Emilio Estevez made his big screen debut at the age of 11 in the film “Badlands,” Terrence Malick’s mood drama starring Emilio’s father Ramón Estévez, who was better known by his screen name Martin Sheen. When Emilio was 14, he flew with his father to the Philippines for another film shoot. Sheen was playing the lead role in Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now,” and the young Emilio was hired to appear as an extra. Sadly, his scenes were cut, but Estevez was inspired by his experience to write a play called “Echoes of an Era,” and perform in the lead role. He was officially an actor like his father.
After graduating high school, Estevez eschewed college and entered show business. What followed was a decades-long and prolific career that brought him into the center of the Hollywood mainstream. In the 1980s, Estevez was part of a generation of rising actors referred to in the press as the Brat Pack. He was part of the changing face of Hollywood.
In the late 1990s, though, Estevez’s presence in front of the camera began to decline. He had written and directed in films where he was also the star, but eventually began to appear only as a minor member of his own ensemble movies. As of this writing, his last directorial effort was 2018’s “The Public,” which also starred Jeffrey Wright, Jena Malone, Christian Slater, Gabrielle Union, and Michael K. Williams.
Why did Estevez stop acting? This author recalls an interview Estevez conducted with the L.A. Weekly in 2006 (sadly, not available online) wherein the actor admitted quite openly: “I didn’t stop working on purpose.” It’s not that Estevez left Hollywood, it’s that Hollywood lost interest in him.