Director of “Aka Charlie Sheen” on the Addiction and Crazy Disclosures of an Actor

By using old family videos, interviews with friends like Chris Tucker and Sean Penn, and an unusual conversation with Sheen’s former drug dealer Marco, director Andrew Renzi (Pepsi, Where’s My Jet?) was able to document the rise and fall of the Two and a Half Men actor in the Netflix documentary Charlie Sheen.

But the hallmark of the two-parter that dropped Sept. The most striking of these were Renzi’s interviews with the actor. “I take it very seriously that I’m creating something that will eventually leave a lasting impression on someone,” Renzi tells Deadline. There most likely won’t be another documentary about Charlie Sheen like this one. Working with him has been an absolute honor because, despite not having editorial control over this, he can look at it and say, “All right, good, bad, all the things.”. I feel that this candid portrait of me accurately captures my point of view, which is what I decided to do. Being able to leave and say, “Okay, he’s fine with it,” is a pleasant feeling. I don’t mind at all. My hands are free of contaminants. .”.

Here, Renzi details the length of time the documentary took to complete, the reasons behind the absence of family members, and how, of all people, Marco assisted Sheen in getting off the streets.

DEADLINE Tell us about the beginning. Why does Charlie Sheen do it?

ANDREW RENZI I wanted to get into the celebrity documentary discussion by way of someone who resembled me more, perhaps a controversial person. Perhaps a less than ideal person. When I thought of Charlie, I was able to connect with him. We got to know one another for eight months to a year before we even shot a single frame of the movie. The process to determine whether this was even a good idea took a long time. Thus, the entire process took roughly two years. It required some persuasion. Charlie wasn’t someone I knew. You know what I mean, I didn’t know Charlie Sheen was eight years sober, but I did know him from the internet’s history. And in my opinion, that was a truly remarkable experience. I have only ever known one Charlie, and that is a sober Charlie. That greatly influenced the way we told this tale. He probably couldn’t have accomplished this eight years ago. Thus, it took him a while to realize the significance of this.

DEADLINE How did you think of the title?

Everyone’s perception of Charlie is different, RENZI. Everybody remembers him differently or has a different idea of what they would like him to be. Since a large portion of this documentary seemed to be him deconstructing that himself, I just thought it was a really thought-provoking idea. Furthermore, it is evident that Carlos Estevez was his given name at birth. Simply put, I think it’s a fascinating detail. Legally speaking, the man isn’t even Charlie Sheen. What is this guy? It was one of those things that I wrote down one day and thought, “That’s the one.”. And there was no argument.

DEADLINE Did you write two parts merely to reference Sheen’s 1993 movie Hot Shots! Part Deux with the phrase Part Deux?

I would have followed the same course of action if there had been three sections, RENZI. This project underwent numerous iterations. I used to have a feature in my mind. I wanted part one to feel like a Hollywood rocket ship, a romanticized depiction of what drug addiction can look like to a drug addict. The combination of sex, drugs, and rock and roll recreations almost makes it feel sensational. This is how the two parts came to be. Then, in the second part, everything disintegrates and reveals what it truly looks like to be deeply addicted. The format was only naturally two parts.

DEADLINE Jon Cryer’s statement, “I’m not here to build him up or tear him down,” and the Two and a Half Men theme opened the show. Why did you begin that way?

RENZI In spite of all the iconography surrounding Charlie, I believe it was crucial to help the audience understand what is arguably his most iconic quality. And instead of just jumping right into the chaos, I liked how disarming someone like Jon Cryer was in initiating this. Additionally, I think the theme of whether this is a good idea is fantastic. Because of the cycle that has been his life, is it a bad idea for me to be sitting here in front of you telling the story? I just thought that was an urgent message for the doctor. Will this cause a new problem, or is he genuinely sober, feeling better, and in a different place?

DEADLINE After that, you began the story about how he actually took a plane flight for his honeymoon!

RENZI That seemed to me to be the epitome of Charlie Sheen in a nutshell. This is a newlywed man on his honeymoon who is intoxicated and being handed the wheel of an aircraft with 400 people in the back. It’s impossible for anyone else to measure that kind of power and mind fuck. For him to have that experience is really unique. No one else was capable of experiencing that power. If you’ve ever wondered why a man didn’t quit drinking sooner, this is the answer. You continue to receive the fucking plane.

DEADLINE There were tons of family super 8 videos available for you to use.

RENZI That was awesome. The family’s archivist, his sister, literally only had a box of undeveloped film. Those were things no one had seen. Charlie Sheen was eight years old when I had the opportunity to edit his directorial efforts as if he were doing it himself. I used to have endless hours of dailies that I hoped someone would return to and use further. After all, Sean Penn is ten years old when he sets up camera angles for Charlie. At one point in the project’s development, a different version went much deeper into the relationship between Charlie and Chris Penn. Everybody has been a child once. However, not every child who gets to make Super 8 films is a youngster because they worked on the Apocalypse Now set.

DEADLINE You spent some time on Charlie’s friendship with Nicholas Cage, but you didn’t go into great detail about Chris Penn. The reason?

RENZI I believe that Nic Cage marked a watershed. It was the turning point in Charlie’s life when he became a superstar and decided to follow his own path. That kind of unholy union was cool, in my opinion. Few people were aware of their time together. Setting the tone for many of Charlie’s subsequent actions, it seemed like a really entertaining way for the audience to say, “Well, yeah, if you’re going to become a superstar, who better to party with than Nic Cage?”.

DEADLINE It’s remarkable that you were able to get Marco, his former drug dealer, to speak. He cleaned up the crack at the end to help Charlie get sober, and I had a lot of questions about that.

RENZI It seems to be extra baking soda each time. To avoid giving away too much about how to make crack, you combine cocaine and baking soda to make it. He simply kept using baking soda to make more and more. After a while, it simply contained no crack or cocaine. Only baking soda was being smoked by Charlie.

DEADLINE: I’m amazed that you captured on camera Charlie’s reaction upon learning he had been let go from Two and a Half Men.

RENZI A paparazzo was one of the guys who was constantly pursuing Charlie. Charlie eventually said, “Listen, you’re constantly jumping out of bushes on me.”. Simply accompany me. And he ended up working for him, always serving as his videographer. At the darkest moment of his life, this man found himself with Charlie. Charlie exclaimed, “My God.”. A man with a camera was present the entire time. We managed to locate the video. Nobody was aware of its existence anymore. This guy simply gave it to me and let us use it; it turned out to be in a storage unit in Colorado or something.

DEADLINE How did he feel when he talked about how his tenure on Two and a Half Men ended suddenly?

RENZI The experience was rather unusual. Looking back on that point in his life was the most difficult thing I can imagine. It was a little bit like, “Oh my God, was that me?”. He truly struggled with his aggressive behavior and the sense that he was bullying others. He doesn’t bully others. That guy isn’t him. I believe he found it difficult to defend his treatment of Jon Cryer, Chuck Lorre, his on-air remarks, and his approach to people. That, in my opinion, probably caused him to feel the ick the most. Shame, in my opinion, will follow anyone who has gone through something they’re not proud of. He has been making amends for the past eight years, so he didn’t make this documentary as a way to make amends.

DEADLINE Why, in your opinion, did Emilio Estevez and Martin Sheen choose not to take part?

RENZI Martin and I were able to sit next to each other while we watched the film. It was honestly just Martin’s perception that Charlie’s message to his father was so present and perhaps more available than him sitting for an interview, which made it one of the most frightening experiences of my life. Martin might not have wanted to sit down and go over all of that again. This is Charlie’s time to share his story, he thought. I’m not necessary for you. I respected that a great deal. After all, that is a father who genuinely wants to protect himself and his son before anything else. It seemed to Emilio that this was Charlie’s moment, and that he was finally able to tell his story the way he wanted to. None of that became contentious. The communication was open and honest. Those guys likely see each other every day or every week, and they are only minutes apart. I found it comforting to know that it was unrelated to any perceived rift. The reverse was true. Their love for one another is the reason for this.

DEADLINE Is Charlie fully self-aware, and do you think he can explain why he is an addict?

In my opinion, Renzi is the most prominent example of an addict who is still alive, at least from the standpoint of a public figure. He went as far as he could without losing his life. Over the last eight years, he has not only been working on himself, but he has also not been attempting to do what he had always done, which was to reenter the public discourse and find another role. He really left to solve this. And that is rather uncommon. For anyone to go back and make peace with those things after eight years is a long time. I’d have to say yes, then. When I was seated across from him, I always had the impression that this was an honest person who might not give everyone what they want, but he was present, he was here, and he was speaking his own truth. That seems like a very particular kind of success story to me.

DEADLINE Did you find the conversation with him enjoyable?