Charlie Sheen changes name to Carlos Estevez for ‘Machete Kills’
Charlie Sheen is changing his name to Carlos Estevez in the upcoming film “Machete Kills,” according to reports.
The actor is going back to his birth name and Latino roots, using the moniker Carlos Estevez in the trailer for action film “Machete Kills,” which was shown in theaters this weekend.
A screen grab of the thiller’s intro shows a crimson and black portrait of Sheen posing with a gun and says, “And introducing Carlos Estevez.” It is said to be the first time in his professional career that Sheen will be billed by his birth name.
The 47-year-old, born Carlos Irwin Estevez, plays a U.S. president who tasks assassin Machete Cortez (Danny Trejo) to “battle his way through Mexico in order to take down an arms dealer who looks to launch a weapon into space,” according to IMDB. The film’s cast is a mixed bag and includes Sofia Vergara, Mel Gibson, Michelle Rodriguez, Antonio Banderas, Jessica Alba, Cuba Gooding Jr., Lady Gaga, Vanessa Hudgens, Amber Heard and Demian Bichir. It’s due out Sept. 13.
Why would the “Anger Management” star choose to change his name for a film in which he plays the world’s most powerful leader? Perhaps because the director, Robert Rodriguez, likes to bolster Latino heritage in his work. Or maybe Sheen is attempting to distance himself from his well-earned bad boy persona, taking on his first serious film role in years after accruing a litany of comic and self-mocking titles on his filmography.
And Rodriguez has gotten a rep for giving tarnished stars a second chance. (We’re looking at you Mel Gibson and Lindsay Lohan.)
Sheen’s camp did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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Sheen, the former star of “Two and a Half Men” who was bounced from that successful sitcom after headline-making personal troubles, changed his name to Charlie at the age of 4, according to TV Guide. He later followed the acting example of his father Martin Sheen when he took on the new last name too, only ever publicly bringing up the birth name during his very public spat with “Men” creator Chuck Lorre in 2011.
His brother Emilio Estevez decided to keep the family name and dad Martin Sheen, born Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estevez, regrets changing his name, which he did to get more acting gigs.
“I thought, I got enough problems trying to get an acting job, so I invented Martin Sheen,” he told James Lipton during a 2003 appearance on “Inside the Actors Studio.”
“It’s still Estevez officially. I never changed it officially. I never will. It’s on my driver’s license and passport and everything. I started using Sheen, I thought I’d give it a try, and before I knew it, I started making a living with it and then it was too late. In fact, one of my great regrets is that I didn’t keep my name as it was given to me. I knew it bothered my dad.”
Maybe this is Carlos’ way of vindicating his dad. We’ll see if the change is permanent.
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