Apocalypse Now Star Felt “Embarrassed” By The Iconic Mirror Scene 46 Years Later

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Martin Sheen, now 85, has a difficult memory associated with his 36th birthday. He admits he’s ashamed of his behavior that day, which occurred while he was experiencing a serious emotional breakdown during the filming of the classic war film, Apocalypse Now, almost 50 years ago.

Charlie Sheen told Josh Horowitz about what happened the day in 1976 when he had an alcohol-fueled breakdown that was filmed and became the famous mirror-smashing scene in Apocalypse Now.

It was my 36th birthday, and I was really letting loose with alcohol while also dealing with a lot of pent-up emotions. I remember drinking throughout the entire day, and it was late at night when we finally arrived there.

There wasn’t a pre-planned scene or any written dialogue for that part. Coppola had completely reworked the opening, so we were mostly making it up as we went along. Francis was ready to finish filming, but I convinced him to continue, hoping something interesting would happen.

I was always ashamed of it, and I didn’t even realize it was noticeable until I saw the movie. He wanted me to review the initial footage from Rome when it came back, but I refused. He warned me it might be included, and I told him that was his decision. I just couldn’t bring myself to watch it – I never wanted to. I knew what I’d done, and I wasn’t pleased with my behavior at all. I was acting irrationally.

Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, set during the Vietnam War, begins with Captain Willard, played by Martin Sheen, stranded in Saigon awaiting orders. He grows increasingly restless and starts drinking heavily in his hotel room. His drinking escalates into a drunken outburst where, in a fit of rage, he throws a martial arts-style punch at a mirror, breaking it and cutting his hand.

The acclaimed 1991 documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse revealed that Martin Sheen was intoxicated during a pivotal scene and genuinely cut his hand while breaking a mirror. The film also documented Sheen’s serious heart attack during the making of Apocalypse Now, which caused significant delays in production while he recovered.

Director Francis Ford Coppola is well-known for discussing the difficult making of his classic film, Apocalypse Now. When the movie first premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1979, he famously said, “My film isn’t about Vietnam; my film is Vietnam.”

I’ve always been amazed by Francis Ford Coppola’s sheer dedication. It’s incredible to me that he risked everything – mortgaged all his possessions, even – to bring his vision of Heart of Darkness to life, especially after the costs soared from $12 million to over $30 million! And even now, at 86, he’s still swinging for the fences. It’s a testament to his spirit that he poured a reported $120 million into Megalopolis, even though it didn’t perform well at the box office. He truly isn’t afraid to follow his artistic passions, no matter the cost.

In a 2015 appearance on The View, Martin Sheen described his difficult time filming Apocalypse Now. He said that if he’d known how challenging it would be, he wouldn’t have taken the role, but he doesn’t regret his decision.

You know, I was reading an interview with Martin Sheen from 2022, and he talked about how much Apocalypse Now changed his life. He told Yahoo! that making the film really made him confront parts of himself he might never have explored otherwise, and he’s genuinely thankful to Francis Ford Coppola for pushing him to do that. It’s amazing to hear how a movie can have such a deep, personal impact on someone involved in it.

Today, Apocalypse Now is considered a cinematic masterpiece, appearing at number 19 on Sight & Sound‘s 2022 list of the greatest films ever made. Director Francis Ford Coppola has released several different cuts of the movie, most recently the “Final Cut” in 2019.

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2025-10-31 19:41