Laurence Fishburne saved Emilio Estevez from drowning in quicksand during Apocalypse Now shoot in Philippines: 'We were bonded ever since'
Laurence Fishburne once saved Emilio Estevez from drowning in quicksand.
Estevez was in the Philippines with his father Martin Sheen, who was there filming Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, when he and Sheen's then-teenage co-star went on a boating adventure that nearly killed him.
Appearing on The Jennifer Hudson Show, Estevez, who was joined by his father, shared: “Well, we had only known each other a couple of days... [Fishburne] 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.”
Estevez, 60, recalled how he began to sink into the ground but his quick-thinking new pal helped him get to safety.
He continued: ″I was sinking, and I just saw Fishburne just looking at me going, ‘Grab my hand.’ And he pulled me back up onto the boat.
“We were bonded ever since.”
But Sheen, 82, had no idea what had happened until he read Along the Way: The Journey of a Father and Son, a memoir he co-wrote with Eztevez in 2012.
He admitted: "Mind you, we wrote a father-son memoir together not too long ago, and I found out about this incident when I read the book. I didn't have a clue.
"And I called Mr Fishburne to thank him for saving my son’s life."
The former West Wing star — whose real name is Ramon Estevez — previously insisted he didn't influence Emilio or his other children, including Charlie Sheen, to follow his acting footsteps but he was pleased The Breakfast Club alum kept his birth name.
He told Closer Weekly last year: "I was so self-involved and trying to be a provider that I wasn’t aware of their inclination to being actors.
"I was doing a show one time, and Emilio showed up. I thought he was there to visit me, but he’d gotten a part in the same show.
"The only influence I had on Emilio was to keep his name. When he started out, his agent was advising him to change his name to Sheen and he wouldn’t do it. And I thank God he didn’t.”
Watch Sheen and Estevez's interview on The Jennifer Hudson Show here:
— BANG SHOWBIZ
Photos: TPG News/Click Photos
Watch exclusive 8Days interviews on meWATCH and Mediacorp YouTube Channel.
