WASHINGTON, May 27, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ ----Renowned actor and activist Martin Sheen gets real with AARP The Magazine, the definitive voice for 50+ Americans and the world's largest-circulation magazine with more than 34 million readers, during an exclusive one-on-one interview about the many battles he's faced, including helping his son, actor Charlie Sheen, quit using drugs. As he approaches his 68th birthday, Sheen is more open than ever about his personal battles -- from growing up Hispanic during a racist era, to his own struggle with addiction, to losing his mother when he was 11. Sheen has appeared in more than 70 feature films, but is perhaps best known for his Emmy-nominated role as President Josiah Bartlet on NBC's erstwhile series The West Wing. Featured on the cover of the July/August issue of AARP The Magazine -- available May 24th and online at www.aarpmagazine.org -- the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor shares how he's overcome obstacles, and looking back is able to say that he "wouldn't have wanted it any different."

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On Coping with Son Charlie's Drug Addiction...

"When a life is at stake and it's your child, you become fearless in a lot of ways. I mean, you just become fanatic. Nothing ever gets done unless it's done by a fanatic."

"I had to do everything possible. If I had come up short and lost him, I might as well be dead."

"You have to believe enough in life to risk your own reputation. After a while I was outrageous. Outrageous."

"You are dealing with a life-and-death situation. And the critical part of the equation is: are you willing to risk your child's wrath? They are not going to like you. Don't even think about them loving you. They're going to call you the most vicious, obscene names. You have to be prepared for that."

"People adored Charlie, with good reason. He was adorable. So it was very difficult to get his attention. He had access to magic carpets -- high celebrity friends and a lot of money, power. He was hidden away in a tower you couldn't get to. The ones who were closest to him were his worst enemies. They depended on him for their living, and they would say anything and do anything."

"The only way I got to Charlie, frankly, was because he'd skipped out of the hospital. I had to pay the bill. In paying the bill, I got to see why he was in there. He'd consumed an illegal substance; he was on probation; he was not allowed to have these substances. This was a criminal matter. And so that was the wedge; that was the leverage I had. That is what I took to the court; that's what I took to the sheriff. It was the only way I got him."

What He Said to Charlie After Charlie Thanked Him for His Help

"I didn't save your life. I got your attention. You saved your life. Because if you go on believing that I saved your life, you will never take responsibility for it."

On If He'll Ever Run for Office...

"I'm not qualified."

"It's only crossed my ego. I feel like a public servant. I feel like a responsible citizen. But I couldn't do it professionally. I don't have the temperament."

On Joining Alcoholics Anonymous...

"I got sober through Catholicism, through my faith. I only got involved with AA when I was trying desperately to find a way to help [my son] Charlie, because I didn't have any skills."

"It is such a deeply personal journal, the road to addiction and the road out of it. There are no two journeys alike, I don't think."

"One of the saddest things is the rise in alcoholism among retired people. A lot of them started drinking with the loss of their spouses: suddenly they're alone. They spiral much quicker. It's much more difficult, if you are retired and you have a reputation to get into a program or to get sober. The last think you want to do is lose face with your community."

"What revives so many elderly and people who have lost spouses is getting back in there. Go back and serve, teach, find people who need your help. You don't have to go far. If you've been cleaning a hall for 50 years, you can clean a school, a kindergarten. You've got to find a place where you're needed. When you become disconnected, you get farther and farther from the shore, and you don't realize how far you've drifted and then suddenly you're in deep water and you're alone."

On His Name...

"I never changed it officially. I never will. It's on my driver's license and passport and everything: Ramon Gerard Estevez."

"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."

On Tabloid Culture and His Secret Desire to Throw His Dry Cleaning at a Prying Fan...

"This character is following me and asking me all these questions, and I'm thinking, 'Oh, my, it's like, just one slip and you're going to be on all of those wretched shows.' And, so, I couldn't have been nicer. I wanted to throw the clothes at him. I wanted to take the camera and ask him how he could do this and have any dignity left. That's the culture we live in. You look for someone to lose it. It really is disgraceful."

On his Faith...

"I was raised Catholic, but it was a religion not a way of life. [After the heart attack] I came back to a faith more than a church. I came back with joy and with freedom and thanksgiving rather than with fear or trembling or worrying about eternity. I decided that what I really love the most about the faith was the spirituality that this church possessed."

An image of the July/August cover of AARP The Magazine featuring Martin Sheen is available upon request.

About AARP The Magazine

With more than 33 million readers nationwide, AARP The Magazine (www.aarpmagazine.org) is the world's largest circulation magazine and the definitive lifestyle publication for Americans 50+. Reaching over 22.5 million households, AARP The Magazine delivers comprehensive content through in-depth celebrity interviews, health and fitness features, consumer interest information and tips, book and movie reviews and financial guidance. Published bimonthly in print and continually online, AARP The Magazine was founded in 1958 and is the flagship title of AARP Publications.

About AARP

AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that helps people 50+ have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to either political campaigns or candidates. We produce AARP The Magazine, the definitive voice for 50+ Americans and the world's largest-circulation magazine with over 34 million readers; AARP Bulletin and AARP Bulletin Today, the go-to daily news source for AARP's 39 million members and Americans 50+; AARP Segunda Juventud, the only bilingual U.S. publication dedicated exclusively to the 50+ Hispanic community; and our website, AARP.org. AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security, protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. We have staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

SOURCE AARP

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