Actor Emilio Estevez is tired of being laughed at. After starring in an array of comedic roles for the last five years, he said he needed something different.

“I started out as a serious actor and then suddenly I became ‘comedy guy,'” he said while visiting downtown San Diego’s Planet Hollywood. “That’s not where I wanted to be. I knew I needed to do something important, something with a lot of weight where people would start taking me seriously again.”

The answer to his problem came in “The War at Home,” an emotional and quiet film about the effects of Vietnam on a veteran’s family. Serving as producer, director and star of the movie, Estevez said he ran into trouble after telling Hollywood he was interested in a film without car chases or gratuitous nudity.

“Financing the film was discouraging,” he said. “We were proud of the script yet we were met with a lot of no’s. The studios never saw the subtle humor, and it didn’t have a Hollywood hook. After three years I thought, ‘Maybe they’re right,’ and considered throwing in the towel.”

But Estevez trudged through the hard times and eventually made a deal with Touchstone Pictures in which he was given complete control, including casting rights.

Rather than choose unknowns to star in the small movie, Estevez went straight to the top and chose Academy Award-winning actress Kathy Bates, along with Kimberly Williams and Estevez’s father, Martin Sheen.

“This role challenged my father, and this is the first role to do that in a long time,” he said. “I don’t think he’s doing movies he should be doing; I felt he was getting lazy. But this role let him do some real acting.”

Although Estevez was in the driver’s seat for the film, he said it was strange to direct his father.

“It’s hard to disassociate from being his son,” he said. “I was a little intimidated by him, and sometimes he was resistant to things I wanted him to do. But I consider my dad my best friend and I have deep respect for him and it worked out well for both of us.”

While this is the first time Estevez directed his dad, it’s not the first time they were on a set together. When Estevez was younger, Sheen often took the entire family on location with him.

“My family would always travel together,” he said. “We would drive to locations, and even though I missed a lot of school, I managed to see the world at a young age.”

Along with bringing the family closer together, these family excursions also gave Estevez a glimpse into the glimmering Hollywood world where he now shines.

Starring in classic films including “The Breakfast Club” and “St. Elmo’s Fire,” Estevez said making “The War at Home” was different since it was geared toward making the actors happy rather than pleasing executives.

“I was in England and was very impressed at how the British treat their actors,” he said. “They’re treated with great respect, and I wanted to mirror that.”

Part of his plan was realized by shooting the film in sequence rather than in choppy parts a decision that helped the actors know what was going on at all times. Even though it was more expensive to work this way, he said it was part of his promise to the actors.

But what maintained his energy while making the movie was his sincere love of the script. Originally written by James Duff as “Homefront,” the piece was performed on Broadway in 1984. Estevez was introduced to the play by his father and was immediately moved.

“My father gave me the play while we were at my sister’s house, and I realized it was a great literary work,” he said. “The writing isn’t influenced by television like most things are, but by literature.”

Estevez contacted Duff, the playwright, who agreed to adapt the play for screen where he was able to include scenes he had to leave out for Broadway.

Although the film is quiet, Estevez said it was extremely fulfilling to work on “The War at Home,” even after all the financial struggles he faced in the early stages.

“Every actor has a project, a labor of love that they want to bring to the screen in their own way,” he said. “This was the one for me. I am very happy to have been given this chance.”