“Rattled” Charlie Sheen Kept Looking at the Director to Save Him During His FRIENDS Appearance, Ran Out of Jokes Midway
It is a no-brainer that Charlie Sheen is indeed a veteran of the industry. The star of Two and a Half Men fame has built the persona of a man who is not easily bogged down, a man who is undaunted even by his superiors (ask Chuck Lorre). No wonder a lot of people would have a hard time wrapping their heads around the fact that the Wall Street star found it difficult to cope with the pressure of making a guest appearance in an episode of FRIENDS and he might have had to forsake the opportunity if it had not been for his brother.
Charlie Sheen made a guest appearance on FRIENDS
FRIENDS is, heads down, one of the most iconic sitcoms to grace television. The NBC series won fans’ hearts with its first season itself. The mainstays of the show, the ‘friends’ around whom it revolved, enjoyed a meteoric rise in their stocks within a year itself, becoming some of the most loved faces.
Add to that the odd guest appearance (Tom Selleck’s Richard Burke being one of the most notable ones), and they had the recipe for a perfect sitcom. Charlie Sheen got the chance to make his mark on the show with a guest appearance in season 2 itself. The 57-year-old was set to play the role of Ryan AKA Phoebe’s ‘Submarine Guy’, a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy.
Something with the camera
Ryan was a man who Phoebe found irresistible. But his commitment to his nation meant that the two couldn’t spend a meaningful amount of time together, and would have to make the most of their sporadic meetings. It was a one-episode job. Easy peasy, right? Sheen disagrees.
The Hot Shots! star was informed by director Michael Lembeck that his appearance would be a surprise for the audience, and told him to expect a roar of applause. Much to the director’s surprise, Sheen froze after his first line, staring at the camera. The official line at the time was that it was camera error. But it was something else altogether.
Charlie Sheen was “rattling” with nervousness
Michael Lembeck approached Sheen in person, asking what went wrong. The actor simply pointed down at his legs, which were shaking uncontrollably. Maybe it was the magnitude of the occasion or just some nerves, but his legs were “rattling” because of nervousness. All his previous experiences paled in comparison to this one.
Enter Emilio Estevez, his brother.
The duo set up in a corner, where Estevez rubbed his brother’s back to calm him down. The nerves sided and the Apocalypse star was back on set in no time. That was the last time he ever came on the set of FRIENDS.
Source: Cheat Sheet
