Emilio Estevez was born into an acting family, and so his career choice hardly seems surprising. His father, Martin Sheen, is a screen legend and his brother, Charlie Sheen, is an infamous actor known both for his acting skills and troubled lifestyle.
Born on May 12th, 1962, Emilio took up acting in his late teens and was able to skip over the baby steps of celebrity (commercials, guest appearances, etc.) due to the influence of his family. Estevez appeared in a few television movies early on before moving on to the big screen. One of his first roles was in The Outsiders, directed by Francis Coppola and boasting a cast of fresh young faces who would become the stars of tomorrow. These up-and-comers included Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe and Estevez, who was a fan favorite. The movie really got his career rolling.
Next up for Estevez was a role in the offbeat Repo Man, a quirky film that had cult classic written all over it. Things were on a definite upswing. Emilio’s choices after Repo Man were somewhat unexpected. Instead of following it up with more weird and peculiar movies, he found a niche in the teen films of John Hughes, which were so popular in the 80s. Estevez became an official member of the Brat Pack. He, along with Ally Sheedy and Judd Nelson, were the only two members to appear in both definitive Brat Pack movies, The Breakfast Club and Saint Elmo’s Fire.
Now aged 23, Estevez was able to parlay his success into other ventures. In 1986, his film Wisdomwas released, which he wrote, directed and starred in opposite then-girlfriend Demi Moore. Emilio had previously written the film That Was Then… This Is Now, but had never directed. Since Wisdom however, Estevez had expanded his directing credits with Men At Work, The War At Home and The Bang, Bang Club.
The late 80s saw Emilio’s star continue to rise. He appeared in Stakeout, a fun and successful action/adventure, and Young Guns, an exhilarating, youth oriented cowboy movie in which Estevez had the lead role of Billy the Kid.