Interview: Emilio Estevez & Martin Sheen “The Way” – Part 2

Emilio Estevez and Martin Sheen were delighted to talk to us about their new film, The Way (Part 1 of the interview here), so much so that a 15-minute roundtable ended up turning into 45-minutes discussing everything from film, religion, and even Estevez’ work on 1986′s Stephen King-directed Maximum Overdrive. It was clear to see the real-life father-and-son duo have a genuine rapport that extends well beyond their profession. What follows is Part 2 of our roundtable discussion:

Interviewer: A question I was going to ask Martin, many people know about your faith journey. I’m wondering with you and Emilio, do you consider yourself a practicing Catholic? And secondly, in making this film, what impact did it have on your own faith?

Emilio Estevez: Right, I will say this… Growing up, my mother was raised Southern Baptist. My father a practicing Catholic, old-school Catholic before Vatican II. So I grew up as a kid hearing nothing but arguments about religion. Fights, downright fights. Throwing things!

Martin Sheen: [jokingly] Oh, now… I don’t remember throwing anything. Not over religion!

EE: It was always a question of how the children were going to be raised. Was it going to be this way or that way? We were all baptized, but because of the turmoil, church and going to mass were never part of our routine. In all households, it’s usually the father that loses the fight. Ours was no exception. [everyone laughs]

Growing up, my mother was raised Southern Baptist. My father a practicing Catholic, old-school Catholic before Vatican II. So I grew up as a kid hearing nothing but arguments about religion

MS: Separation of church and parents!

EE: He [Sheen] came back to the faith in 1981. He came back to a very different church, and I’ll let him speak to that. But for me, I’m what my mom likes to call a work-in-progress. And I really feel that. I’m still on a journey. I’ve yet to declare myself in terms of religion, but I think there’s no question I’m on a spiritual journey. As we all are. And I’m very much in touch with it, in ways that surprise me daily.

Interviewer: So did working on this film impact that?

EE: Oh yeah, for sure… we knew we were doing the work we were supposed to be doing. We were exactly in the place we were supposed to be.

MS: One night, it was sundown, we were filming in a remote area. And we were done. And Emilio had left and gone down to the camera truck and we deposited all of our baggage at the truck. And we were headed home…

EE: And I saw a sunset…

MS: And he saw a sunset! So he raced back up, “Get your backpacks on and start walking down the trail! We’re going to shoot this sunset!” And we all started scrambling, getting our backpacks back on and one of the players, it wasn’t me, yelled out “What’s our motivation?”

He (Estevez) stopped and yelled back, as if he’d been hit with a stone, and said “To give thanks and praise, of course!” [laughs]

GUY: You mentioned before that you shot in sequence. Kind of an interesting benefit of seeing the film – it feels like the narrative becomes so much more focused and characters become so much sharper. Is that something you felt as you were filming, that things were getting tighter and tighter?

EE: Yeah. Also too, the choices you make earlier in the journey inform how the characters are going to react to one another as the story unfolds.

GUY: Absolutely.

EE: So you may have had an idea in your head, or the script may have said, “This person does X.” When in fact, you get to that place now in the Camino and that person can’t do X anymore. That person needs to do Y because it’s informed from what’s happened earlier.

It’s a great luxury. It’s a great luxury. For actors, for light. If we had been stuck in a rain storm then we would have been able to show all the clothes being wet. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. But the sort of the things that happened were informed by the things that happened along the way.

Interviewer: [to Mr. Sheen] You’ve worked with some legendary directors. And Emilio, you were there growing up when he was working with Terrence Malick, Francis Ford Coppola… How did being on those sets affect your approach to wanting to be a director? Because you started directing at a pretty young age.

EE: I sure did…

GUY: [I chime in] Men at Work!

EE: [laughs] Yeah…

Well, I grew up on film sets. And that was a great luxury – to be able to be a young kid, being on some of the great film sets of films that are still remembered to this day. I was very fortunate. I always thought of myself as a storyteller. Even when I was acting, I always knew that there was something else I wanted to do. That I wanted to not necessarily just say somebody else’s lines and hit a mark. I had some ideas of my own.

I’m still on a journey. I’ve yet to declare myself in terms of religion, but I think there’s no question I’m on a spiritual journey. As we all are. And I’m very much in touch with it, in ways that surprise me daily.

So I was encouraged, being on those sets. And as I started to take the helm and jump behind the camera, it felt very natural. It didn’t feel like… I’m still terrified when I do it! The morning or the night before the first day of a shoot, I can’t tell you of any director that actually sleeps through the night. Because of the anxiety and the sheer terror.

I worked in not a good movie. I worked with Stephen King in a movie called Maximum Overdrive. I wanted to work with him just because he’s Stephen King! And my mother saw the film and said, “Why’d you do that movie?”

I said, “I wanted to work with Stephen King.”

She said, “You could have helped him paint a fence!” [That one got the entire room. We're all laughing at this point.]

And he’s acknowledged — just so you know I’m not speaking out of class — he’s acknowledged [the film was bad]. He sent me a letter and said “I hope you’ll forgive me for that movie.” So my point was… director’s being nervous. The first day, we’re in North Carolina and we’re shooting – it’s the first time he’s (King) has directed. He’s now in the three-dimensional world. Which is not his comfort zone. And he’s so nervous and he’s sweating and it’s a night shoot. And he says, “Okay, rolling!” I could tell he just didn’t know what to do with himself and the cameras were rolling and he said “And cut!” [laughs]

It was hysterical. Everybody was like “No no no, you’re supposed to say action! It comes action first!”

I worked in not a good movie. I worked with Stephen King in a movie called Maximum Overdrive. I wanted to work with him just because he’s Stephen King! And my mother saw the film and said, “Why’d you do that movie?”

And he said ” Oh, oh yeah. Sorry!” Of course, he’s the director, so all the camera’s shut off.

MS: I’ve never heard a director ever say what Emilio says at the start of a take. He says [in an impression of his son's soft, assertive voice], “Action, please.” And at the end of a take he says “Cut, thank you.” Honest to god! Every set I’ve ever walked on, not just the ones I’ve worked with him on, that’s how he treats everybody. Everybody is loose and cooperative and lending their talents. Everyone is allowed to have their contribution.

Mr. Sheen was kind enough to hang back after our interview and chat off-the-record, showing genuine interest and a warm heart towards those of us there to talk about his film. I remarked that I’d watch him read the phone book for two hours and he took it in his trademark Sheen-stride, laughing and downplaying his accomplishments in the world of film, then asking where our parents were from and what we like to do for fun.

It was a true-treat for a film fan who’s been watching both guys work for longer than I can remember. Thanks to Mr. Estevez and Mr. Sheen for taking the time to talk with us about their new film. Do go see it when it arrives in theaters this weekend. Judging from this, you’ll make Emilio’s father very proud.

Three GUYs.

Read GUY’s review of The Way

Then check out Part 1 of our interview with Estevez and Sheen