When Oliver Stone put Charlie Sheen through basic military training
Before he became a filmmaker, a young Oliver Stone enlisted in the United States Army and fought in the Vietnam War. Almost two decades later, Stone directed Platoon, the first in a trilogy of war films about his experiences in Vietnam. Starring Charlie Sheen, the film discussed the morality of war first-hand.
Unsurprisingly, the film was particularly praised for its striking realism and lead performances from Sheen, Tom Berenger, and Willem Dafoe. Stone was so committed to his realistic depiction of Vietnam that he put his star, Sheen, through basic military training.
Sheen recalled the experience in an interview with the CBC in 1986. He first notes that he was just three years old when the film’s events took place, which he suggests helped him with his character. He states, “I’m portraying a young man who comes into a situation that he’s totally familiar with.”
The actor sheepishly admits that he made no attempt to amend this ignorance: “It was interesting that I didn’t have any vast knowledge of the Vietnam War, and I shouldn’t say that I didn’t try to ascertain any, but playing that character I felt like it was a nice touch to go in kind of green with the part.”
Though Sheen made no effort to learn about the events in Vietnam on his own, Stone did ensure that his star had some experience in the military. Sheen dubs the experience of basic military training the “longest two weeks of my life”, stating, “It was hell.”
He describes the conditions they were subjected to during the intense training course, “We had to live in the ground, and we had to dig our own foxholes and live in the same clothes.” He lists off some of the limitations Stone placed on them, “No showers, no phone calls to agents, no letters to girlfriends, couldn’t talk to your mom.”
Despite the difficulties, Sheen also seems grateful for the experience, noting how it influenced his performance: “We didn’t realise, when we were going through it at the time, how valuable that information was going to be until we got on film because we didn’t have to think about a lot of the stuff we learned. It just became subconscious, you just reacted.”
The cast went on to shoot the film in the jungles of the Philippines in early 1986, a time of political unrest with Ferdinand Marcos in office. Sheen recalls that the situation caused many of the actors’ mothers, including his own, to call Stone, registering their concern for their children’s safety. After Marcos fled, the shoot took place in just 54 days.
After its release later that year, the film went on to receive eight Academy Awards, taking home the prizes for ‘Best Picture’, ‘Best Director’, ‘Best Sound’ and ‘Best Film Editing’. The first sequel received similar praise and critical acclaim. Though Sheen and his costars may have struggled with the training at the time, Stone’s commitment to realism ensured Platoon would become one of the most celebrated Vietnam War films of all time.
