Charlie Sheen is clutching a bottle of vodka in one hand, and $800 worth of caviar in the other. The two alternate in entering his mouth. These are comfort foods—the taxi driver was unable to supply the “coke” and “grass” that Sheen initially requested.
No, this isn’t TMZ’s latest update. Rather, it’s a scene from Charlie Sheen’s blazing return to film.
In A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, written and directed by Roman Coppola, Sheen plays the titular role of a graphic designer who’s stuck in a rut. His midlife crisis is catalyzed when his girlfriend Ivana (Canadian actor Katheryn Winnick), fed up with Swan’s womanizing ways, leaves him for greener pastures. The cast is rounded out by Bill Murray (whose deadpan is as deadly as ever) and Jason Schwartzman (with a ‘fro that has to be seen to be believed).
The similarities between Charles Swan and Charlie Sheen—the name, the shenanigans, the alcohol consumption—are all too apparent. But Coppola insists that the role went to Sheen for other reasons.
“I didn’t cast Charlie because of all that public stuff, I cast him because he’s a great actor,” Coppola tells the Tribune. “He’s charming, he’s funny … he’s got rebel charisma, and incredible depth and acting chops.”
Coppola’s relationship with Sheen can be traced back to his time on the set of his father Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979), when Coppola was just 11 years old. Universally regarded as one of the most influential and powerful war films ever made—it makes an appearance on venerated critic Roger Ebert’s top ten list—Apocalypse Now stars Charlie Sheen’s father, Martin Sheen. The children of these two greats hit it off, and have kept in touch ever since.
“A friendship made at that age is very enduring,” Coppola says.
Charlie Sheen isn’t the only big name with whom Coppola is close. In addition to directing Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola brought The Godfather Trilogy to screen, forever cementing his reputation as one of the greatest American filmmakers. Roman Coppola’s sister, Sofia Coppola, has directed a string of hits, including Lost in Translation (2003), for which she won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Though one can only imagine what it’s like to have such cinematic giants around the dinner table every night, Roman Coppola is clear-minded and down-to-earth.
“You know, people are very curious about [my family],” he says, chuckling. “I always want to give a good answer to enlighten or something, but the answer isn’t quite as satisfying.”
He continues: “My sister, my dad—these are just people in my family. All the unusual experiences that I’ve had … you just take it all in and it just becomes your life and who you are.”
Coppola is also on track to follow in his sister’s footsteps, having just been nominated for an Academy Award for co-writing Moonrise Kingdom with the darling of American indie film, Wes Anderson, a friend with whom he is “in sync with creatively.” Coppola’s involvement with the film was, as he describes it, rather fortuitous:
“It was something [Anderson] was thinking about, but he couldn’t quite find its form,” Coppola says. “It was all kind of there, gestating; all the raw materials were in his mind, but he couldn’t find how it all went together.”
“I was asking as a friend, ‘Hey, what do you have?’ He played some music, read me a few early scenes, and when he did that, it became very clear in my mind: ‘Oh, okay. I totally get it.’” The result is a wildly imaginative feature that, for Coppola, was also “a lot of fun and a great experience.”
So what’s next for Coppola?
“I don’t really know,” he replies, as modest and level-headed as he has been the entire interview. “I’ll allow myself just a little moment to let things occur to me.”
A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III opens Feb. 15 at the Cineplex Forum (2313 Ste-Catherine West).
