By somewhat sheer happenstance, the Hollywood Reporter‘s Scott Feinberg has been thrust onto the Inside the Actors Studio beat.

After Martin Sheen heard “through the grapevine” about the film journalist’s fondness for The Way, an indie drama made with and by son Emilio Estevez, the 71-year-old actor invited Feinberg to his Malibu home. The result is a nearly two-hour videotaped conversation about Sheen’s life and times.

What’s so great about this video is how raw it is. With a spectacular rock-landscaped pool in the background, Sheen is free to reminisce without any of those annoying cut-away shots  so common at Hollywood junkets, of the interviewing journalist nodding or smiling.

This is must-bookmark viewing for anyone who is a fan of Badlands, Apocalypse Now, The Way and Hollywood good guys. It’s also a vivid reminder of just how effective a reporter armed with a FlipCam and solid research notes can be.

[Photo of Sheen, Estevez at premiere of The Way: s_bukley/Shutterstock.com]