Charlie Sheen is opening up about one of the lowest points of his career, his exit from Two and a Half Men.
The actor, now 60, admitted that being fired from the hit sitcom in 2011 because of his struggles with addiction is something he still carries with him.
“I regret that specifically still,” he told PEOPLE in an interview published Sept. 3.
“If I hadn’t done what I had, I could be living a different life right now. All my problems wouldn’t be what they are. But you just don’t know that.”
Since then, Sheen has worked toward sobriety and has focused on repairing the damage caused during those years. He shared that making peace with himself hasn’t been easy.
“Forgiveness is still an evolving thing,” he explained.
“I still get what I call the ‘shame shivers.’ These are the moments that hit me, of the heinous memories and choices and consequences. They’re getting farther in between, so I guess that’s progress.”
As he’s sought to make amends, Sheen said most people have been supportive, telling him, “Hey yeah, we’re good man, but we hope you’ve also forgiven yourself.”
That process of reflection has shaped his new projects, including a memoir titled The Book of Sheen and a Netflix documentary aka Charlie Sheen, releasing Sept. 9 and 10.
“It’s not about me setting the record straight or righting all the wrongs of my past,” he explained. “Most of my 50s were spent apologizing to the people I hurt.”
Sheen emphasized that his story isn’t about self-pity, but accountability.
“I also didn’t want to write from the place of being a victim,” he said.
“I wasn’t, and I own everything I did. It’s just me, finally telling the stories in the way they actually happened. The stories I can remember, anyway.”