While I’ve been a fan of Mr. Sheen for as long as I can remember, this was the first time I was able to interview him and I’ll admit to being quite excited. And while I knew he supported a lot of issues and was quite passionate about his beliefs, I’ll admit to being unprepared for where this interview went as I think we spent all of 3 minutes talking about the movie and the rest of the time talking politics and protesting.

And while that might not be the best way to promote the movie… I sat there captivated by this words as most actors nowadays aren’t willing to say what they’re thinking as it might shorten their career. Martin is one of the few remaining in the industry who speak their mind and for that I give him a lot of credit. Of course, it does helps that Martin is quite knowledgeable about what he talks about.

If you’re a fan of Martin or just want to read an interesting interview you’ll like what’s posted below. As always, you can either read the transcript or download the MP3 of the interview by clicking here.

And before getting to the interview, here's the synopsis:

Academy Award nominee Don Cheadle portrays the one and only Ralph Waldo “Petey” Greene Jr.; Petey’s story is funny, dramatic, inspiring – and real. In the mid-to-late 1960s, in Washington, D.C., vibrant soul music and exploding social consciousness were combining to unique and powerful effect. It was the place and time for Petey to fully express himself – sometimes to outrageous effect – and “tell it like it is.” With the support of his irrepressible and tempestuous girlfriend Vernell (Taraji P. Henson), the newly minted ex-con talks his way into an on-air radio gig. He forges a friendship and a partnership with fellow prison inmate Milo’s (Mike Epps) brother Dewey Hughes (double Golden Globe Award nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor). From the first wild morning on the air, Petey relies on the more straight-laced Dewey to run interference at WOL-AM, where Dewey is the program director.

At the station, Petey becomes an iconic radio personality, surpassing even the established popularity of his fellow disc jockeys, Nighthawk (Cedric The Entertainer) and Sunny Jim (Vondie Curtis Hall). Combining biting humor with social commentary, Petey openly courts controversy for station owner E.G. Sonderling (Emmy Award winner Martin Sheen).  Petey was determined to make not just himself but his community heard during an exciting and turbulent period in American history. As Petey’s voice, humor, and spirit surge across the airwaves with the vitality of the era, listeners tune in to hear not only incredible music but also a man speaking directly to them about race and power in America like few people ever have. Through the years, Petey’s “The truth just is” style --- on – and off-air – would redefine both Petey and Dewey, and empower each to become the man he would most like to be.

And before getting to the interview, if you missed the movie clips I previously posted you can watch them here.

“Talk to Me” opens tomorrow in select release.

How did the film and yourself keep the character from being just the white guy who runs the station?

Well, it was a black station. It played Motown music. It was obviously geared towards the vast majority of the population of Washington, D.C. which is black, and the inner city. So he knew that he had better appeal to the community if he wanted to stay on the air. So bringing in Petey Greene was a business decision and a risky one. You have to remember that the ratings, they were trying desperately in any number of ways to improve the ratings and it just went further and further down. People were not listening. So when Petey Greene arrived at the station, it was a big risk because he was so open and just so vulnerable and publicly unchanged from any private behavior including his language. So it was a risk. At the same time, it was a business adventure. It was not an accident that he chose him. He was feathering his own nest and that's cool. They became very close. In the end, he had an opportunity to sell the station to a white consortium for more money but he realized he owed a debt of gratitude to the black community and he wanted that station to remain in black hands so he sold it to a black consortium who still owns it.

This was one real guy, not a composite?

No, he was one guy. Sonderling is a real guy, he's dead now, God rest him, but he was a good and decent man. He had a lot of heart and he had pretty good taste in radio. He was in on what has to be considered the invention of talk radio. He was Petey Greene, talk to me. He was the guy. But he was talking to a specific community, one that didn't condemn him for his addictions or his felonies or for being blunt in his language or assessment in the culture, of the society. He said it like it was, man, and this is at a very critical time in our country. Remember, I knew this time. I lived in the east coast from 1959 to 1969. I don't remember Peter Greene specifically but I remember the time and place and the turmoil the country was involved in in tandem with the Vietnam war and the civil rights movement and they were inextricably connected. It was about where our priorities were going to land in the heavens. It was about human rights, human dignity or force of will. It was a great conflict and a wonderful time to be alive. Very tragic time as well because we lost two of our heroes in Reverend King and less than 60 days later, Bobby Kennedy and the country never recovered. We lost an opportunity with Robert Kennedy and we ended up with Richard Nixon and it's gone downhill ever since. With all due respects to Mr. Carter, and Mr. Clinton, it's gone steadily downhill. It's about corporate America that gets the lion's share and their say. Most of the people on radio now are the voices and the mindset of corporate America. You couldn't get Petey Greene on the radio today, I'm sorry. I think that time passed. They wouldn't tolerate him. They couldn't tolerate that measure of truth with that much passion.

Even Howard Stern or Imus?

No, these guys are media stars. They're not social activists. They have no real passion when it comes to risking everything for what you believe. They're very well paid, with all due respects, they're very well paid but they're media stars. They don't risk anything as far as furthering the truth of an issue or risking anything by becoming involved in advocating peace and justice issues, social justice. No, never. Not gonna happen.

Do you think there might be a resurgence in 10 years?

Yes, I think the American people are just on this one issue of Iraq, have woken up to this administration, that this administration lied and cheated and they all belong in a federal penitentiary for their actions. He used the military to further a political agenda. That's the bottom line. Finally, the military is waking up to this. It's very hard to find anyone in the top brass that wants to risk their reputation by throwing in with this crowd. It's a hopeless situation because it was born in arrogance. Arrogance is ignorance matured. I didn't make the rules. I observed the results and that's what we're dealing with here. When we started protesting this administration and its policy towards iraq, 70% of the American people supported this administration. I was part of the 30 that opposed. Now 70% of the population is opposed to this administration and 30 support it so as long as you're not uncomfortable being on the side that's not winning, you'll be okay.

Is the internet the great equalizer for people saying things?

No, no, because very few people really have access to the internet or know how to use it. This is the great fallacy. It's also like thinking, 'Well, how come we don't know more about the rest of the world?' We don't travel to the rest of the world. Only 10% of the American public have passports, have even been out of the country. George Bush had never exited the United States until he became president. He didn't have a clue what was going on in third world. And most of our citizens have no idea what's happening in third world and how we affect their lives. We have the most powerful political machine, military machine and economic machine. We run this whole hemisphere without question or any opposition. There's a little more opposition in the west, western Europe or eastern Europe and the mideast is where most of the opposition comes from for our policies. But we're a disaster in Africa and the middle east, central and south America. We've really blown out leadership. Any moral ascendancy we've ever had was sunk with this crowd. It's just despicable. Disgraceful bunch. Lying, businessmen who further their own agenda, political agenda and it costs the lives of, we know so far, nearly 4,000 young men and women, able bodied young men and women. 30, maybe more thousand severely wounded and now handicapped. Their families, how many hundreds of families of Iraqis we know just two million refugees alone. And we're not taking any of them. Switzerland and Sweden and Denmark are taking more than we are. Come on. We furthered our nest.

If you applied the same reason for invading Iraq on Korea, that's where we should have gone. They had the weapons. They were an oppressive society. I'm not saying a good thing about Saddam. He was as bad as you could get but he did not have weapons of mass destruction. You know what I'm saying? It was about oil. It was about ego. He did it because he could. Early in the protest, I was asked by a reporter, a big news conference of artists against the war. "Well, are you saying that the president is lying to us?" I said, "Absolutely, that's what he does for a living. Most governments do. They call it diplomacy but it's lying. And the very best of them do it." And he said, "Well, why do you suppose he was doing this?" I said, "Me personally? I think he wants to hand his father the head of Saddam Hussein and say, 'See, daddy, I have credibility. I did what you could not and would not do.'" That's what it was all about. And even when he was asked by Bob Woodward before the invasion, did you consult your father, meaning George Sr. he said, "I consulted my heavenly father." Please, you know you're in big trouble when that goes down.

Has being so outspoken been detrimental to your career?

I hope so. No, really. But you see, I don't know myself on the winning side. I'm never comfortable unless I'm uncomfortable. I don't know that, I don't want that. I'm not interested in being loved or likes. I'm interested in being free. I'm interested in knowing myself as I really am. I'm interested in uniting the will of the spirit to the work of the flesh. The only one that I have to account for is myself. I'm not trying to influence anybody. I don't really care a damn if anybody follows me or believes me. That's not important. I do it for myself so that I will know myself and earn my own freedom. We're not asked to be successful. We're only asked to be faithful. We're not asked to do great things, we're only asked to do all things with great love. That's Mother Theresa's quote. It's one of my favorites. One of my quotes is "the only things that we can take with us when we leave this life are the things which we cherished and gave away with love including our precious time." That's all that interests me because I'm not going to be able to lay off on my government my actions when it comes to the end of my life. "Oh, I would have done more service to justice or peace or the poor. I would have spoken out if my government would have only supported me." No. They won't be there to intercede between me and my soul. My only salvation is what's at stake and all of us have to answer to that. And everything that I've been involved in has not improved. It's gotten worse. All the issues have gotten worse.

Why don't you run?

No, no, no because that's not what I do. I wouldn't have a clue and I could not serve a specific constituency. I'd have to serve my own spirit. I was asked to be involved on one level politically. I'm not interested in politics. I'm interested in social justice. I had to make it clear to them that they were confusing credibility with celebrity. There's a big difference. I'm not qualified for public service.

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