Charlie Sheen Says His Return to TV After 'Possession' Is 'Surreal': 'Do You Believe in Miracles?' (Exclusive)

Charlie Sheen has been lying low for the past six years while he focused on his sobriety, parenting his 14-year-old twins Max and Bob, and settling into what he calls a "predictable routine," far out from the spotlight. But now, the spotlight beckons once more.

Sheen, 58, is dipping his toes back into the acting world, starting with an appearance playing himself in two episodes of Chuck Lorre's new Max sports gambling dramedy Bookie, starring Sebastian Maniscalco.

Bookie allows Sheen to reteam with the same show creator who famously fired him from Two and a Half Men in 2011 for his erratic behavior, after which Sheen called Lorre a "clown" and a "turd" during an interview.

"Look, for a while, there wasn't much about my life to complain about," Sheen tells PEOPLE. "I lived a life where people were really happy when I showed up, and they were sad when I left."

But then, he says, his demons, or his "possession," as he calls his struggles with drugs and alcohol, changed everything. "That went away when everything turned to s--t," he says. "It turned into, 'Oh, God. Here he comes,' and then 'Is he gone? Good.'"

Sheen, who says he still feels shame for his past behavior, wasn't expecting Lorre to call him about Bookie. But when he did, Sheen jumped at the chance to end their decade-long rift.

"Chuck reached out he said, 'Hey, it's time to bury the hatchet. It's time for us to give each other a hug. And remember the great stuff that we did together,'" Sheen recalls. "Because we made a lot of people happy for a long time, and we left some really solid work behind us."

Sheen says that upon seeing each other for the first time in years on the studio lot, it was quite the reunion. "Both of us were just beaming. Beaming," he says.

Sheen adds that it's "surreal" to be at a place where he's gotten his life together, and is also back on a Chuck Lorre show.

"It's one of those things that is so surreal that I keep hearing Al Michael's famous hockey call: 'Do you believe in miracles?!' It's a trip. When I won a Golden Globe for Spin City, the last place I expected to be was at that podium and I said, 'This feels like a sober acid trip.' And I think that quote rings true for what I'm going through with this experience."

Now, Sheen is ready for more roles to come his way. "I'm absolutely ready," he says. "For the longest time, I had the best work reputation. I was the first to arrive, last to leave, when in doubt I'd over prepare. I would just check every fricking box. And that went away. So I was really excited about being that guy again."

However, he knows his career's future lies out of his control.

"All I can control is my reaction to things, which in and of itself is a daily battle," he says. "So I'm staying completely neutral. I'm not building any wild fantasies about what this is going to lead to. I'm just going to live inside of exactly what the moment is, what the experience is, and if it spurs or sparks another opportunity, that's amazing."

He adds, "And if it doesn't? Then maybe I'll go out and create the next opportunity."

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New episodes of Bookie can be streamed Thursdays on Max.