Charlie Sheen wants new TV film to start dialogue' about race

Actor Charlie Sheen wants the "racially-inappropriate" jokes in his new TV movie "Mad Families" to inspire viewers to have an "open dialogue" about race.

The "Wall Street" star appears alongside actresses Leah Remini and Naya Rivera in the comedy about three culturally-diverse families who embark on a camping trip together.

Sheen, real name Carlos Estevez, has warned fans the film features a string of tongue-in-cheek jokes, but he said they weren't intended to cause offence and he hopes viewers will use them to explore ongoing race issues during "dicey times", reported Contactmusic.

"The film is hysterical, it's funny as hell. It's very diverse. There's a scene where we all pass around a megaphone and tell the most racially-inappropriate jokes in the history of the known universe, and it's funny as hell.

No one in the movie is offended so I do believe that anyone watching it won't be, either," he told US breakfast show "Good Morning America".

"We're not curing cancer with this type of work, but perhaps we're making it OK to have an open dialogue, which we must have, especially with what's coming in the White House.