Director of “ aka Charlie Sheen ” on the crazy revelations of the actor and dependence

In the Netflix documentary AKA Charlie SheenDirector Andrew Renzi (Pepsi, where is my jet?) was able to tell the rise and the fall of Two and a half men Actor based on old family films, interviews with friends like Chris Tucker and Sean Penn and an extraordinary conversation with the former drug trafficker by Sheen Marco.

But the brand brand of the two parts that dropped on September 10 was the breathtaking interviews of Renzi with the actor himself. “I take very seriously that I do something that ultimately creates an inherited piece for someone,” said Renzi on the deadline. “”This is Charlie Sheen’s documentary, and there probably cannot be another. It was such a privilege to work because he had no editorial control over this thing, but he is able to look at him and say: “Very good, good, bad, everything. It is an honest portrait of me which, in my opinion, was representative of my POV, which I chose to do. ” It is a pleasant feeling of being able to move away and say, okay, it is good with that. I’m good with that. My hands are clean. “”

Here, Renzi explains how long the doc was in preparation, why family members did not participate and how Marco of all people helped Sheen get out of crack.

The deadline gives us the original story. Why Charlie Sheen?

Andrew Renzi I wanted to enter the conversation of Doc Celebrity through someone who looked more like me, perhaps a controversial figure. Maybe someone who is not so perfect. Charlie came in mind and I was able to connect with him. We spent about eight months to a year to know ourselves before shooting a framework of the film. There was a long process to really know if it was even going to be a good idea. So from start to finish, it was about two years. It took a little convincing. I did not know Charlie. I knew Charlie through the historic internet file, do you know what I mean? I certainly did not know the eight, Charlie Sheen. And I think it was an incredible thing to live. The only Charlie I have ever known is a sober Charlie. It played a big role by telling us this story. I don’t think he could have done it eight years ago. So yes, there was a long process that he understood what would be the value of this.

Deadline how did you find the title?

Renzi Everyone has his own idea of ​​who is Charlie. Everyone has their own idea of ​​what they remember him or what they want him to look like. I just found that it was a really provocative concept because many of this documentary seemed to be unpacking himself. And the evidence is that [he was born with the name of] Carlos Estevez. I find it a really interesting detail. It is as if the guy was not even Charlie Sheen, legally. So who is this guy? It was one of those things I threw on paper one day and I said to myself, it’s the one. And no one has argued.

Deadline did you have two parts just so that you can use the sentence Share twoA reminder of Sheen’s film in 1993 Hot Shots! Share two?

Renzi Listen, if there were three parts, I would have done the same thing. There was a lot of iterations with this project. I had a feature at a time in my head. But the two parties were really born because I wanted the first part to feel like a romantic version of what a drug addict can look like, like a Hollywood rocket … the sex, drugs and leisure of Rock & Roll, make it almost sensational. And then in the second part, make everything disintegrate, really take off what it really looks like being in the depths of dependence. The only natural format was two parts.

Deadline you started with the Two and a half men Theme and Jon Cryer saying: “I’m not here to build or demolish it.” Why was it your start?

Renzi I think it was important to found the public with what is perhaps the most emblematic thing about Charlie, despite all the iconography around him. And someone’s disarming nature like Jon Cryer who started this thing seemed to me rather than going directly into chaos. I also really like the thematic concept of knowing if it is a good idea. Is it a bad idea for me to be sitting here before telling you the story because of the cycle that was his life? I just found that it was an urgent message for the doc. Will it open Pandora’s box again? Or is it really sober and feels better and in a different place?

Deadline then you launched the anecdote where he actually piloted an airplane during his honeymoon!

Renzi For me, it looked like the most Charlie sheen in a word that I could have imagined. Here is a guy who has just married, during his honeymoon, drunk with his ass and receive the steering wheel in an airplane with 400 people behind him. This kind of power and spirit fuck cannot be quantified by anyone else in the world. It is such a specific experience for him. It was a power that no one else could experience. If someone has never had any questions about the reasons why a guy is not sober earlier, there is your answer. You continue to get the fucking plane.

Deadline, you had a treasure of sequences from the Super 8 family to shoot.

Renzi It was so cool. Her sister was the family archivist and literally just had an unmanned film box. No one had seen these things. So I was able to edit Charlie Sheen’s director’s efforts together at the age of 8 as if he did. I had hours and hours and hours of daily life that someone, hope, comes back to mine and does something more with it. I mean, there is Sean Penn installing camera angles for Charlie at the age of 10. There was a different iteration at some point in this project which plunged much deeper into the relationship of Charlie and Christ Penn. Everyone is a little child at some point. However, not everyone is a little child who can make great films because he was on the set of the apocalypse now.

Deadline that you have not plunged into Christ Penn, but you spent a little time in Charlie’s friendship with Nicholas Cage. For what?

Renzi I think Nic Cage was a turning point. It was this moment in Charlie’s life when he became a superstar that was also going to walk to the rhythm of his own drum. I think this union, this kind of unruly union, was pretty cool. Few people knew they had this pocket together. It was like such a fun way for the public to be like: “Well, yes, if you are going to become a superstar, with whom to do the party than Nic Cage?” It just sets the tone for a lot of behaviors from Charlie to come.

Deadline it is extraordinary that you have made his old drug dealer speak. I had a lot of questions about how he cleaned the crack at the end to help Charlie become sober.

Renzi Apparently, it’s just baking soda each time. Do not give too much infopublier on how to cook the crack, but you mix baking soda and cocaine and you create a crack. He therefore continued to do more and more with baking soda. Finally, there was simply no crack, no cocaine. Charlie was just smoking baking soda.

Deadline, I cannot believe that you had a video from the moment when Charlie discovered that he had been dismissed Two and a half men.

Renzi One of the guys who followed a lot of Charlie was a paparazzo. Finally, Charlie said to me: “Listen, you jump all the time bushes. Come with me.” And he ended up working for him and being a videographer for him at any time. This guy ended up with Charlie at the worst moment of his life. Charlie was like: “Oh my god. There was a guy with a camera there. We were able to find the images.” No one knew if he existed. It turned out to be in a colorado storage unit or something like that, and this guy just gave me and allowed us to use it.

Deadline how it was to listen to him discuss how his time Two and a half men went to flames?

Renzi It was a fairly unique experience. It was a bit like: “Oh my God, was it me?” I think of all things, having to look back at that time of life was the most difficult. He really fought with his behavior, the assault, the kind of feeling that he was a tyrant. He is not a tyrant. It is not this guy. I think it was difficult for him to say how he treated Chuck Lorre, how he treated Jon Cryer, how he talked about things on the air, how he came to people. I think it made him feel the tax probably more than anything. I think shame is something that will haunt anyone who has experiences they are not proud of. He has not produced this documentary as an amendment because he has lived these modifications for eight years.

Deadline why do you think Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez refused to participate?

Renzi In fact, I watched the film with them, so I was able to sit next to Martin while he was watching. It was one of the most intimidating moments of my life, but it was really a function that Martin felt as if Charlie’s message to his father was so present and perhaps more available than he seated for an interview. I don’t know if Martin wanted to sit with me and relive it all. He had the impression that it was Charlie’s moment to tell his story. You don’t need me. I respected the devil. I mean, he is a father who really wants to monitor his son and himself. And then Emilio, I just had the impression of seeing it as the moment of Charlie and Charlie was finally able to tell his story as he wanted to tell. None of this ended up being controversial. Everyone was open to communication. These guys are a few minutes from each other, probably seeing themselves daily every week. And so it was good for me to know that it had nothing to do with any perceived rift that there could be. It was quite the opposite. It was because of the love they all have for each other.

Deadline do you think Charlie can really explain why he is a drug addict? Do you think it is fully aware of yourself?

Renzi My point of view is that it is undoubtedly, at least from the point of view of the public figure, the greatest emblem of a drug addict which is always alive. He went as deeply as possible without dying. Over the past eight years, he has not only understood him for himself, but did not try to do what he had always done … It was to get into public conversation, to obtain another role. He really left to understand this. And it’s quite rare. Eight years is a stretch so that anyone can reconcile with these things. So I should say yes. I had the impression that when I was sitting with him, I always thought, he is a person who is honest, who may not give everyone what he wants, but he is here and he is present and he says his own truth. This is a very specific type of success for me.

Deadline Have you liked to talk to him?

Renzi He is hilarious. For a story that could be so dark, what a gift to be able to tell some of these things, but with a tone that does not need to be much sought after and uncomfortable and disturbing. I felt privileged.