Martin Sheen admits he ‘regrets’ not using his real name
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: Todd Williamson/Getty Images / Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty
Actor Martin Sheen has expressed his regrets over not using his real name in Hollywood.
Sheen has starred in several hit movies over the course of his decades-long career - some of his most recent being Judas and the Black Messiah, Downwind, and Princess of the Row.
Since shooting onto the film scene back in the 70s, Sheen has become a household name in Hollywood.
But it turns out that Sheen isn't actually his name.
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It's not uncommon for stars to opt for a stage name in Hollywood, for example Jamie Foxx is actually called Eric Marlon Bishop and Whoopi Goldberg's birth-given name is Caryn Elaine Johnson. And similar to Foxx and Goldberg, Sheen's real name sounds nothing like this professional one.
Sheen's real name is actually Ramon Estévez. While he doesn't use it in Hollywood, he still uses it on all of his official documents such as his driving license.
Chatting to Closer Weekly, the 83-year-old admitted he wished he went by Estévez.
"That’s one of my regrets," he said of changing his name.
"I never changed my name officially. It’s still Ramon Estévez on my birth certificate. It’s on my marriage license, my passport, driver’s license.
"Sometimes you get persuaded when you don’t have enough insight or even enough courage to stand up for what you believe in, and you pay for it later. But, of course, I’m only speaking for myself."
While Sheen's son, Two and a Half Men star Charlie Sheen, opted to use his father's stage name in show business as well, his other son, Emilio, chose to stick with Estévez - something Sheen encouraged him to do.
Speaking of his children also going into acting, The West Wing actor revealed: "The only influence I had on Emilio was to keep his name. When he started out, his agent was advising him to change his name to Sheen and he wouldn’t do it. And I thank God he didn’t."
Doubling down on his regrets, Sheen's son Estévez shared a moment between his father and grandfather that Sheen 'never got over'.
In 1967, his Spanish-born grandfather Francisco went to see Sheen perform in The Subject Was Roses on Broadway.
But when he saw his son’s ‘new name’, Francisco was seen by Sheen ‘shaking his head in disappointment’ - and that moment stuck with him.
"He never got over that," Estévez shared last year. "So, when it was time for me to start making those moves and doing auditions he said, 'Man, if I had one thing to do over, I never would have changed my name.'"