Charlie Sheen stepped in to save The Way, says father

The actor Martin Sheen has revealed in an interview with The Catholic Herald that the film The Way could not have been made without his troubled youngest son Charlie.

In an interview to be published on Friday, Mr Sheen said the film was a family project which was not funded by any major studio.

“At a critical point”, he said, when they did not have enough money to re-cut the film for the US market, Charlie “came through with the dough for it, and we’re deeply indebted to him for that. He’s one of our biggest supporters in this film, and we couldn’t have done it without him.”

He added: “I think that that should be known about him along with everything else.”

Charlie has been battling with drug and alcohol problems and was dismissed from the US sitcom Two and a Half Men earlier this year after criticising Warner Bros and series creator Chuck Lorre.

In the interview, his father Martin said that Charlie was “travelling a slightly different road from some of us – he’s on a different Camino, let’s say”, adding: “But we’re all pilgrims, after all, and his journey is not over yet.”

The Way, about a bereaved father who goes on pilgrimage along the Way of St James in northern Spain, starred Martin Sheen and was directed by his eldest son Emilio Estevez.

The interview is published in this week’s issue of The Catholic Herald. The issue includes a 16-page supplement, with contributions from Fr Aidan Nichols, Fr Robert Barron, Melanie McDonagh, Stephen Hough and Fr Gerald O’Collins.