Whether you know the name Charlie Sheen from his work or his headlines, prepare to see him like never before in the new two-part Netflix docuseries, “aka Charlie Sheen.”
The ’80s icon attended his first Hollywood premiere in decades on Thursday, where he walked the red carpet at Tudum Theater alongside ex-wife Denise Richards, doc participant Heidi Fleiss, director Andrew Renzi and best friend Tony Todd. However, two famous faces who did not participate in the project were Sheen’s father Martin Sheen and brother Emilio Estevez — and that’s alright by him.
“They saw a rough cut and they both loved it. They turned to me and said, ‘This is your story, we can’t tell it any better than you can, so we’re just going to let you,’” the “Platoon” actor told TheWrap. “Emilio is in a lot of the Super 8 stuff, Dad’s in a lot of the archival stuff, so they fully support this.”
“Charlie’s Dad Martin and Emilio aren’t in the doc, but it wasn’t controversial. It was actually understandable,” Renzi agreed. “Dad wanted Charlie to be able to tell his own story and not relive all the stuff, and Charlie wanted to make the movie a love letter to his dad. That didn’t bother me. Emilio just went through this process of letting this be for Charlie. They were really the only two who could have been in it but aren’t, but their reasons for not make a lot of sense.”
Either way, the docuseries still features plenty of A-list talent — including Jon Cryer, Chris Tucker and Sean Penn. Plus, it’s a chance for Charlie to tell his own story after spending so many years of his career in the tabloids.
“It’s a relief and it’s exciting. I can’t influence how it’s going to be received, but I can hope and semi-predict that people are going to be interested in hearing it from the guy who lived it – survived it,” Sheen shared. “If they were never able to, then all those stories just exist out there in a different way than they should.”
And if you find yourself enthralled by the very illuminating look into a Hollywood royal’s life, the man himself will continue to tell his tale in his upcoming memoir, “The Book of Sheen.”
“It has an honesty and humor to it. For the stories where the book and the doc overlap, the book can take the stories a bit further. You can tell a two-week story on paper, you have the time to explore it,” the author explained. “I found my internal voice, the pen, my hand were a lot smarter than my speaking part. I was able to write with a rhythm that is the way I like to read things, so the reader will feel like they’re with me.”
The event also featured a pre-screening party with passed apps from Craig’s. Other notable attendees included Kevin Connolly, Charles Roven and Jesse Sisgold.
“The Book of Sheen” hits shelves on Tuesday, Sept. 9, while “aka Charlie Sheen” starts streaming Wednesday, Sept. 10, on Netflix.
