Charlie Sheen Could Not Understand the Chaos He Created in His Life Because of His Addictions

For years, Charlie Sheen struggled with drug and alcohol addiction that got so bad it cost him his role on the CBS American TV sitcom "Two and a Half Men."

Charlie Sheen graced our TV screens when he appeared on the sitcom "Two and a Half Men," but his fame had come long before when he played a role in the autobiographical war drama "Platoon" in 1986.

The film bagged four Oscars, and Sheen's name took off with his brutally realistic portrayal of a young soldier's tour of duty in Vietnam. In 1987, Sheen took on the role of the ruthless protégé Bud Fox in "Wall Street," alongside Clint Eastwood.

CAST IN "TWO AND A HALF MEN"

Despite his earlier success in film, Sheen's career peaked when he was cast for the role of Charlie Harper on "Two and a Half Men." which premiered in September of 2003 and ran for twelve seasons, ending in 2015.

The plot revolved around Harper, a hedonistic jingle writer, and his uptight brother Alan, who'd moved into Harper's beachfront Malibu house with his mischievous son Jake after his divorce.

The show was an instant hit, and Sheen became the highest-paid actor on the show, bagging an approximate 1.25 million dollars per episode, but as his bank figures increased, so did his recklessness.

Even though his partying ways had begun becoming tabloid news by the mid-90s, it only got worse with his newfound riches and popularity.

His character as a womanizing hedonistic alcoholic character on-screen was no different from Sheen as a person. It was a clear indicator of his equally messy life away from the cameras. Sheen was in a terrible place between his addiction to drugs and alcohol and two failed marriages within the shoe but candidly admitted he could have done better than bring his personal problems to work.

He opened up about his struggles with addiction and failed marriages in an interview with the morning talk show "Loose Women," saying how surreal it all seemed. He said:

"It feels awful. I can't sit here and lie to you. Some of it is very surreal. To this day, I'm not sure how I created such chaos and wound up in that headspace."

He wished he could make the bad times go away, stating that it almost felt like a demonic or alien possession going on. As disclosed in the 2019 interview, he went through a lot but admitted that he could have done better by parking all he was going through at home before getting into work.

He regrets not keeping his word that he would do the job he had promised to the best of his ability but does not think it was so bad, seeing as he did not go to prison or kill anybody.

His volatile behavior eventually became a nuisance as he continued to draw headlines for his bizarre antics and interviews with adult film stars and his substance use.

Eventually, CBS ended the show's production during its eighth season after Sheen checked into a drug rehabilitation center and made some belittling comments about its creator, Chuck Lorre.

The following month, the show terminated Sheen's contract and wrote him out of the series. Ashton Kutcher replaced his character.

[Sheen] also added that he is confident he has not passed on HIV to anybody else.

FACING THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS SELFISH ACTIONS

His notorious recklessness was not without consequences, which affected both his work life and his personal one as well.

First, there was the death threats on his wife, actress Denise Richards, followed a very unfortunate sequence of public and insane events. In 2005, the couple, who shared two daughters, got divorced amid Richard's complaints of death threats from Sheen.

Three years later, he married actress Brooke Mueller, and they had twins. After nearly two years of marriage, Sheen was arrested and charged for, once again, threatening his wife with death.

In October of 2010, Sheen was accused of causing damage to a New York hotel room. He was reported to the authorities but turned himself in for a psychiatric evaluation.

In 2012, however, Sheen seemed to be getting his life back on track and even landed a role in "Anger Management," a sitcom that ran up until 2014.

COMING CLEAN ABOUT HIS HIV STATUS

In 2015, Sheen, speaking to NBC's Today host, Matt Lauer, confirmed that he was living with HIV, after admitting that for years, he'd had to pay out "millions" of dollars in a bid to prevent those that knew his status from putting it out in public. He added, as reported by BBC:

"I think I release myself from this prison today."

The "Mad Families" star said he felt compelled to come out with his candor and to put a stop to the half-truths and attacks from people he once considered friends.

His allies had turned on him, and instead of supporting him during his difficult moments, they began blackmailing him. He also added that he is confident he has not passed on HIV to anybody else.

JOURNEY TO SOBRIETY

After a tumultuous life of drugs and alcohol, Sheen was finally exhausted by it all. However, he still had no resolve to get sober by himself until a disheartening event with his daughter pushed him to the edge and changed his mind.

The "Major League" actor recalled that every time he got self-absorbed in his hunt for the pleasures and highs of alcohol and drugs, he would always seek rehabilitation.

But when he was too drunk to drive his daughter to an appointment she had, he knew that was his wake-up call. He realized that his selfish actions were preventing him from being there for his kids. He'd made his resolve. He continued:

"The next morning I just woke up and said, 'today's the day.' And that was it."

At the time of the interview, Sheen had been a year and four months sober and was looking forward to living a more sane life and eventually fully re-enter the workforce.

He has since made appearances on short videos "Lil Pump: Drug Addicts," "Tim Montana: Mostly Stoned," the TV sketch comedy "Saturday Night Live," and "Grizzly II: Revenge."