Martin Sheen Shares His Greatest Regret

Martin Sheen is a beloved actor who has had a career spanning more than 60 years. The father of Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez is a devout Catholic activist. He has starred in dozens of films and television shows, winning numerous awards. But through all of his successes, he has one big regret. What does the West Wing and Apocalpyse Now star wish he did differently? A name change. 

Via Fox News:

That’s one of my regrets,” the 81-year-old recently told Closer Weekly. “I never changed my name officially. It’s still Ramon Estévez on my birth certificate. It’s on my marriage license, my passport, driver’s license. Sometimes you get persuaded when you don’t have enough insight or even enough courage to stand up for what you believe in, and you pay for it later. But, of course, I’m only speaking for myself.”

Martin Sheen’s Real Name

Sheen, whose real name is Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez, adopted Martin Sheen in the 1960s. The stage name is a combination of CBS Casting Director Robert Dale Martin and Catholic bishop and televangelist Fulton J. Sheen, who was a hero of Sheen. This isn’t a new regret, though. He explained in 2003 on the show Inside The Actors Studio why he made the change. 

Whenever I would call for an appointment, whether it was a job or an apartment, and I would give my name, there was always that hesitation and when I’d get there, it was always gone. So I thought, I got enough problems trying to get an acting job, so I invented Martin Sheen.

Despite that, Sheen stated he never changed his name officially, and never will. 

“It’s still Estevez officially. I never changed it officially. I never will. It’s on my driver’s license and passport and everything.”

However, even in 2003 Sheen said he regretted it.

“In fact, one of my great regrets is that I didn’t keep my name as it was given to me. I knew it bothered my dad.”

Martin Sheen’s Best Roles

The West Wing is in retrospect a show that ruined an entire generation. It tricked a lot of millennials* into thinking that politics was some fun game where all your needed was determination and your wildest ideas to save the world. 

That being said, Martin Sheen was pretty good on the show. Sure he played an absolutely impossible character, but he played it convincingly. 

*including me

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Related: Martin Sheen Calls Donald Trump A “Bum” And His Administration “Colossal Error In Our Character”