Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
James Gamble

Martin Sheen says nine out of ten movies he's starred in 'weren't good'

Hollywood veteran Martin Sheen says nine out of ten of the films he's starred in over the past seven decades are rubbish.

The award-winning actor, star of box office smashes such as Apocalypse Now and Gandhi, admitted most of his movies 'weren't good' but he had done them 'for the money'.

The 81-year-old - who has been in over 70 films - added he regrets having turned down parts in some of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters - including The Godfather and Blade Runner.

Sheen listed Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Vietnam war classic Apocalypse Now and 1973's period crime drama Badlands as the 'main two' films he is proud to have starred in.

He was also in Martin Scorsese's The Departed (2006), Steven Spielberg's Catch Me if you Can (2002), Bordertown (2006), Gettysburg (1993) and Love Happens (2009), as well as playing US President Josiah Bartlet in critically-acclaimed series The West Wing.

Speaking in Sorted Magazine, father of four Sheen - real name is Ram n Antonio Gerardo Est vez - said: "I'm serious; I have only done a handful of feature films that I'm proud of, that are good, that stood.

He is proud of Apocolypse Now from 1979 (Martin Sheen)

"Badlands and Apocalypse Now are the main two. Apocalypse Now scared people.

"It was only the Vietnam veterans themselves who started to go to it repeatedly and tell people, 'That's what it was like. It was insanity'.

"What you see in that picture is what it was for an American soldier to experience in Vietnam.

"And it was their support of the film that brought people back for a second look.

"I would say Wall Street, The American President, The War At Home and Gandhi are other films that I am proud of.

"They made a difference in people's lives or, at least, made them aware of another possibility.

"But most of them weren't good; I did them for the money. I didn't want to do anything else, and that was all I was offered.

He did a lot of the movies for the money (Palamedes PR)

Get all the biggest showbiz news straight to your inbox. Sign up for the free Mirror Showbiz newsletter.

"I am proud of just a handful of them - I would say 90 per cent of it was basically trash."

On huge parts in successful films he'd turned down over the years, Sheen added: "[I regret] turning most of them down - there's tonnes of them.

"Blade Runner was one I turned down. I never saw the complete picture, but I watched scenes from it.

"I was wrong for The Godfather, but you never pass up an opportunity.

"I remember saying to [director] Coppola, 'If you don't use Al Pacino in this part, it would be like benching [legendary baseball player] Joe DiMaggio in his prime."

Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at webcelebs@mirror.co.uk or call us direct at 0207 29 33033.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.