But Emilio Estevez in one of the sulkies?
You may know him as a lot of other things: the Brat Pack teen in “The Breakfast Club,” the pewee hockey coach in “The Mighty Ducks,” the punk rocker turned car booster in “Repo Man” or Samuel L. Jackson’s psychotic cop partner in “National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon.”
Most specifically, you know he’s the eldest son of Dayton born-and-raised actor Martin Sheen.
Estevez — like his younger brother Charlie Sheen — followed his father into acting and these days he writes and directs, as well. He’s combining all three talents in an upcoming film about a washed-up thoroughbred jockey who finds a second chance in life as a harness driver.
“I took my first spin around a track at Lebanon last year and the other day we were over in Columbus at Scioto Downs and Virgil Morgan Jr. took me around the track,” Estevez said. “In a perfect world now I’m going to apply for my Ohio racing license and start driving.”
Seeing I was a little surprised at that, he shook his head: “Look, I can’t really fake it. I mean if I’m faking it out there people are gonna know. I’ve really got to be doing it, so my goal now is to get my racing license and start driving as much as I can.”
Much of the movie — called “Johnny Longshot” — will be filmed in Ohio, especially around Cincinnati. Some of the racing may be filmed at Lebanon Raceway or possibility Scioto Downs or Northfield in Cleveland — and certainly some will be done at The Red Mile in Lexington.
I caught up with Estevez at the Cincinnati Bengals game last Sunday. He said he had come in to scout locations for the film, but soon would become a fixture in the area:
“I’ll be here for a long time — at least six months or so starting in January. We plan to start shooting in March. We need that spring and summer weather here.”
He said the film — which has a $12 million budget — will hire up to 1,100 people.
He’s looking forward to his time here — not only to create a movie that he said is set up to be “a franchise, like The Mighty Ducks, with three parts,” – but because he will be close to his dad’s hometown.
“I’ve got some pretty deep roots here,” he said. “My dad was born in Dayton and went to Chaminade High School. My Uncle Frank and Uncle John and several extended cousins all still live there.”
Martin Sheen grew up as Ramon Estevez. The family lived on Brown Street near the South Park area and he went to Holy Trinity grade school and was an altar boy at Holy Trinity Catholic Church downtown. He was also a longtime caddie at Dayton Country Club.
When he left for New York in his early 20s to pursue an acting career — a local priest loaned him the money to go — he changed his name to Martin Sheen, the latter taken from Catholic archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, who had a well-known TV show at the time.
“Back then it wasn’t popular having a Hispanic name so Dad changed it,” Emilio explained.
“My mom (Janet Templeton) was born in Cincinnati and raised in Cleveland, so I really do have the Ohio connection.”
While younger brother Charlie embraced baseball – “he went to Mickey Owen’s camp and was very good and at one time my parents thought he might pursue baseball, not acting,” – Emilio said he gravitated to horses.
“My dad took me to the races when I was young and I loved it,” he said. “I don’t think there’s anything more exciting than those two minutes on the track.
“When I thought about a movie, I knew there had been a lot with thoroughbred — “Seabiscuit,” “Secretariat” — but no one has ever really done one about harness racing. Standardbreds are kind of the unsung heroes of the horse world and they’re a beautiful breed.
“This will be sort of a Mom and Poppy movie. It’s not about gambling. It’s about the sport, the people. It’s a very family friendly film.
“It’s the story of a retired thoroughbred jock who can’t make the weight anymore and is too old. No one really wants to see him on a thoroughbred anymore, so he reinvents himself.
“It’s really about second chances in life. That’s the theme of the whole movie — about finding some level of redemption. That’s what the character finds himself needing and desperately looking for. We all deserve a second chance.”
The personal story will have plenty of action as well, he said:
“Look at the chariot race in “Ben Hur,” how exciting that is. Now with the new technology of film making, I think we’re going to be able to make these harness races really exciting.”
And that means Estevez is going to need plenty of prep time in a sulky.
He smiled at the thought: “Yep, I plan on being a harness driver.”
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