Emmy, Golden Globe and Academy Award winning actor Martin Sheen and his son, actor Emilio Estevez, were in the Bay Area this past week to promote their new movie, “The Way.”
Originally born as Ramon Antonio Gerard Estevez, Martin Sheen is well known for his numerous feature film, Broadway and TV series appearances.
Sheen has appeared in over 65 big screen films, including “Apocalypse Now” (1979), “Gandhi” (1982), “Catch Me If You Can” (2002) and, more recently, the Academy Award winning movie “The Departed” (2006).
Estevez, who is the eldest son of Martin Sheen has also appeared in a few films, including “The Breakfast Club” (1985), “Maximum Overdrive” (1986) and “The Mighty Ducks” (1992).
Sheen and Estevez visited the San Jose church Cathedral of Faith, where they explained what their new movie is all about.
The film takes place in France and deals with a doctor who loses his son along a Christian pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. The idea for the movie came from Estevez’s own son’s experience on a pilgrimage.
Estevez said his mother had advised him to use life experiences as potential story ideas.
“My mother said to me, write what you know, embrace what you know, and I knew something about losing a son when a community isn’t together,” said Estevez. “It is a father-son story.”
In the film, after the son passes away, the father has a reconciling with his son. From this, he begins to realize who his son really was and ultimately, his son becomes one of his greatest teachers in life, said Estevez.
While the film displays the importance of family and community, it also sheds light on how society can alter an individual’s outlook on life, said Sheen.
“I think a lot of us are on a pilgrimage,” said Sheen. “Sometimes our pilgrimage is about success, fame, fortune and things we collect materially. But the real pilgrimage is the journey inside, when we become aware that we’re not on this journey alone. We all have to carry our cross, but we can carry it and walk with the community.”
The movie has already been released in other countries and has made an impact on individuals, said Estevez.
After its release in Ireland, a woman who is currently undergoing chemotherapy wrote to Estevez thanking him for making the film. She said that after every treatment she has, she watches the movie to help ease her pain.
Estevez said that oftentimes society trains us to fix our imperfections, but he hopes that his film teaches people to embrace who we are.
“Not often does Hollywood celebrate the message of this film, which is faith, community, family and trust,” said Estevez. “I think the film also celebrates being OK with exactly who you are and being OK with being imperfect.”
The film will be released in the United States this fall on October 7.
