Emilio Estevez

Emilio Estevez survived the “Brat Pack” stigma that tainted the early part of his career and emerged as a mature actor and director with a knack for choosing ambitious and thoughtful feature projects.

Born May 15, 1962, Estevez was the oldest son of actor Martin Sheen, and brother to fellow performers Charlie Sheen, Renee Estevez, and Ramon Estevez. The Sheen family relocated from New York to Malibu, CA in 1968, with Estevez spending his childhood palling around with future stars like Rob Lowe and Sean and Chris Penn. It was with these close friends that he got his first exposure to filmmaking via a home video camera that the pre-Brat Pack used to make their own short films. Estevez’s first screen appearance came in 1979 with Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now,” for which he acted as his father’s stand-in and had a cameo as a messenger. Unfortunately, the scene was cut from the theatrical version (Estevez would also serve as Sheen’s stand-in in “Gandhi,” 1981).

By the early 1980s, Estevez began to delve more seriously into acting. He also made the all important decision to use his father’s real last name, rather than his more familiar stage name, avoiding comparisons to dad and charges of nepotism. He earned his first notices for his feature debut in “Tex” (1982) as Matt Dillon’s best friend. This minor success was followed by the more popular (and legendary) flick, 1983’s “The Outsiders” (which, like “Tex,” was adapted from a novel by S.E. Hinton), wherein Estevez starred as the wise-cracking Two-Bit Matthews – the comic relief of the Greasers. The film, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring a host of up-and-coming young actors, including Lowe, Dillon, Tom Cruise, and Diane Lane, became a pop cultural phenomenon, thanks in now small part to the rabid teenage girls who plastered their lockers with pictures of the Teen Beat cover boys. Moving away from those cover boys, Estevez cemented his status with his next film, the cult sci-fi/comedy “Repo Man” (1984), in which he played a young and rowdy punk schooled in the ways of car repossession by a worldly mentor (Harry Dean Stanton).

Estevez nearly played the lead in an early version of Oliver Stone’s “Platoon” (1986), but financing fell through on the film (and five years later, brother Charlie Sheen would take the role that established his career). Instead, he joined the young and hot cast of John Hughes’ comedy/drama “The Breakfast Club” (1985), which became (and remained) a touchstone movie generation X teens. While working on “Club,” Estevez worked on a script based on another Hinton novel, “That Was Then… This is Now,” which he had begun in collaboration with Tom Cruise. The script was purchased by Paramount and was released with Estevez in the lead, but fared only modestly at the box office.

Estevez graduated to college-age roles in his next feature, “St. Elmo’s Fire,” which again featured a cast of friends (Lowe) and up-and-comers (Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Andrew McCarthy). The making of the film was profiled in an issue of New York magazine, which dubbed the close-knit group “The Brat Pack” – a label which dogged many of the actors for years. Estevez attempted to shake the moniker by starring in “Maximum Overdrive,” a horror film directed by author Stephen King, but the picture was annihilated by fans and critics alike. Undaunted, Estevez moved forward on his behind-the-camera career, and with 1986’s “Wisdom,” he became the youngest Hollywood star to ever direct and write a film that he also top-billed. Unfortunately, the film, a road movie/romance co-starring his then real-life girlfriend Demi Moore, also tanked at the box office.

Estevez bounced back with a grown-up role in 1987’s “Stakeout,” a breezy comedy-thriller in which he deftly played opposite Richard Dreyfuss’ sober police partner. The pair’s easy comedic camaraderie worked well enough to warrant a sequel, “Another Stakeout” (1993), but lacked the sparkle of its predecessor. Estevez’s hot streak continued with another considerable hit – the slick Western “Young Guns” (1988). The combination of old-school shoot-em-ups and hot stars (including brother Charlie) proved a winning combination. Estevez’s gleeful portrayal of Billy the Kid, complete with his infectious laugh, was singled out for praise. Estevez returned to the role for “Young Guns II” in 1990, which proved a slightly lesser box office hit. At the peak of his success in front of the camera, he made his second attempt behind the camera, writing and directing the feature comedy “Men at Work,” starring he and brother Charlie as garbage men who become entangled in a murder. Though greatly maligned at the time, the film became a minor cult favorite.

His glory days as a young Brat Pack leading man behind him, Estevez stumbled once again with the inert sci-fi action flick, “Freejack” (1992) – though the project did yield a lasting friendship with his co-star Anthony Hopkins. Disney came calling next with the kiddie comedy “The Mighty Ducks” (1992), a charming sports picture which cast Estevez as a greedy lawyer forced to coach a misfit hockey team. The film was a big hit with children and parents alike. Estevez returned for the 1993 sequel “D2” after logging time yet another dire comedy, the “Lethal Weapon” spoof “Loaded Weapon” (1993), in which he played the Mel Gibson part. When the expected third “Ducks” film was put on the table, Estevez agreed to make a cameo in the film if the studio would help him finance his next directorial project, a post-Vietnam family drama titled “The War at Home” (1996). Despite excellent performances by Estevez, Martin Sheen, and Kathy Bates; generally positive reviews for his direction and scripting; and two ALMA award nominations, the film died a quick death due to poor distribution.

Following that, Estevez maintained a low profile as an actor, preferring to focus on developing projects to direct. Aside from an uncredited role in buddy Tom Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible” (1996) and several independent features, Estevez was seen mostly on television – first in “A Dollar for the Dead” (1998), a solid tribute to spaghetti Westerns that aired on TNT, followed by “Rated X,” a biopic of the porn producing Mitchell Brothers, responsible for “Behind the Green Door” (1972) and other popular adult titles before murder separated them in the early ‘90s. The film, co-starring brother Charlie, earned respectable reviews. In recent years, he directed several episodes of series television, including such programs as “Cold Case” (CBS, 2003- ) and “CSI: NY” (CBS, 2004- ), all in preparation for his make-or-break theatrical feature, “Bobby” (2006) – a project crammed with high expectations and A-list stars such as Sharon Stone, Lindsay Lohan and Anthony Hopkins. While preparing the highly publicized film, which concerned the events surrounding the night that Senator Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated, Estevez and his financers were the subject of a scathing and anonymous 2006 Esquire article which depicted the production as out of control.