Martin Sheen Reveals He Wasn’t Supposed to Be Full-Time on ‘West Wing’ (Exclusive)

Twenty-five years after “The West Wing” debuted, Martin Sheen aka President Jed Barlett, creator Aaron Sorkin, and First Lady Jill Biden are taking “Extra” to the White House for an anniversary celebration! 

Martin revealed to our Mona Kosar Abdi that he wasn’t initially hired as a full-time cast member. 

“I was only hired for four or five episodes,” Sheen said. “The show was going to focus on the staff and that was it. But after they saw the pilot, they wanted to know who worked in the office. The round one.”

Martin added, “They came back to me and said, ‘Would you become a full participant?’ I said, ‘Of course, I only ask that the president be a Catholic and he be a graduate of Notre Dame.’”

Looking back,  the actor recalled, “A political show had never been done. And we were not anticipating any success and then it just took off… Bill Clinton was in the White House and he got very interested in the show. Then President Bush came in. Different administration, different party, but he was equally as interested.” 

The D.C. celebration also included Martin’s “West Wing” co-stars Richard Schiff, Dulé Hill, Janel Moloney, Emily Procter and Tommy Schlamme.

Not to mention, Melissa Fitzgerald and Mary McCormack, who co-authored the ultimate insider’s guide to the series: “What’s Next: A Backstage Pass to The West Wing.”

Melissa told Mona, “Aaron always said, the ‘West Wing’ was a love letter to service and we say ‘What's Next?’ is a  love letter to ‘The West Wing.’”

Mona told them, “Martin was raving about the book, I will say. But I also want to say he said you went easy on him.”

Mary replied, “Yeah, we had to hide the book from him because he's so humble because we knew if we showed it to him too early, he would make us take out all the good stuff about him.”

Warner Bros. Television Chairman Channing Dungy said the show became an inspiration.

“There's so many people here that are in the audience that are in the White House now who are in these careers because they were inspired by the show,” she said. “The legacy of the show continues to inspire and motivate so many young people and now more than ever we want that kind of energy coming into politics.”