Actor Charlie Sheen, born Carlos Irwin Estevez, doesn't feel Latino, he says. In an interview with Univision’s Maria Elena Salinas, he notes that he has an attraction to Latin women and Latin food, but says that his affiliation with Latino culture ends there.
"I'm a white guy in America, you know what I'm saying," Sheen says with some laughter. "I'm not disgraced by it, and I don't run from it. But you know, I was born in New York and grew up in Malibu. That's not very Latino."
Salinas asks Sheen, whose grandfather was Spanish, why then the rest of his family feels affiliated with Hispanic culture and why he decided to changed his name. He responds that he changed his first name to avoid confusion with his uncle who was also named Carlos, and he changed Estevez to “Sheen” when he became an actor.
Some are classifying the interview with one word: awkward. Guanabee, a Latino culture website, notes that Sheen’s tone is dismissive, and Salinas, the Univision host, seems annoyed.
“Charlie, while moving around uncomfortably, tries to play it cool even after making it clear that he doesn't give a shit,” Guanabee writes. “But Maria pushes the bit, making the interview nothing but awkward."
What do you think of the interview?