The Way

Pilgrims on the 500-mile Camino de Santiago carry a scallop shell as identification. Emilio Estevez was given such a shell by a man who had walked the route six times, and he kept it with him when he made the journey while shooting the film.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Martin Sheen's father and Emilio Estevez's grandfather was a Spanish immigrant from Galicia, the region where Santiago Cathedral stands and where the procession seen in the film ends. According to Sheen and Estevez, the film explores their Galician heritage and serves as a tribute to it.

LIFE & FAMILY · SOURCED

The film was shot with a small crew of fifty people and a few cameras. No trailers were used and, as Emilio Estevez joked, no director's chair was used either.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

This was the seventh time father and son Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez worked together.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Despite only modest box-office success, the film proved a great favorite among church discussion groups of various faiths in both the US and abroad, since the spiritual journey all the characters undergo was seen as ripe for discussion. The film also played a part in bringing the pilgrimage route to public attention and making it better known, and thus in the growth of interest in the route.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Actor and director Mel Gibson had been raised a Catholic despite his personal problems, so Martin Sheen thought the film would be a good vehicle for him. Although Gibson was disappointed that he was not wanted for the film, he said he fully understood why Emilio Estevez wanted his father Martin Sheen in the lead role (besides the obvious family reason, Sheen's own father was Spanish and his mother Irish, and Sheen, like his character in the film, was also a former Catholic). Even so, Gibson took an active interest in the finished film and even stepped in through his company Icon Entertainment to help get it into UK cinemas.

LIFE & FAMILY · SOURCED

Martin Sheen did his own stunts for this film. In the Blu-Ray audio commentary, director Emilio Estevez can be heard saying that his father performed the stunts in the river scene. That river does not normally flow this strongly; the production company obtained permission to open the dam gates so the river would swell to the level seen in the film.

BEHIND THE SCENES · SOURCED

After traveling the Camino with his young adult grandson, Martin Sheen initially proposed making a documentary to promote the pilgrimage and honor the Camino. His son Emilio Estevez, however, thought an independent commercial vehicle would be a better way to go.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

While directing, Emilio Estevez worked dressed as Daniel every day so he could step into the scene quickly.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Matt Clark, who plays the priest/"rabbi" who befriends Tom on the pilgrimage, is Martin Sheen's closest friend in real life.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

According to the audio commentary on the US Blu-Ray release, the body in the morgue was supposed to be Daniel (Emilio Estevez). But he could not both direct the scene and play the body in the bag at the same time. Instead, the role of Tom's son was played by Martin Sheen's grandson. Sheen was not told about this casting change in advance during the shoot, so the shock we see on his face is real.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Martin Sheen is credited in the titles as Ramon Gerard Estevez in his capacity as executive producer.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

This is the first time Emilio Estevez has played Martin Sheen's son since The War at Home (1996).

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

In March 2023, director Emilio Estevez announced that he had reached an agreement with the rights holder for the film to be re-released in US cinemas on May 16, 2023, in roughly 800 theaters. He said: "A second bite of this apple, which is rare for a film… A film that now fills more time than what we did. People coming out of Covid want to get out and travel", see the world again and be less isolated. Estevez also said he planned to spend some time in Spain to help with the re-release and to see what audiences there would think of the idea of making a possible sequel.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

In Fisterra (about 80 km west of Santiago) there is a route that reaches the sea called the "Camino del Mar" (Sea Way). The film, however, ends with the main characters in Muxia, a Galician village about 70 km northwest of Santiago, beside the sanctuary of "Señora de la Barca" (a mystical place in Galicia known for its miraculous stones and not the end of the "Camino").

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Tom (Martin Sheen) places pieces of his son's ashes at various points along the Camino to signify that his son is traveling with him. Though touching, this goes against Catholic teaching: cremation is permitted, but a person's ashes must all be kept together in one place. Scattering or dividing ashes is not officially permitted.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

The sunburned patch on Martin Sheen's backpack is the squadron emblem of VF-51 The Sundowners, a Navy fighter squadron.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Because this film was made independently, its releases were handled by independent distributors. As a result, the film was released in some countries two or three years after its US release.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Tyler Bates, who composed the film's music, had previously been the composer on Rated X (2000), also directed by Emilio Estevez.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

The number "65" is stitched on the upper right side of Tom's blue backpack. 1965 was the year Charlie Sheen — Martin Sheen's son and Emilio Estevez's brother — was born. That is the size of this backpack.

LIFE & FAMILY · SOURCED

At around the 40th minute of the film, while Tom (Martin Sheen) lies on the ground, a cat plays on the stone wall behind him. Director Emilio Estevez noticed this during a break in filming and hurriedly turned on the camera to capture the scene because he thought it looked fun. Sheen was actually looking at the camera wondering why he was being filmed so unexpectedly, which explains the confusion on his face before he turns his head to see what is behind him.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

James Nesbitt was cast as Jack on Colm Meaney's suggestion.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Emilio Estevez and Deborah Kara Unger share the same birthday: May 12.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Deborah Kara Unger, who plays Sarah in this film, had previously appeared alongside Michael Douglas in The Game (1997) and Mel Gibson in Ransom (1996). Both of these actors were suggested by Martin Sheen for the role of Tom before he agreed to play Tom himself.

CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED