straight to the source: Carlos Estevez aka Charlie Sheen. Here are 12 revelations from the two-part documentary.
He Was Born “Dead”
When Charlie was born on September 3rd, 1965 it was with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and he was technically “dead” for a time. Things looked so bleak that his father, Martin Sheen, a devout Catholic, was searching for a priest to deliver last rites. “Mom was way more optimistic, she had faith,” Charlie tells the doc. Obviously things worked out and Charlie’s middle name – his full legal name is Carlos Irwin Estevez – is a tribute to the doctor who saved his life.
He Was Supposed to Be The Karate Kid
It’s hard to imagine anyone but Ralph Macchio as The Karate Kid but the part in the 1984 movie was originally offered to Charlie Sheen. Another movie, in which Charlie had a much smaller role,conflicted with that of The Karate Kid and Charlie wanted to bail on the original offer but Martin Sheen wouldn’t let him, insisting that he had given the original film his word and that one’s word means everything. That other movie, by the way, was called Grizzly II Revenge. Never heard of it? Don’t worry, most haven’t. Although it did star a young George Clooney and Laura Dern!
An Oscar Winner Aided in His Intervention
It didn’t take long for Charlie Sheen to earn a reputation as one of Hollywood’s hardest partiers and before long he was battling issues with drugs and alcohol. Dad Martin Sheen once lured Charlie to the family house under the guise of a birthday party but it was really an intervention for Charlie. One person couldn’t make the meeting but called in with his input – Clint Eastwood. Charlie tells us Clint said, “you gotta get the train back on the tracks, kid. You’re worth saving.” Charlie checked into rehab shortly after.
He Left Rehab to Judge a Bikini Contest
Immediately after checking into rehab, Charlie’s good friend Nicolas Cage reminded him they were tapped to judge a Hawaiian Tropic bikini contest that night in Palm Springs. Charlie convinced a night nurse to let him out, promising her that he’d return and if he didn’t, he’d cut her a check for a million dollars. When Charlie walked back through the door, “she was happy for me, but disappointed for herself.”
He And Nicolas Cage Nearly Got Arrested After a Flight
Charlie Sheen made it clear that whenever he and Nicolas Cage got together they were generally up to no good. He describes their meeting as “the symbolic springboard into the next chapter of complete and total chaos.” One particularly chaotic day found them on a flight together and Nic got on the plane’s intercom explaining he was the pilot and that he had lost control of the aircraft. Passengers obviously panicked and the police were waiting for Charlie and Nic when they landed. Charlie was then the one panicking as he had cocaine taped inside his pant leg. The police were fans of the actors and let them off with a warning.
He Once Flew a Commercial Plane – Sort Of
On another flight with brand new first wife, Donna Peele in 1995, Charlie realized the honeymoon was both literally and figuratively over and started downing shots of alcohol. The flight crew asked him if he wanted to check out the cockpit to which he said yes. He then convinced the pilot to not only let him try on his jacket and hat but to let him fly the plane as well. “I’m there, drunk, close to 300 people asleep behind me, an angry bride 20 feet behind me and I start guiding this plane.” The pilot quickly took over but Charlie was still flying high. “I sat back down, owning this experience and I just knew trouble was on the horizon.”
Charlie Sheen Can Be Shy
While many of us associate Charlie Sheen with his wild and raucous rants about “winning” and “tiger blood” when he’s not high on drugs, he can actually be shy. According to Denise Richards, anyway. Charlie’s second wife recalls having to make the first move on their first date saying, “he had a calmness about him and he seemed very grounded; he wasn’t the guy that people read about, he was very different.” Of course that calm infamously gave way to an eventual storm and the two were later embroiled in a very bitter and very public divorce. “I feel like my life with Charlie is three stages: it’s the time I met and married him, then my divorce, and then the aftermath of it, you know…when it started to change, it was quick.
Martin Sheen Wasn’t Thrilled About Charlie’s Third Marriage
Not long after his divorce from second wife Denise Richards, Charlie met and married his third wife, Brooke Mueller. It’s safe to say his Dad was less than enthusiastic about the union. Jon Cryer’s wife attended the wedding while Jon was filming out of town and reported back that Martin Sheen’s father of the groom’s speech was short and less than sweet. “He said, ‘I hope you two know what you’re doing’ and then sat back down.”
Sean Penn Thinks Charlie Is Super Human
One of the questions that people consistently ask about Charlie Sheen is “how is this man still alive?” His good friend, Sean Penn thinks it’s because Charlie is simply just built differently. “Most people, most men who do cocaine, copious amounts of cocaine, have extremely enhanced sexual fantasies,” he explains. “But extremely derailed sexual competency at that time. What the fuck would it be like if it was the opposite? Ask Charlie Sheen.” Sean adds, “Charlie Sheen’s biology is, whether you’re talking about that or just surviving the kind of stuff he has, it’s a different chemical reaction and I think there is something biologically different about him.”
Heidi Fleiss is Still Pissed At Him
In 1994 Charlie infamously found himself at the centre of the Heidi Fleiss “Hollywood Madam” scandal. Turns out paying for sex workers with a traveller’s cheque isn’t the wisest of ideas. Heidi was eventually charged and tried and Charlie was the lone client to testify against her. In a modern day interview she calls him a “crybaby pussy bitch” for turning on her. Charile maintains because he was paying for sex workers for friends in addition to himself, that he was facing charges of pandering which comes with three to five years in prison. Heidi disputes that saying, “he’s a cry baby rich boy, he’s a rich kid from Malibu, they’re not gonna do shit to him, he’s Charlie Sheen.”
Slash Encouraged Him to Return to Rehab
During one of Charlie’s spirals, the guitarist Slash, famous for his own hard partying ways as a member of Guns ‘n Roses, encouraged Charlie to seek rehab again.”He said dude, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anyone before in this kind of shape’ and this is Slash, right? He said ‘you gotta save yourself, man’ coming from him, the way he presented it was, message delivered.”
He’s Dabbled in Bisexuality
Charlie Sheen’s sexploits are infamous – from his Hollywood Madam scandal to the various “goddesses” that once lived with him. But in the doc he also revelas that he has dabbled in bisexualtiy, particularly during his tiger blood era. “That’s when a lot of hypersexuality occured,” he tells the doc. Whether Charlie is actually bisexual or if was just in an experimental phase remains unclear. “When you’re looking at a menu, at some point, you’re going to turn this fucker over, oh, what’s all this?”
He’s Currently Sober
At thet ime of the doc filming Charlie is nearly eight years sober. He says looking back at his drug-fuelled antics, particularly, the tiger blood era and his Violent Torpedo of Truth touring days, “feels weird, it feels like I’m watching somebody else…Ii don’t look at that stuff by design, it just creates the shame shivers.” Initially Charlie thought he could continue to drink after he kicked drugs, but has since given that up, too. “Booze is the gnarliest drug on the planet.”
aka Charlie Sheen is currently streaming on Netflix.
