Charlie Sheen recounts on being beaten by Tom Cruise for a role

Charlie Sheen recently opened up about the moment he found out that Tom Cruise had been cast as the lead in Born on the Fourth of July. 

The 60-year-old actor shared the story on the In Depth with Graham Bensinger podcast, recounting how his brother, Emilio Estevez, broke the news to him.

At the time, Sheen believed the role was his due to prior conversations with director Oliver Stone and their working relationship.

"Emilio, he calls me. He says, ‘Hey, man. You sitting down?’ And I think somebody died, right?” Sheen recalled on the Oct. 30 episode. “I’m like, ‘No, what’s going on?’ He says, ‘Cruise is doing Born on the Fourth.' "

"I love that Emilio thought that I needed to be seated to get news he thought was going to make me faint. I mean, what are we doing here? It’s a movie," he added.

For context, Sheen had already gained fame through blockbuster films like Platoon (1986) and Wall Street (1987), both of which were also directed by Oliver Stone.

Born on the Fourth of July was adapted from the 1976 autobiography of Ron Kovic, a Vietnam War veteran who was paralyzed in combat and later became an anti-war activist.

Sheen acknowledged that while it was ultimately “just a role,” he could not ignore the sting of feeling a sense of “betrayal” over losing the part.