[4] When they returned to Los Angeles, Estevez co-wrote and starred in a high school play about Vietnam veterans called Echoes of an Era and invited his parents to watch it.

Emilio reportedly liked the alliteration of the double 'E' initials,[6] and "didn't want to ride into the business as 'Martin Sheen's son'.

[2] Estevez received much attention during the 1980s for being a member of the Brat Pack and was credited as the leader of the group of young actors.

Besides his roles in In the Custody of Strangers and The Outsiders, his credits include NBC-TV's thrillers Nightmares and Tex, the 1982 film version of another S.E.

"[2] After The Outsiders, Estevez appeared as the punk-rocker turned car-repossessor Otto Maddox in the film Repo Man before co-starring in The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire.

Estevez was originally cast in Platoon to be Private Chris Taylor but was forced to drop out after production was delayed for two years; the role eventually went to his younger brother Charlie Sheen.

In the early 1990s, Estevez directed, wrote, and starred with his brother Charlie in a comedy about garbagemen, Men at Work.

"[4] In 1992, he found the career longevity that escaped other Brat Packers by starring in The Mighty Ducks as Coach Gordon Bombay,[9] a lawyer and former pee wee star and minor hockey prodigy looking to forget the past, forced into coaching a pee wee hockey team as a form of community service.

From 1998 to 1999, he appeared in three television films: the spaghetti Western Dollar for the Dead (1998), the comedy Late Last Night (1999), and Rated X (2000), which he directed.

Award-winning thriller Sand as part of an ensemble cast that also included Denis Leary, Jon Lovitz, Harry Dean Stanton, and Julie Delpy.

In 2003, he made his voice acting debut when he helped create the English dubbed version of The 3 Wise Men with his father.

[13] Estevez reprised his role as Coach Gordon Bombay in the 2021 Disney+ TV series, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers.

[14] It was reported in November 2021 that Estevez would not return in the show's second season due to a contract dispute and creative differences.

Most recently he has directed episodes of the television series Cold Case, Close to Home, The Guardian, CSI: NY, and Numb3rs.

[12] In 2010, Estevez filmed a new project, The Way, in Spain where he directed his father in a story about a man who decides to make the Camino de Santiago after the death of his son in the French Pyrénées.

[18] [19] Estevez appeared in John Parr's "St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion)" music video, from the soundtrack of his film with the same name, where he played Kirby Keger.

The music video featured all seven of the main cast members of the film, looking sadly through the foggy windows of a run-down and fire-damaged version of the St. Elmo's Bar set.

In 2000, Estevez made an appearance in another Bon Jovi video, "Say It Isn't So", along with Matt LeBlanc, Claudia Schiffer, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.