These are new photos of Martin Sheen and his son, Emilio Estevez, promoting The Way in London yesterday. Emilio directed the movie, and Martin stars. When The Telegraph spoke to Martin, shockingly (!) they didn’t really want to talk about the movie. Instead, Martin fielded questions about his other son’s breakdown. Although Martin visited Charlie during his brief hospitalization a few weeks ago, it seems like Martin has kind of thrown up his hands about the Charlie situation at this point:

Martin Sheen, the actor, said he is praying for his troubled son Charlie and wants to appear on screen with him again. The West Wing star said the actor, who has fought a well-documented battle with drugs and checked into rehab last month, had the backing of his family.

When asked how he was supporting his son, Sheen replied: “With prayer. We lift him up and we ask everyone who cares about him to lift him up, and lift up all those who are in the grip of drug and alcohol abuse, because they are looking for transcendence.”

Speaking at the UK premiere of his new pilgrimage film The Way at London’s British Film Institute, the 70-year-old – who acted alongside Charlie in the 1987 film Wall Street – said he would be happy to work with him in the future.

“That would be another miracle and we’d look forward to it, very much so,” he said.

In the film – directed by another of his three sons Emilio Estevez – Sheen plays Tom, an American doctor who embarks on the 500-mile Camino de Santiago walk to collect the remains of his dead son. Sheen said the well-trodden route, from the French Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela in the north west of Spain, was a journey worth taking.

“I think people are looking for transcendence, particularly in the West. We seek to touch the sacred somehow. I think that’s why people use drugs and alcohol, they’re looking for some transcendental experience in their lives,” he said.

The actor and political activist said the current unrest in the Middle East was “a great reflection of dissatisfaction” – and insisted he was proud of how US president Barack Obama was performing.

He continued: “The world’s population is nearly seven billion now and most of them are have-nots. We live in the Western world, we don’t have any way of measuring that differentiation. The world is hungry and the world is in desperate need of justice, of peace, of harmony, of sharing.”

The Way also stars Northern Irish actor James Nesbitt, Canadian actress Deborah Kara Unger, and Estevez, who makes an appearance as the son of Sheen’s character.

“We look at this film like a retelling of The Wizard Of Oz,” Estevez said.

“Martin’s character is Dorothy, Nesbitt’s is the scarecrow, and they’re looking for the wizard – but instead of going to Oz, they’re going to Santiago de Compostela.”

[From The Telegraph]

Damn, Emilio made a movie in which he cast his father as a father whose child has died. Goodness. Timely, I guess. You know… I have sympathy for Martin, I really do. But his comment about prayer reminded me of that joke. A man asked a Jesuit priest what the shortest prayer is. The priest answers, “F-ck it.” Meaning, “F-ck it, it’s in God’s hands.” I believe Martin is praying for his son. But I also think that at this point, there’s isn’t much more for Martin to do other than throw up his hands and give the shortest prayer.

Photos courtesy of WENN.