Emilio Estevez Says Laurence Fishburne Saved Him From Drowning in Quicksand During APOCALYPSE NOW Production

Emilio Estevez (The Breakfast Club, The Mighty Ducks) and his father, Emmy-winner Martin Sheen (The West Wing, The Departed) recently sat down for a chat on The Jennifer Hudson Show, and recalled an interesting story from early on in Sheen’s career.

Back in 1979, Sheen was starring in Francis Ford Coppola’s war drama, Apocalypse Now, and during the shoot, he had his family down in the Philippines with him. Sheen was only 21 years old when Emilio Estevez was born, and his brother Charlie Sheen came only a few years later. Because he had a young family, Sheen often made it a priority in his film contracts to ensure his family could stay with him if a film production was at a remote location for an extended period of time.

Emilio recalled a crazy story from his time there with his friend, Oscar-nominee Laurence Fishburne, who had a supporting role in the film. Estevez said of Fishburne:

“He says, ‘Hey there’s this little boat, let’s go out on it.’ I said, ‘Sure.’ We were both 14 at the time. So we were out on this boat together, and we started getting too close to the shore and I said, ‘Well, let me jump out, I’ll push us offshore. I jumped out, and it was like quicksand mud. I was sinking, and I just saw Fishburne just looking at me going, ‘Grab my hand!’ and he pulled me back onto the boat. We were bonded ever since.” 

Sheen was never told the story of Estevez’s near-quicksand death until decades later. When he was finally informed, he reached out to Fishburne directly. Sheen recalled:

“I called Mr. Fishburne to thank him for saving my son’s life.”

That’s a pretty epic bonding moment! It sounds like Fishburne is a really solid guy, and I bet he has always had a special place in Estevez and Sheen’s hearts.

via: Variety