Martin Sheen & His “The West Wing” Cast Mates to Reunite for ‘When We All Vote’ Special on HBO Max

Posted on August 26, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Martin Sheen is returning to the West Wing…

Aaron Sorkin is reuniting his The West Wing cast, including the 80-year-old half-Spanish American actor, for the first time in 17 years with a special for HBO Max.

Sheen, Rob Lowe, Dulé Hill, Allison Janney, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff and Bradley Whitford are getting back together with Sorkin and Thomas Schlamme for A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote.

The special will feature a theatrical performance of Hartsfield’s Landing, an episode from the NBC drama’s third season that featured Sheen’s President Barlet playing chess against Sam (Lowe) and Toby (Schiff), while the Chinese are playing war games in the Taiwan Strait and Josh (Whitford) is nervous about the 42 votes in a remote New Hampshire town’s election, which always predict the winner of that state’s primary.

It marks the second high-profile special of a classic NBC series produced by Warner Bros. set to air on HBO Max following the much-delayed Friends reunion special.

The West Wing reunion has long been in the works with Schiff saying in June that the gang was getting back together in support of Black Lives Matter following the death of George Floyd. The crew have reunited in various forms, including at ATX in Austin, for The West Wing Weekly podcast, and for an ad for Bridget Mary McCormack, a candidate for Michigan’s Supreme Court. However, this is the first time that it will air on television.

The team behind the Warner Bros. Television-produced series have organized the reunion to raise awareness for and support When We All Vote, a non-profit, nonpartisan organization co-chaired by Michelle Obama, which was founded to increase participation in every election in America.

WarnerMedia will make a donation to When We All Vote.

Michelle Obama will make a guest appearance in the special, while additional cast members and special guests from the worlds of public service and the arts will be announced in the coming weeks.

A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote will shoot over multiple days at the Orpheum Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles in early October. Sorkin will write original exclusive material for the special, while Schlamme will serve as director of the production.

“Tommy and I are incredibly excited to be getting The West Wing cast back together for this staged reading and to support When We All Vote in their efforts to get all of us involved in this election,” said Sorkin.

“With A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote, we are excited to revisit this legendary series and offer our passionate fans something that is substantial, meaningful and unforgettable, while also promoting an important message for our time,” added Sarah Aubrey, head of original content, HBO Max. “Combined with WarnerMedia’s donation to When We All Vote, this special not only entertains, but also help ensure the organization can carry forth its mission to increase voter participation in every election.”

Sheen appeared on 140 episodes of The West Wing from 1999-2006. The won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of fictitious U.S. President Josiah “Jed” Bartlet.

Sheen to Star in the Indie Film “Princess of the Row”

Posted on March 16, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Martin Sheen has landed a royal role…
The 76-year-old half-Spanish American actor will appear in the independent film Princess of the Row, from writer-director Max Carlson.

The film is set in the streets of Los Angeles’ impoverished Skid Row and follows 12-year-old Alicia Willis who, bouncing around the sometimes abusive foster care system, will stop at nothing to run away and live with her homeless, mentally ill father.

Sheen will play John Austin, Alicia’s kindly yet eccentric foster father. Shawn Austin co-wrote and is producing the coming-of-age pic along with Oddbox Films/Big Boss Creative, with filming slated to begin in July.

Sheen stars in the Netflix series Grace and Frankie, which will debut its third season March 24, and was last seen no the big screen in Warren Beatty’s Rules Don’t Apply.

His upcoming slate includes the Joshua Marston-directed evangelical drama Come Sunday and animated film The Boxcar Children: Surprise Island.

Sheen to Portray Oral Roberts in “Come Sunday”

Posted on January 6, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Martin Sheen is getting religious for his next role…

The 76-year-old half Spanish American actor will portray famed Pentecostal televangelist Oral Roberts in Come Sunday.

Based on a true story, the film stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as a renowned evangelical minister in Tulsa, Oklahoma who stirs up controversy with his revelation that there is no hell.

The film is being directed by Joshua Marston from a script by Marcus Hinchey. The movie is based on a 2005 This American Life radio episode. The film also co-stars Broadway’s Condola Rashad as the minister’s wife.

Sheen will portray the founder of The Oral Roberts University and a mentor who treats Carlton (Ejiofor) like his own son until the young man denounces the existence of hell. Then he must publicly turn against the young pastor.

Sheen, who is one of the country’s leading activists who gives a voice to both political and human rights causes, last starred as a priest in Terrence Malick’s spiritual fable The Vessel from Cuban-American writer/director Julio Quintana. Sheen also had a supporting role in Warren Beatty’s Rules Don’t Apply and starred for seven seasons as President Bartlet on The West Wing. He also enjoyed a supporting role in Netflix’s Grace and Frankie.

Martin Sheen to Participate in Broadway Revival of A.R. Gurney’s Play “Love Letters”

Posted on July 31, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Martin Sheen is ready to share a few Love Letters on The Great White Way…

The 73-year-old half-Spanish American actor and West Wing alum has signed on to take part in the star-fueled revival of playwright A.R. Gurney’s play Love Letters.

The play centers on two characters, Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III. The couple sit side by side at tables and read the notes, letters and cards – in which over nearly 50 years, they discuss their hopes and ambitions, dreams and disappointments, victories and defeats – that have passed between them throughout their separated lives.

The play, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, will return to Broadway beginning September 13 at the Nederlander Theatre.

Martin Sheen will be paired with Anjelica Huston for their three-week run of performances. The other pairings include Brian Dennehy and Mia Farrow, Brian Dennehy and Carol Burnett, Alan Alda and Candice Bergen, and Stacy Keach and Diana Rigg.

Two-time Tony Award winner Gregory Mosher will direct the production.

Here’s the schedule so far:

Saturday, September 13, 2014, through Friday, October 10, 2014: Brian Dennehy & Mia Farrow

Saturday, October 11, 2014, through Friday, November 7, 2014: Carol Burnett & Brian Dennehy

Saturday, November 8, 2014 through Friday, December 5, 2014: Alan Alda & Candice Bergen

Saturday, December 6, 2014, through Friday, January 9, 2015: Stacy Keach & Diana Rigg

Saturday, January 10, 2015, through Sunday, February 1, 2015: Anjelica Huston & Martin Sheen

The first reading of Love Letters took place at the New York Public Library, performed by Gurney and Holland Taylor. The original full production was directed by John Tillinger and opened November 3, 1988, at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut starring Joanna Gleason and John Rubinstein, followed by a New York production opening March 27, 1989, at off-Broadway’s Promenade Theatre starring Kathleen Turner and John Rubinstein. On October 31, 1989, Love Letters opened at Broadway’s Edison Theatre starring Colleen Dewhurst and Jason Robards, where it ran for 96 performances.

Sheen Cast in Netflix’s Upcoming Comedy Series “Grace and Frankie”

Posted on June 19, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Martin Sheen is returning to series television…

The 73-year-old half-Spanish American actor and West Wing alum has joined the cast of Netflix‘s upcoming comedy series Grace and Frankie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Grace and Frankie stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin as the titular characters, who are nemeses until they form an unlikely bond after their husbands announce that they’re in love with each other and plan to get married.

Sheen will portray Robert, the husband of Fonda’s character Grace, who eventually leaves her for another man.

The role of Tomlin’s husband has not been cast.

The single-camera comedy, which is created by Howard J. Morris and Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman, is set to debut in 2015.

Phase 4 Films to Release Sheen’s “Ask Me Anything” in the U.S.

Posted on May 22, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Don’t be afraid to ask Martin Sheen anything the next time you’re at the movies…

Phase 4 Films has acquired the North American rights to writer-director Allison Burnett’s Ask Me Anything, which features the 73-year-old half-Spanish actor.

An adaptation of Burnett’s novel Undiscovered Gyrl, the film tells the story of beautiful, wild, funny and lost, Katie Kampenfelt (portrayed by Britt Robertson), who takes a year off before college.

Ambitious in her own way, Katie intends to do more than just smoke weed with her boyfriend Rory. She plans to seduce Dan (Justin Long), a thirty-year-old film professor while resisting her attraction to her married boss (Christian Slater).

Katie chronicles her adventures in an anonymous blog, telling strangers her innermost desires, shames, and thrills. When her compulsions get the best of her, her fearless narrative begins to crack, and dark pieces of her past emerge.

No word on Sheen’s character in the film which also stars Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Katarina Garcia and Max Carver.

Sheen to Serve as a Guest Analyst on ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight”

Posted on May 22, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Charlie Sheen is ready to play ball…

The 48-year-old part-Spanish actor will serve as a guest analyst on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight when the show broadcasts live from the Cincinnati Reds–St. Louis Cardinals game on Sunday night.

Sheen will be in the broadcast booth for the Sunday Night Countdown show airing on ESPN at 7:00 pm ET from Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark.

Sheen is an avid baseball fan and portrayed a player in Major League (plus the sequel) and Eight Men Out.

Even though he grew up in California — where he was a star pitcher and shortstop for the Santa Monica High School baseball team — Sheen has been a lifelong Reds fan because his West Wing star father, Martin Sheen, is from Dayton, Ohio.

It has been a long time since Sheen graduated from high school, but he still roots for his team and posted a photo of the SaMo High Vikings mascot on Twitter earlier this month with a shout-out to the coach, Tony Todd. He reportedly has donated tens of thousands of dollars to the school’s baseball program since playing there in the 1980s, including buying a new pitching machine in January.

Sheen convincingly played an ex-con reliever for the Cleveland Indians in both Major League films, and portrayed Chicago’s Happy Felsch in Eight Man Out, the biopic about the Black Sox scandal of 1919. Even his wedding to Denise Richards in 2002 was celebrated with a gospel rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ball Park” during the ceremony, and one of the wedding gifts was an authentic Gold Glove trophy.

The former Two and a Half Men star, who later went on to launch his comedy series Anger Managementon FX, follows in the footsteps of Jon Hamm, who was a guest analyst on Baseball Tonight during the Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates game May 11, after the ESPN crew joined him on the red carpet for the Hollywood premiere of Million Dollar Arm.

Like Hamm, Sheen will join Reds legend and Hall of Famer Barry Larkin and Baseball Tonight host Karl Ravech on the set.

Viewers can expect to see more special broadcast events to celebrate the 25th season of ESPN’s Baseball Tonight and Sunday Night Baseball, as the network is planning to get other famous fans involved.

Sheen to Star in Animal Planet’s TV Movie “Revenge of the Whale”

Posted on April 5, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Martin Sheen has landed a whale of a role…

The 73-year-old half-Spanish actor has signed on to star in the Animal Planet’s first scripted project: Revenge of the Whale.

Sheen will portray Thomas Nickerson in the two-hour television movie based on the story that inspired Moby Dick.

In the project, Sheen’s character will tell the story about his life as a cabin boy on the ill-fated voyage of the whaling ship The Essex.

The movie is a co-production with the BBC and reimagines what happened when the most hunted sea creature finally turned on its killers and fought back.

Sheen Cast in Warren Beatty’s Untitled Howard Hughes Project

Posted on March 6, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Martin Sheen is preparing for a Hughes role…

The 73-year-old half-Spanish actor has signed on to appear in Warren Beatty’s untitled Howard Hughes project.

Despite being old friends, this is the first time Sheen and Beatty have worked together on a project.

No word yet on who Sheen, who will next star opposite Rooney Mara in Stephen Daldry’s Trash, will portray for director Beatty, who will portray Howard Hughes.

The story centers on Hughes’ assistant (portrayed by Alden Ehrenreich) and his love interest (Lily Collins).

The film will also star Beatty’s wife Annette Bening and Matthew Broderick.

Sheen, who portaryed Uncle Ben in The Amazing Spider-Man, recently completed the low-budget children’s film The Boxcar Children, based on the beloved book of the same name.

Sheen also has a recurring role on his son Charlie’s FX series, Anger Management.

Sheen to Star in BBC1/Animal Planet Film “The Whale”

Posted on November 26, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Martin Sheen has landed a whale of a project…

The 73-year-old half-Spanish actor will star in The Whale, a two-hour film project from BBC Factual Productions and Animal Planet.

In the film, which is set to premiere in December on BBC 1 and in the summer of 2014 on Animal Planet, is based on true events.

In The Whale, Sheen portrays Old Thomas Nickerson, who served as cabin boy on the ill-fated voyage of the whaling ship the Essex.

The drama is inspired by real-life accounts of the ship’s sinking; those accounts are said to have inspired Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick.

Filming on The Whale, which was written by Terry Cafolla, took place on location in Malta this past spring and wrapped up outside of London last summer.

Sheen leads the cast as the elder Nickerson with Jonas Armstrong as First Mate Owen Chase; Adam Rayner as Captain Pollard; Paul Kaye as Joy; David Gyasi as Peterson; and Jolyon Coy as Lawrence.

It also stars Jassa Ahluwalisa, John Boyega and Ferdinand Kingsley, as well as Charles Furness as the young Nickerson.

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