Charlie Sheen has spoken out about losing the lead role in the 1989 war film Born on the Fourth of July to Tom Cruise, describing the experience as a “betrayal”. The film, directed by Oliver Stone, starred Cruise as Ron Kovic, a US Marine who became an anti-war activist.
Sheen, who had previously worked with Stone on Platoon, revealed during an interview on Graham Bensinger’s In Depth series that he was originally in talks to play Kovic. He had meetings with Stone and even dined with the real Ron Kovic. However, communication from Stone abruptly stopped.
The actor’s brother, Emilio Estevez, broke the news that Cruise had been cast. Sheen said: “I love that Emilio thought that I needed to be seated to get news he thought was going to make me faint. I mean, what are we doing here? It’s a movie.” Though Sheen acknowledged the rejection was a big deal, he said the betrayal factor hurt most.
Sheen later confronted Stone at a bar. Stone reportedly said he felt Sheen had lost passion for the project, to which Sheen replied: “I didn’t see you. How do you know how much passion I lost or interest that evaporated if we never talked about it again?” Sheen noted there was no formal contract, only a handshake and a signed napkin.
Despite the disappointment, Sheen insisted there is no bad blood with Stone, adding after seeing the film: “Oh s***. Ok. He turned it into that.” Sheen also praised Cruise’s performance, arguing he should have won the Oscar for Best Actor, an award that ultimately went to Daniel Day-Lewis for My Left Foot.
