In the early and mid-80s, Hollywood saw a generational shift. The old guard, stars who had reigned on the screen for a decade or two, were ageing. Newer, younger stars were needed to take their place. At this time, a young second-generation actor emerged. All of 20, he was branded the next big thing, ahead of contemporaries like Tom Cruise and Johnny Depp. And yet, his career never reached the dizzying heights many predicted. This is the story of Hollywood’s biggest ‘what if’. (Also read: Charlie Sheen fights irrelevance, wants to run for US President in 2016)
The man who was bigger than Tom Cruise and Johnny Depp
The success of the 1984 film Red Dawn made 18-year-old Charlie Sheen an overnight star. The son of Martin Sheen, Charlie solidified his stardom with starring roles in Platoon (1986) and Wall Street (1987). By this point, he was considered the brightest young prospect in Hollywood, edging ahead of Tom Cruise. Johnny Depp, who would later become a superstar himself, had been relegated to playing a minor role in Platoon. But by the end of the 80s and early 90s, other actors – notably Bruce Willis and Tom Cruise – began to leave Charlie behind. He delivered hits like The Rookie and Cadence, which were all two-hero films. Other stars were leading blockbusters by now.
Charlie Sheen’s first downfall
In 1998, Charlie Sheen was hospitalised after he suffered a stroke due to a cocaine overdose. Years earlier, he had courted controversy by being named as a client of a high-end escort agency. In 2005, Sheen’s marriage to actor Denise Richards came to an ugly end with accusations of drug abuse and domestic violence against him. Roles dried up in films and the actor moved to television, working in sitcoms.
The highest-paid TV star
In 2003, amid his legal troubles, Charlie Sheen began starring in the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men. Over the next few years, the sitcom dominated the primetime ratings, revitalising Charlie’s career. By 2009-10, when the show’s 7th season aired, the actor was charging $1.8 million per episode, or almost $40 million per season. This made him the world’s highest-paid TV actor. But again, the high did not last.
Charlie Sheen’s firing and downward spiral
In 2009, Charlie Sheen was arrested for assaulting his third wife, Brooke Mueller, who had recently filed for divorce. He was eventually released and even managed to hold on to his acting gig, but not for long. In 2011, the actor was fired from Two and a Half Men after another drug relapse and unsavoury comments against the sitcom’s creator, Chuck Lorre. Around the same time, Mueller filed a restraining order against him and had their sons removed from his house by the police.
In 2015, he revealed that he had HIV and that he had paid extortionists $10 million to keep his condition a secret. Two years later, he came under investigation by the LAPD stalking unit for threatening to kill his former fiancée, Scottine Ross. His last acting role was in the 2017 film 9/11, wherein he had a supporting role. The actor currently lives in Los Angeles.
