Charlie Sheen has released his memoir The Book of Sheen, and almost simultaneously Netflix launched its two-part documentary aka Charlie Sheen, a tell-it-all project aiming to expose all the madness that has shaped the actor's life. As expected, the series serves up a wide range of wild anecdotes from Sheen's tumultuous career, but one detail really stands out for film fans: Sheen claims he was offered the lead role of Daniel LaRusso in The Karate Kid back in the early 1980s.
According to Sheen, just before heading off to shoot his first project Grizzly II: Revenge (remember that "classic"?) director John G. Avildsen approached him to play Daniel. But his father, Martin Sheen, advised him to honour his prior commitment and go to Budapest for the filming of Grizzly II. That decision paved the way for Ralph Macchio to land the iconic role, and the rest, as they say, is history.
So, could you picture Charlie Sheen as the original Karate Kid?