Listen to Morning Edition audio Posted on 01/29/2003 8:03:40 AM PST by Drango
Martin Sheen's 'West Wing' Fantasy
Actor Says TV Drama Has a Role to Play in Trying Times
Listen to Morning Edition audio
Listen to an extended version of Bob Edwards' interview with Martin Sheen.
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| Actor Martin Sheen. Credit: Jim Wildman, NPR News  |
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"I promise you, the republic would be in real trouble if I were in the White House. I could not bring myself to make some of those decisions. It would be a total reversal for me." |
| Martin Sheen
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Jan. 28, 2003 -- Martin Sheen is not the president of the United States, even though he plays one on television. In an interview with NPR's Bob Edwards on the Washington set of The West Wing, the actor discusses how his role can serve the nation in trying times.
"We call ourselves a parallel universe to the real world," says Sheen, who plays President Bartlet on the hit NBC drama series. "We know we're a fantasy. But at the same time, there are sometimes periods of history where a fantasy is not a bad idea to focus on every now and then."
Sheen was in the nation's capital to film Bartlet's second inauguration for an upcoming episode.
Sheen says that when the show began three years ago, he wanted to have the president appear at ceremonies, interacting with the public. But "what our show wanted to do was to show him in private, how he was with his staff, his family. How he organized a particular issue and how he galvanized his forces and his energies to push a bill...
"And now I've come to really, really appreciate that, all the nuances, the deeply personal things, how his moral frame of reference affects his policies and his own personal life."
Though he has been an activist for left-leaning causes -- he's been arrested numerous times for participating in protests -- Sheen insists he has no real-life political ambitions. "I'm not at all interested in politics, personally," he says. "I'm interested in issues and I'm interested in humanity."
Sheen says that at first he found it difficult to order military action in the role of president: "Me personally, it's real hard for me to order someone to get bombed or destroyed, but I'm not the president. Bartlet is the president and a real president has to consider doing these things. I promise you, the republic would be in real trouble if I were in the White House," he says. "I could not bring myself to make some of those decisions. It would be a total reversal for me."
What a self-involved idiot. He found it hard to "act". He needs to change his name to Martin Queen.
News to us here in Florida where 'President Bartlet' (is he a pear of a fellow?) was campaigning up a storm for Ms. Reno in her run for the Dem nomination for governor. Just another example of these creative types experiencing cognitive dissonance! Susan Sarandon is not anti-American when she spews forth in Europe, etc.!
Well, Martin, then stick to playing a communist like you did in Wall Street and you will feel right at home.
Translation: "I'm a pontificating butt wipe who's too cowardly to actually submit myself and my moronic ideas to the electorate for near-certain rejection, therefore, I'll pretend that I actually have something significant to say by portraying an idiot politician on a third-rate TV show."
Actors always seem to state the painfully obvious....
This is an stunning admission for a liberal activist.
The thing that makes me the craziest when observing them in action is that 99.64% of the time, when they are marching, picketing, starving, or even undressing for "peace," they don't say what the dickens it is they would actually do -- only what they wouldn't do. In the end, they who don't have power other than to voice their fierce disapproval do nothing. The President doesn't have the luxury of doing nothing. He has to act -- but not the kind of acting that is done in front of a camera.
Sheen, in a rare moment of candor, is admitting that in the real world, superpowers can't run on "flower power."
Just a guess.
Be careful in what you assume. I doubt he had one to start with. Rotting shouldn't be an issue.
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