Charlie Sheen’s film career could have changed drastically had he not lost out on a role to Tom Cruise.
Charlie Sheen is known for his prowess in the world of sitcoms. However, once upon a time before his off-screen antics, Sheen was recognized in the ’80s as a serious actor, particularly following his time in Platoon.
The film seemed to have opened a relationship between Sheen and Stone. However, Sheen felt as though that wasn’t the case when he was snubbed a certain role in favor of Tom Cruise.
We’re going to take a look back at how it all went down, and why Sheen was snubbed for the role. In addition, we’re going to take a closer look at how Cruise’s role in the late ’80s film shifted his career, especially when it came to a certain genre.
Charlie Sheen Was Promised A Role In Oliver Stone’s Film After The Success Of Platoon
Playing the role of Chris in Platoon, Charlie Sheen’s work in the film might’ve been the most significant of his entire career. Director Oliver Stone equally appreciated Sheen’s work, so much so, that he promised Sheen some major roles down the road.
According to Sheen alongside The Hollywood Reporter, the actor was excited about the potential of getting to work on Born on the Fourth of July.
“He said we were going to have a relationship like Scorsese and De Niro,” Sheen told Playboy in 2001. “He said Al Pacino wanted to do the movie, De Niro wanted to — everybody wanted to — and ‘I’m going to give you this movie.’”
Ultimately, that promise was broken, and Sheen was especially hurt given that Stone himself didn’t make an effort to contact him. Instead, it was Emilio Estevez who broke the news to Sheen that Cruise had taken his place in the project.
Charlie Sheen Got Snubbed For The Role As Oliver Stone Selected Tom Cruise Instead
Who really knows what would’ve happened had Sheen got the role instead? It might’ve changed the trajectory of his career dramatically. Instead, Sheen was left with disappointment.
“Hurt… I wouldn’t have cared if Oliver had called me personally, based on what we’d been through. We fought two wars you know. But here was a crucial point for both of us, and he couldn’t even call me and say, ‘I’ve changed my mind?”
Unfortunately for Sheen, movie critic Jim Emerson agreed with the choice to cast Cruise instead as the lead.
“Tom Cruise was a much bigger name: Risky Business, Top Gun, Color of Money, Rain Man. Did people pay specifically to see Charlie Sheen in Red Dawn, Platoon, Wall Street, Young Guns, Eight Men Out? Not so much. They were all ensemble pictures — except for Wall Street, where he played the not-very-interesting protege role again, torn between the two father figures of Michael Douglas and Martin Sheen.”
Tom Cruise had initially talked to Oliver Stone about taking the lead role in Wall Street (1987), but Stone had already given the role to Charlie Sheen. Stone then suggested he be cast in Born on the Fourth of July (1989). pic.twitter.com/gZIgedSNIh — Stuart Bannerman (@FromPage2Screen) September 6, 2020
However, critic Caryn James disagrees given Sheen’s status at the time as a serious actor.
“Sheen might have been fantastic in what we know as the Cruise role. He was still, for good reason, taken seriously as an actor. If you look at his career in the late 80’s — Platoon, Wall Street, Eight Men Out — Fourth of July would have kept him on that path.”
“I have to guess that his personal life led him off that track.”
What was Sheen’s loss turned out to be a huge gain for Tom Cruise, as the role would help shape the rest of his career.
Oliver Stone’s Film Born On The Fourth Of July Kick-Started Tom Cruise’s Career As A Risk-Taker
The 1989 film Born on the Fourth of July was both a commercial and critical success, bringing in $162 million at the box office. The film would also thrust Tom Cruise into the spotlight in a different role as a risk-taker. A trait that would follow the actor for the rest of his career.
SBS spoke out about the impact the role had on Cruise’s career:
“It’s a searing performance, with the young Cruise giving it everything he has (and demolishing his clean-cut image in the process). He was nominated for his first Best Actor Oscar; Oliver Stone won Best Director. More importantly, it was his first real chance to show major audiences that he could really act – that there was more to him than charm, confidence and that thousand-watt smile.”
It was only up from there for Cruise, who would dominate the ’90s and that continues to hold true into the 2000s. As for Charlie Sheen, he found success in the world of sitcoms thanks to Two and a Half Men. But even that would end on a sour note.
