Charlie Sheen says meltdown was like being shot out of a cannon

The 45-year-old actor says he is now sober and enjoying a simpler life in an interview set to air in the US on Friday.

'It was like being shot out of a cannon into another cannon, and then being just shot out of that one,' Sheen tells NBC Today Show host Matt Lauer.

He adds: 'It was like from one moment to the next I did not know what was going to happen. It was pretty exciting.

'It was one of those things where the planets were aligned, perfectly or imperfectly. I said some stuff and then it caught such traction globally and instantly that I couldn't really put out the fire. I had to keep fuelling it.'

The former Spin City star also told Lauer that he is now spending time reconnecting with his four children.

'That's where the life is, you know, it is in those quiet moments,' he says.

'It is not the giant TV deal or the big party or the award or whatever; it's the memory of your child's smile at the end of the day that sort of brings that one lonesome tear.'