Charlie Sheen has explained the reason why his famous father, Martin Sheen, refused to participate in his Netflix docuseries.
The film, released in September in two parts, «Charlie Sheen (also known as» Charlie Sheen) talks about the ups and downs of the career and life under the public eye of the star of the series "» Two and a Half Men» . The film uses archival footage and documentary interviews, directed by Andrew Renzi.
However, 85-year-old Martin was noticeably absent from the project, as was Charlie's older brother, Emilio Estevez, despite Charlie calling it a "love letter to his dad" in a press conference before the series' release.
Charlie, 60, spoke in more detail about his father's decision not to participate in the documentary series in an interview with the publication The Hollywood Reporter, published on Tuesday.
«"Dad had a very specific reaction to this," Charlie recalls. "He said, 'You don't need me. You don't need me today. You have me, who's really interesting and beautiful. That's how I want to be in the documentary.'".
Emilio Estevez (left) and Martin Sheen (right) did not participate in the Charlie Sheen (center) documentary (Getty). Charlie Sheen's father, Martin Sheen, did not participate in the two-part documentary (Getty).
The documentary series used footage from films such as «"Wall Street"» (1987) and «"Cadence"» (1990), which starred Martin and Charlie together. It also featured Super 8 home movies of Charlie and Estevez's childhood in Malibu in the 1970s, when their father rose to fame with roles in hit films such as «"Wastelands » (1973) and «Apocalypse Now » (1979).
Renzi said THR, He even tried to convince Martin and Estevez to take part in the project, bringing them a rough draft of the "First Part" of the documentary series. According to him, both actors were highly impressed with the project but still declined.
The director previously stated in a Netflix press release that Martin and Estevez supported the idea of the documentary series, but wanted to keep the public focus on Charlie.
«"They wanted Charlie to experience this moment," Renzi said in September. "I sat down with them to watch the film, and they're completely supportive and excited about it. They're all very close.".
On the Netflix podcast "« You Can't Make This Up» Renzi also said: "From my point of view... Martin, as a father, didn't want some man sitting in front of him and forcing him to relive all those moments that he thought were already in the past. I respect that very much.".
Instead of involving his father and brother, Renzi assigned Sean Penn to act as the interview "host" throughout the documentary series. Speaking about Penn's reaction to the finished product, Renzi said: THR "Sean Penn sent me a message and said, 'You did something I've never seen before.'.
«"It's as unique and unrepeatable as Charlie Sheen himself.".