Charlie Sheen recounts a string of dramatic and sometimes confessional episodes from his life and career in the two-part Netflix documentary "aka Charlie Sheen," which premiered Sept. 10. Directed by Andrew Renzi, the film features interviews with former partners and colleagues and follows the actor through his rise in Hollywood, public struggles with substance abuse and his eventual recovery.
In scenes that range from candid to shocking, Sheen, 60, describes incidents he said shaped his life, including once piloting a commercial airplane while intoxicated, a nudist upbringing, extreme measures taken to stay awake during drug binges, and the role a dealer played in helping him stop using. The documentary includes contributions from ex-wives Denise Richards and Brooke Mueller, co-star Jon Cryer, Sean Penn, Chris Tucker and "Two and a Half Men" creator Chuck Lorre; his father Martin Sheen and brother Emilio Estevez declined to appear.
The film opens with Sheen recounting a honeymoon flight in which he says a flight crew invited him to fly a plane while he was intoxicated. "I'm there drunk, close to 300 people asleep behind me," he says, and credits the co-pilot with re-engaging the autopilot before the situation worsened. He also describes a childhood in which his parents practiced nudism for a period, saying the family grew up with "a general freedom of expression" and recounting walking into a kitchen as a child to find his parents unclothed.
Sheen details career moments both lost and defining. He said his father insisted he honor a commitment to film Grizzly II, which prevented him from accepting the lead in "The Karate Kid" — a part that went to Ralph Macchio. He also recalled arriving late to the set of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" after oversleeping; director John Hughes nonetheless shot his scene and the role helped boost his career.
An intervention staged in 1990 is a focal point in the film. Sheen says family members confronted him about addiction and that the gathering ended with a surprise call: Clint Eastwood was on the other end of the line urging him to get help. Sheen said he initially left rehab to attend a bikini contest in Palm Springs but returned the next morning, keeping a promise he had written to a night nurse.
Midway through the documentary, Sheen recounts episodes tied to heavy drug use while working on films. He describes so-called on-set extremes, saying that during a marathon cocaine binge on the set of the 1998 film "Free Money" he inserted an ice cube rectally to stay awake for a scene. He also says he experienced an 18-hour nosebleed while filming the 1997 movie "Money Talks," and that director Brett Ratner removed a shot to hide the effect.
Personal relationships and public scandal are addressed directly. Denise Richards, who was married to Sheen from 2002 to 2006, appears in the documentary and describes being called on by producers to check on him late in his run on "Two and a Half Men." Richards recounts bringing sandwiches to Sheen's house during an intervention-style visit in which she found other women present and said she was trying to help him.
Sheen discusses his HIV diagnosis, which he learned of in 2011 and disclosed publicly in 2015, and says he was upfront about the status with partners before sexual encounters. He also says he paid people to keep the diagnosis private, claiming payments that he says ranged up to millions of dollars. The actor emphatically denies allegations aired in 2020 by Corey Feldman that he sexually assaulted the late actor Corey Haim in 1986; Sheen calls the claims false and has said Haim's mother previously disputed Feldman's account.
The documentary also contains candid remarks about Sheen's sexuality. He says he has had sexual experiences with men and called the disclosure "liberating," adding he does not regret experimentation and suggesting such details should not be viewed as career-defining.
Sheen credits a drug dealer identified in the film as Marco with playing an unexpected role in his recovery. Marco says he gradually diluted the crack he was selling, a process Sheen says helped him tire of the drug and ultimately stop using. Sheen said he is now eight years sober.
Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez declined to participate, and the film shows Sheen acknowledging their choice while saying he hopes his father will see the documentary and perceive elements of it as a "love letter." Other contributors reflect on Sheen's charisma and the collapse of relationships and careers amid addiction.
"aka Charlie Sheen" streams on Netflix. The film traces a nonlinear arc from early breakthroughs in the 1980s through public scandals in the 2000s to the actor's later efforts at sobriety and reconciliation, presenting scenes and testimony that together aim to map the costs and consequences of a decades-long struggle with substance abuse.