Charlie Sheen said he heard "the unmistakable voice of Clint Eastwood" on the phone during a family intervention, a moment he recounted Tuesday while promoting a memoir and a Netflix documentary about his life and recovery.
Sheen appeared on Live with Kelly and Mark as he released The Book of Sheen and ahead of the Netflix documentary "aka Charlie Sheen," which premiered Sept. 10, 2025. In a clip shown on the daytime talk show, the Two and a Half Men alumnus described walking into what he believed was a birthday party for his father, Martin Sheen, but which was actually an organized intervention for him.
Sheen told hosts Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos that he expected a party and found instead a "really expertly organized circle of people" in the living room, including a seventh-grade teacher he had not seen in years. He said his mother stopped him at the driveway and asked if he had a gun, an early clue that the gathering was not a celebration. "The 'mmhms' were descending upon [me]," he said on the show.
As everyone at the meeting spoke, Sheen recalled an empty chair he described in his book as the seat for the "guest of dishonor." He said his father then took a phone call and handed him the receiver. "It's the unmistakable voice of Clint Eastwood. And he says, 'It's a speed bump, kid. You gotta go get tuned up,'" Sheen recounted. Ripa said she would have been frightened to hear Eastwood, and Sheen added, "It's really hard to say no to Dirty Harry," referencing Eastwood's famous film persona.
Sheen connected the moment to his father's film roles — Martin Sheen portrayed Captain Willard in Apocalypse Now — and noted the weight of the call from a figure associated with cinematic toughness. He said there was a logistical complication that night: he and actor Nicolas Cage were scheduled to judge a Hawaiian Tropic bikini contest in Palm Springs. Sheen said he considered whether to begin sobriety immediately or to wait until the following day, and he ultimately attended the event.
The actor said he is "coming up on eight years" of sobriety, a milestone that drew applause from the Live studio audience. Ripa told him it was gratifying to celebrate accomplishments for "really celebratory reasons," a sentiment Sheen acknowledged.
Sheen's memoir and the Netflix documentary present his account of addiction, family interventions and recovery. "aka Charlie Sheen" debuted on Netflix on Sept. 10, 2025; The Book of Sheen was released the same week.
If someone is struggling with substance abuse, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Helpline can be reached at 1-800-662-4357.