Martin Sheen says his son convinced him to play Matthew in 'Anne of Green Gables'

NEW YORK, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- Screen icon Martin Sheen credits his son Ramon Estevez for persuading him to play Matthew Cuthbert in the new TV movie Anne of Green Gables.

"He said: 'Look, Pop, you don't have to kill anybody. You don't have to curse anybody. You don't have to raise your voice. You can play very close to yourself and you can bring this character to life and have a lot of fun doing it. You love Canada and you love the Canadians, so why not go up there and have at it?'" Sheen told UPI in New York recently about the conversation he had with Ramon, who runs Estevez Sheen Productions. "Finally, I read the script and I said, 'Why were you so long keeping this from me?' ... I'm grateful to him."

The 76-year-old actor -- who is also the father of actors Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez, and actress Renee Estevez -- said he is delighted families will be able to enjoy Anne of Green Gables together when it premieres in the United States on PBS Thanksgiving Thursday.

Noting how it is appropriate for viewers of all ages in its "language and content and adventure," Sheen added: "But it also touches that spirit of community that we all long for and that is so lost in our culture where we are accountable to one another, that we have to go out of our way in order to serve others.

"But that is how we are best served. We serve ourselves best when we serve others first and here you have this old couple. The basic story is this ancient [sibling] couple who have lived these bachelor lives and they've grown used to it and they've sort of embraced that it's not going to get any better and they are just waiting to die, in a way. And just hang on with each other and, suddenly, their lives are turned upside-down and backwards and forward by this firebrand of imagination and energy and she sparks in them all the things that they had forgotten," he explained. "They begin to see themselves differently, each other differently, their community differently and they have had their lives changed by this child and that it wasn't too late."

Based on the novel by L.M. Montgomery, the film co-stars Ella Ballentine and Sara Botsford.