Martin Sheen reveals “deep” Hollywood regret over stage name
Martin Sheen has revealed that he deeply regrets changing his name from Ramón Gerard Antonio Estévez to Martin Sheen as he launched his acting career.
Appearing on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused show on October 31st, the industry titan discussed the origins of his legendary career.
“You know, officially I’ve never changed my name,” explained Sheen. “I’m still Ramón Gerard Antonio Estévez. And I love my name. I just arrived at a time and a place where it was hard enough to get a job as an actor. When I started in 1959 in New York City — to have a Hispanic surname at that time was not an advantage.”
The Apocalypse Now actor then explained that “because unfortunately there was great prejudice in the city against the Puerto Rican community” at that time, “I kept my name. But, I realised I had to kind of step outside and be more anonymous in terms of nationality.” Consequently, Sheen changed his name to land more roles.
The star opened up about how this was received by his father, an immigrant from Spain. “He didn’t express it as such,” he recalled, but when his eyes laid upon Sheen’s name on the marquee for 1964 Broadway play The Subject Was Roses, “he did not recognise the name. He never said anything but I knew from the look on his face and so forth.”
The actor learnt from his own mistake. Therefore, he recalled that he “begged” his eldest son, Emilio Estevez, to stick with his own name. He shared, “I remember when my children started coming into the profession and they were deciding whether or not to use Estevez or to change it, Emilio was on the verge.”
Eventually, his eldest changed his mind. “Then he saw [Sheen] in print,” Sheen recalled. “It just doesn’t fit. And frankly, I begged him to keep it.” But ultimately, the West Wing performer revealed, his son “made his own decision to keep Emilio. And I was very proud of him. I still am.”
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