‘Forest Whitaker macheted his thumb, Tom Berenger knifed his foot, Willem Dafoe got medivacked – and Oliver Stone jumped up and down with joy’
![Charlie Sheen on making Platoon: ‘We screamed for the medic!’](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/cad09e413df68f7808160c1c43ab7fddf713f687/0_1_2293_1376/master/2293.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=52eb79a143c88fde439bda445fdcd607)
Charlie Sheen, played Chris Taylor
My brother Emilio Estevez and I were huge fans of Scarface and Midnight Express, which were both written by Oliver Stone. Emilio kept talking to me about Oliver’s new Vietnam film, which he was auditioning for. He got the lead part, Chris Taylor, but then couldn’t do it because of scheduling conflicts. When I auditioned, Oliver said I was “too mannered” and needed to do more work. So I did The Boys Next Door and Lucas – and I got the part, but only if Willem Dafoe approved. I didn’t meet Willem until we got to the Philippines. He ran past me in our hotel and gave me a hug. Later, Oliver came up to me and said: “Willem digs ya.”