Michael Christopher Sheen,
OBEThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 5 February 1969), is a
WelshThe Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
stage and screen actor. He trained at the
Royal Academy of Dramatic ArtThe Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
in London, England and made his professional debut opposite
Vanessa RedgraveVanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
in When She Danced at the
Globe TheatreShakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse in the London Borough of Southwark, located on the south bank of the River Thames, but destroyed by fire in 1613, rebuilt 1614 then demolished in 1644. The modern reconstruction is an academic best guess, based...
in 1991. He worked predominantly on stage throughout the nineties and, while continuing to make sporadic stage appearances, he has appeared mainly on screen since 2003.
He is well-known for his portrayals of public figures, having starred as
Kenneth WilliamsKenneth Charles Williams was an English comic actor and comedian. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the Carry On films, and appeared in numerous British television shows, and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne.-Life and career:Kenneth Charles Williams was born on 22 February...
in
Fantabulosa!Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa! is a 2006 BBC Four television play starring Michael Sheen as the English comic actor Kenneth Williams, based on Williams' own diaries...
(2006), as
David FrostSir David Frost is a British broadcaster.David Frost may also refer to:*David Frost , South African golfer*David Frost , classical record producer*David Frost *Dave Frost, baseball pitcher...
in
Frost/NixonFrost/Nixon is a 2008 historical drama film based on the 2006 play by Peter Morgan which dramatizes the Frost/Nixon interviews of 1977. The film was directed by Ron Howard and produced for Universal Pictures by Howard, Brian Grazer of Imagine Entertainment and Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of Working...
(2008), as
Brian CloughBrian Howard Clough, OBE was an English footballer and football manager. He is most notable for his success with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. His achievement of winning back-to-back European Cups with Nottingham Forest, a traditionally moderate provincial English club, is considered to be...
in
The Damned UnitedThe Damned United is a 2009 British sports drama film directed by Tom Hooper and adapted by Peter Morgan from David Peace's bestselling novel The Damned Utd, a largely fictional book based on the author's interpretation of Brian Clough's tenure as manager of Leeds United...
(2009) and as
Tony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
in The Deal (2003),
The QueenThe Queen is a 2006 British drama film directed by Stephen Frears, written by Peter Morgan, and starring Helen Mirren as the title role, HM Queen Elizabeth II...
(2006) and
The Special RelationshipThe Special Relationship is a 2010 American-British political film directed by Richard Loncraine from a screenplay by Peter Morgan. It is the third film in Morgan's informal "Blair trilogy", which dramatizes the political career of British Prime Minister Tony Blair , following The Deal and The...
(2010). Other notable screen credits include
the Underworld filmsUnderworld is a series of vampire/werewolf films directed by Len Wiseman and Patrick Tatopoulos. The first film, Underworld, was released in 2003, and the second film, Underworld: Evolution, was released in 2006. A prequel, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, was released on January 23, 2009...
(2003, 2009),
The Twilight SagaThe Twilight Saga is a series of supernatural romance fantasy films from Summit Entertainment based on the four Twilight series novels by the American author Stephenie Meyer. The films star Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner. The series has grossed over $2 billion in worldwide...
(2009, 2011), Tron: Legacy (2010),
30 Rock30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live...
(2010) and
Midnight in ParisMidnight in Paris is a 2011 romantic comedy-fantasy film written and directed by Woody Allen. The plot centers on a small group of Americans visiting the French capital for business and pleasure...
(2011). He has been nominated for three BAFTA Awards and one
Emmy AwardAn Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
. He has received four Olivier Award nominations for his stage performances in
AmadeusAmadeus is a play by Peter Shaffer.It is based on the lives of the composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, highly fictionalized.Amadeus was first performed in 1979...
(1998),
Look Back in AngerLook Back in Anger is a John Osborne play—made into films in 1959, 1980, and 1989 -- about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected young man , his upper-middle-class, impassive wife , and her haughty best friend . Cliff, an amiable Welsh lodger, attempts to keep the peace...
(1999),
CaligulaCaligula is a play written by Albert Camus, begun in 1938 and published for the first time in May 1944 by Éditions Gallimard. The play was later the subject of numerous revisions. It was part of what the author called the "Cycle of the Absurd", with the novel The Outsider and the essay The Myth...
(2003) and Frost/Nixon (2006), and is currently playing the title role in
HamletThe Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
at the Young Vic in London until 21 January 2012.
Sheen had an eight-year relationship with English actress
Kate BeckinsaleKathryn Bailey "Kate" Beckinsale is an English actress. After some minor television roles, she made her film debut in Much Ado About Nothing while still a student at Oxford University...
from 1995 until 2003; they have one daughter. He lives in Los Angeles, California. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2009 New Year Honours list for his services to drama and was awarded the
freedom of the boroughFreedom of the City is an honour bestowed by some municipalities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and Rhodesia to esteemed members of its community and to organisations to be honoured, often for service to the community;...
of
Neath Port TalbotNeath Port Talbot is a county borough and one of the unitary authority areas of Wales. Neath Port Talbot is the 8th most populous county in Wales and the third most populous county borough....
, Wales in 2008 for his services in the field of the dramatic arts. He is the president of TREAT Trust Wales, the Welsh ambassador of
FILMCLUBFILMCLUB is an education charity which sets up film clubs in schools and other education and care establishments in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. The scheme is free to all state primary and secondary schools in Wales and England...
and a patron of numerous charitable organisations, including
Scene & HeardScene & Heard, is a British registered charity which operates as a mentoring project for inner-city children in Somers Town, London.Much of the charity's work involves teaming children with a volunteer theatre professional to write short plays, which are performed by professional actors in front of...
.
Early life
Sheen was born in
NewportNewport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...
,
WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, the son of Irene (née Thomas), a secretary, and Meyrick, a
British SteelBritish Steel was a major British steel producer. It originated as a nationalised industry, the British Steel Corporation , formed in 1967. This was converted to a public limited company, British Steel PLC, and privatised in 1988. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index...
personnel managerHuman Resource Management is the management of an organization's employees. While human resource management is sometimes referred to as a "soft" management skill, effective practice within an organization requires a strategic focus to ensure that people resources can facilitate the achievement of...
. He has one younger sister, Joanne. When he was five, the family moved to
Liverpool, EnglandLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
but settled in his parents' hometown of Baglan in
Port TalbotPort Talbot is a town in Neath Port Talbot, Wales. It had a population of 35,633 in 2001.-History:Port Talbot grew out of the original small port and market town of Aberafan , which belonged to the medieval Lords of Afan. The area of the parish of Margam lying on the west bank of the lower Afan...
, Wales three years later. Port Talbot is also the hometown of actors
Richard BurtonRichard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
and
Anthony HopkinsSir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...
. Director
Sam MendesSamuel Alexander "Sam" Mendes, CBE is an English stage and film director. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning work on his debut film American Beauty and his dark re-inventions of the stage musicals Cabaret , Oliver! , Company and Gypsy . He's currently working on the 23rd James Bond...
has described Sheen as "a stage creature clearly" and attributed that to the actor's Welsh roots. "I'm serious. He's Welsh in the tradition of Anthony Hopkins and Richard Burton: fiery, mercurial, unpredictable."
A keen footballer, Sheen was scouted and offered a place on
Arsenal F.C.Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
's youth team at the age of twelve but his family were unwilling to relocate to London. He later said he was "grateful" for his parents' decision as the chances of forging a professional football career were "so slim". "It would have meant moving from Wales to London as a family. It was just too big an upheaval." "My career would have been over years ago now", he noted. He lost interest in playing football in his early teens.
Sheen was raised in a theatrical family – his parents were both involved in local amateur operatics and musicals and, later in life, his father worked as a part-time professional
Jack NicholsonJohn Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
look-alike. In his teenage years, Sheen was involved with the West Glamorgan Youth Theatre and, later, the National Youth Theatre of Wales. "It was a brilliant youth theatre, and it taught me not only a lot about acting, but also about work ethic; it was very disciplined." He was influenced by the performances of
Laurence OlivierLaurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
and the writings of theatre critic
Kenneth TynanKenneth Peacock Tynan was an influential and often controversial English theatre critic and writer.-Early life:...
– "the combination of those two things kind of blew my head off."
Sheen was educated at Blaenbaglan Primary School,
Glan Afan Comprehensive SchoolGlan Afan Comprehensive School is a mixed comprehensive school, which has served the town of Port Talbot, Wales and its surrounding areas for over 110 years.-History:...
and, finally,
Neath Port Talbot CollegeNeath Port Talbot College is a further education institution established as two campuses in Port Talbot and Neath in Wales, United Kingdom....
where he sat A-levels in English, Drama and Sociology. He considered studying English at university but instead decided to attend drama school. He moved to
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England in 1988 to train as an actor at the
Royal Academy of Dramatic ArtThe Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
(RADA), having spent the previous year working in a Welsh fast food restaurant called Burger Master to earn money. Sheen was granted the Laurence Olivier Bursary by
The Society of London TheatreThe Society of London Theatre is an umbrella organization for West End theatre in London.- TKTS, Half-Price Theatre Ticket Booth:...
in his second year at RADA and he graduated in 1991 with a
BAA Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in Acting.
Classical stage roles
Sheen worked predominantly in theatre in the nineties and has since remarked that he will always feel "slightly more at home" on stage. "It's more of an actor's medium. You are your own editor, nobody else is choosing what is being seen of you." His first professional role, while still in his third and final year at RADA, was in When She Danced at the
Globe TheatreShakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse in the London Borough of Southwark, located on the south bank of the River Thames, but destroyed by fire in 1613, rebuilt 1614 then demolished in 1644. The modern reconstruction is an academic best guess, based...
in 1991. He later described the role as "a big break. One day I was at RADA doing a movement class, the next I was at a read-through with
Vanessa RedgraveVanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
and
Frances de la TourFrances de la Tour is an English actress perhaps best known for her role as Miss Ruth Jones in the British sitcom Rising Damp, and as Madame Olympe Maxime in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1.-Early life and family:De la...
."
Milton ShulmanMilton Shulman was a Canadian author, film and theatre critic.-Early life:He was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of a successful shopkeeper. His parents were born in Ukraine and were driven out of the Russian Empire by poverty and the pogroms against the Jews...
of the
Evening StandardThe Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
praised an "excellent" performance while
The ObserverThe Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
wrote of "a notable West End debut". In 1992, his performance in
Romeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
at the
Royal ExchangeThe Royal Exchange is a grade II listed Victorian building in Manchester, England. It is located in the city centre on the land bounded by St Ann’s Square, Exchange Street, Market Street, Cross Street and Old Bank Street...
received a
MEN Theatre AwardThe Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
nomination and led theatre critic
Michael CoveneyMichael Coveney is a British theatre critic. He was educated at St Ignatius' College, Stamford Hill and Worcester College, Oxford....
to declare him "the most exciting young actor of his generation ... a volatile, electrifying and technically fearless performer". His 1993 turn as Perdican in
Alfred de MussetAlfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist.Along with his poetry, he is known for writing La Confession d'un enfant du siècle from 1836.-Biography:Musset was born on 11 December 1810 in Paris...
's Don’t Fool With Love at the
Donmar WarehouseDonmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of London, with a capacity of 251.-About:Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical...
was nominated for the
Ian Charleson AwardThe Ian Charleson Awards is a British theatrical award to reward the best classical stage performances in Britain by actors aged under 30. It is named in memory of the late actor Ian Charleson and is run by the Sunday Times newspaper and the National Theatre...
and was described by
The IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
as "quite thrilling". Also in 1993, he appeared in the world premiere of
Harold PinterHarold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
's
MoonlightMoonlight is a play written by Harold Pinter, which premiered at the Almeida Theatre, in London, in September 1993.-Setting:THREE MAIN PLAYING AREAS:rehashes his youth, loves, lusts, and betrayals with his wife, [Bel], while simultaneously his two sons [Fred and Jake] — clinical, conspiratorial,...
at the
Almeida TheatreThe Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325 seat studio theatre with an international reputation which takes its name from the street in which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diverse range of drama and holds an annual summer festival of...
and made his television debut in the 1993 BBC mini-series,
GallowglassGallowglass is a British television mini-series adaptation of the Ruth Rendell novel of the same name. It is an emotional story of obsessive love, lust and fear.-Plot:...
.
Sheen played the title role in
Peer GyntPeer Gynt is a five-act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen, loosely based on the fairy tale Per Gynt. It is the most widely performed Norwegian play. According to Klaus Van Den Berg, the "cinematic script blends poetry with social satire and realistic scenes with surreal ones"...
in 1994. The
Yukio Ninagawais a Japanese theatre director, particularly known for his Japanese language productions of Shakespeare plays and Greek tragedies. He has directed Hamlet differently six times....
production was staged in Oslo, Tokyo and at the
Barbican CentreThe Barbican Centre is the largest performing arts centre in Europe. Located in the City of London, England, the Centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory...
, London.
The TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
praised Sheen's "astonishing vitality" while The Independent found him "sensationally good" and noted that "the Norwegian press were grudgingly captivated by the mercurial Welsh boyo". Also that year, he appeared in Le Livre de Spencer at the Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe, Paris and starred in the cross-dressing farce
Charley's AuntCharley's Aunt is a farce in three acts written by Brandon Thomas. It broke all historic records for plays of any kind, with an original London run of 1,466 performances....
at the Royal Exchange. In 1995, he appeared opposite
Kate BeckinsaleKathryn Bailey "Kate" Beckinsale is an English actress. After some minor television roles, she made her film debut in Much Ado About Nothing while still a student at Oxford University...
in a production of
The SeagullThe Seagull is the first of what are generally considered to be the four major plays by the Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov. The Seagull was written in 1895 and first produced in 1896...
at the
Theatre Royal, BathThe Theatre Royal in Bath, England, is over 200 years old. It is one of the more important theatres in the United Kingdom outside London, with capacity for an audience of around 900....
and, with the encouragement of
Thelma HoltThelma Holt, is a British theatre producer and former actress.After a successful career as an actress, in partnership with Charles Marowitz, Thelma founded the Open Space Theatre in Tottenham Court Road, London, which became the forerunner of the London fringe. In 1977, joined The Round House in...
, directed and starred in
The DresserThe Dresser is a 1983 film which tells the story of an aging actor's personal assistant, who struggles to keep his charge's life together. It is based on a screenplay by Ronald Harwood, in turn based on his successful 1980 West End and Broadway play of the same name.The film was directed by Peter...
at the
Theatre Royal, PlymouthThe Theatre Royal in Plymouth, Devon, England is "the largest and best attended regional producing theatre in the UK and the leading promoter of theatre in the south west", according to Arts Council England...
. He also made his film debut that year, appearing opposite Kenneth Brannagh in
OthelloOthello is a 1995 film based on William Shakespeare's tragedy of the same name. It was directed by Oliver Parker and stars Laurence Fishburne as Othello, Irène Jacob as Desdemona, and Kenneth Branagh as Iago...
. 1996 saw Sheen at the
National TheatreThe Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
for The Ends Of The Earth, an original play by
David LanDavid Lan is an English playwright, filmmaker and theatre director.Born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1952, he emigrated to London in 1972. Since 2000 he has been artistic director of the Young Vic theatre in London's South Bank.-Career:...
. A minor role in
Mary ReillyMary Reilly is a 1996 film directed by Stephen Frears. The movie was written by Christopher Hampton based on the novel Mary Reilly by Valerie Martin...
marked the first of three film collaborations with director
Stephen FrearsStephen Arthur Frears is an English film director.-Early life:Frears was born in Leicester, England to Ruth M., a social worker, and Dr Russell E. Frears, a general practitioner and accountant. He did not find out that his mother was Jewish until he was in his late 20s...
.
Sheen's most significant appearance of 1997 was the title role in
Henry VHenry V is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to be written in approximately 1599. Its full titles are The Cronicle History of Henry the Fifth and The Life of Henry the Fifth...
, staged by the
Royal Shakespeare CompanyThe Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
(RSC) at their
Stratford-upon-AvonStratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
theatreThe Royal Shakespeare Theatre is a 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the British playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is located in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon - Shakespeare's birthplace - in the English Midlands, beside the River Avon...
, which earned him a second Ian Charleson Award nomination. The Times praised "a blisteringly intelligent performance". Also in 1997, he appeared in a revival of Harold Pinter's
The HomecomingThe Homecoming is a two-act play written in 1964 by Nobel laureate Harold Pinter and first published in 1965. The original Broadway production won the 1967 Tony Award for Best Play and its 40th-anniversary Broadway production at the Cort Theatre was nominated for a 2008 Tony Award for "Best Revival...
at the National Theatre, directed by
Roger MichellRoger Michell is an English theatre, television and film director.-Personal life:He was born in Pretoria, South Africa but spent significant parts of his childhood in Beirut, Damascus and Prague as his father was a diplomat. He was educated at Clifton College where he became a member of Brown's...
, and directed Badfinger, starring
Rhys IfansRhys Ifans is a Welsh actor and musician. He is known for his portrayal of characters such as Spike in Notting Hill and Jed Parry in Enduring Love and as a member of the Welsh rock groups Super Furry Animals and The Peth. Ifans also appeared as Xenophilius Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Deathly...
, at the Donmar Warehouse. The latter was staged by the Thin Language Theatre Company, which Sheen had co-founded in 1991, aiming to further Welsh theatre. He then appeared in the biographical film
WildeWilde is a 1997 British biographical film directed by Brian Gilbert with Stephen Fry in the title role. The screenplay by Julian Mitchell is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1987 biography of Oscar Wilde by Richard Ellmann.-Plot:...
, playing Robbie Ross to
Stephen FryStephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
's Oscar Wilde. In early 1998 Sheen formed a production company, The Foundry, with
Helen McCroryHelen Elizabeth McCrory is a British actress. She portrayed Cherie Blair in both the 2006 film The Queen and the 2010 film The Special Relationship. She also portrayed Narcissa Malfoy in the final three Harry Potter films....
and
Robert DelamereRobert Delamere is a theatre, opera, television and commercials director. He is the founder and CEO of Digital Theatre,Best known for his theatre work, he has directed more than thirty productions...
to promote the work of emerging playwrights, and
producedA theatrical producer is the person ultimately responsible for overseeing all aspects of mounting a theatre production. The independent producer will usually be the originator and finder of the script and starts the whole process...
A Little World of Our Own at the Donmar Warehouse, which gave
Colin FarrellColin James Farrell is an Irish actor, who has appeared in such film as Tigerland, Miami Vice, Minority Report, Phone Booth, The Recruit, Alexander and S.W.A.T....
his West End debut.
From 1998 to 1999, Sheen starred as
MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
in a highly successful revival of
AmadeusAmadeus is a play by Peter Shaffer.It is based on the lives of the composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, highly fictionalized.Amadeus was first performed in 1979...
. The Peter Hall-directed production was staged at the
Old VicThe Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
, London and later transferred to the
Music BoxThe Music Box Theater is a Broadway theatre located at 239 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.The once most aptly named theater on Broadway, the intimate Music Box was designed by architect C. Howard Crane and constructed by composer Irving Berlin and producer Sam H. Harris specifically to...
on
BroadwayBroadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
.
Ben BrantleyBenjamin D. "Ben" Brantley is an American journalist and the chief theater critic of The New York Times.-Life and career:...
, chief theatre critic for
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, was particularly vocal in his praise. He noted that "Mr. Sheen elicits a real poetry from the role" and felt that, while watching him, "you start to appreciate the derivation of the term star. This actor is so luminous it's scary!". The Independent found him "quite stunning as Mozart. His fantastically physical performance convinces you of his character's genius and the play catches fire whenever he's on stage."
Benedict NightingaleBenedict Nightingale is a British journalist and a regular theatre critic for The Times newspaper. He was born in 1939 and educated at Charterhouse and Magdalene College, Cambridge...
admired "a moving portrait" which "only a most talented young actor could create." He was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Performance and an
Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding ActorThe Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on and Off-Broadway and were begun during the 1949-1950 theater season. The awards are decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media outlets...
.
In 1999, Sheen explored the role of Jimmy Porter in the National Theatre's production of
Look Back in AngerLook Back in Anger is a John Osborne play—made into films in 1959, 1980, and 1989 -- about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected young man , his upper-middle-class, impassive wife , and her haughty best friend . Cliff, an amiable Welsh lodger, attempts to keep the peace...
. In 2003, Sheen described the production as "the most enjoyable thing I've ever done ... everything came together". The
Daily MailThe Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
declared him a "definitive Jimmy Porter... simply exhilarating in his great jazz riffs of speeches, mercurial and irresistible." "Sheen has cornered the market in explosive energy", said The Independent, "but this thrilling performance is his finest yet." The
Financial TimesThe Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
noted: "As Jimmy Porter, a role of staggering difficulty in every way, Michael Sheen gives surely the best performance London has yet seen from him ... You hang on every word he utters ... This is a dazzlingly through-the-body performance." He was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor and a Evening Standard Award for Best Actor.
The Deal, The Queen and Fantabulosa
At this point in his career, Sheen began to devote more time to film work. Previously, "I just wanted to do theatre. That was my passion and interest."
HeartlandsHeartlands is a 2002 film directed by Damien O'Donnell and written by Paul Fraser. It is a comedy-drama-road movie, running at 90 minutes, produced in the United Kingdom. It was screened at the Edinburgh Film Festival.-Plot:...
, a little-seen 2002 film about a naive man's road trip in the Midlands, was his first leading film role. While The Guardian dismissed the "cloying bittersweet-regional-lottery-Britfilm", it noted that "Sheen himself has a childlike, Frank Spencer-ish charm". "It was great to do something that was so different", Sheen has said of the role. "I usually play very extreme characters but I couldn't get away with doing all my usual silly tricks with Colin." Also in 2002, he had a minor role in
The Four FeathersThe Four Feathers is a 2002 action drama film directed by Shekhar Kapur, starring Heath Ledger, Wes Bentley, Djimon Hounsou and Kate Hudson...
. In 2003, Sheen appeared in
Bright Young ThingsBright Young Things is a 2003 British drama film written and directed by Stephen Fry. The screenplay, based on the 1930 novel Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh, provides satirical social commentary about the Bright Young People: young and carefree London aristocrats and bohemians, as well as society in...
, the directorial debut of his Wilde co-star, Stephen Fry. An adaptation of
Evelyn WaughArthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
's
novelVile Bodies is a 1930 novel by Evelyn Waugh satirising the Bright Young People: decadent young London society between World War I and World War II.-Title:The title comes from the Epistle to the Philippians 3:21...
, the film followed high society partygoers in decadent, pre-war London. Sheen played a gay aristocrat in an ensemble cast which included
James McAvoyJames McAvoy is a Scottish stage and screen actor. He made his acting debut as a teen in 1995's The Near Room and continued to make mostly television appearances until the early 2000s. His notable television work includes State of Play, Shameless, and Frank Herbert's Children of Dune...
,
Emily MortimerEmily Kathleen A. Mortimer is an English actress. She began performing on stage, and has since appeared in several film and television roles, including Scream 3, Match Point, Lars and the Real Girl, and Shutter Island....
,
David TennantDavid Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
, Dan Ackroyd,
Jim BroadbentJames "Jim" Broadbent is an English theatre, film, and television actor. He is known for his roles in Iris, Moulin Rouge!, Topsy-Turvy, Hot Fuzz, and Bridget Jones' Diary...
and
Peter O'ToolePeter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...
. While the
Los Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
said he "shone", The Guardian felt the role "drastically under-uses his talents". Sheen described his character as "possibly the campest man in cinema history" and relished a scene "where I do drugs with [a then 95-year-old] Sir John Mills. He said, 'marvellous – my first cocaine film!'" Also that year, he appeared as a werewolf named Lucian in
UnderworldUnderworld is a 2003 action-horror film about the secret history of Vampires and Lycans . It is the first installment in the Underworld series. The main plot revolves around Selene , a vampire who is a Death Dealer hunting Lycans...
and made a brief appearance in
TimelineTimeline is a 2003 science fiction action film, directed by Richard Donner. It stars Paul Walker, Frances O'Connor, Billy Connolly, David Thewlis, Gerard Butler and Anna Friel. It is based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton...
.
Sheen played the title role in
CaligulaCaligula is a play written by Albert Camus, begun in 1938 and published for the first time in May 1944 by Éditions Gallimard. The play was later the subject of numerous revisions. It was part of what the author called the "Cycle of the Absurd", with the novel The Outsider and the essay The Myth...
at the Donmar Warehouse in 2003, directed by
Michael GrandageMichael Grandage CBE is a British theatre director and producer, and current Artistic Director at the Donmar Warehouse, London. Grandage won the 2010 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for Red.-Early years:...
. It was the first of just three stage appearances during the 2000s; his young daughter was now based in Los Angeles, California which made more frequent stage runs in Britain impractical. The Independents critic declared it "one of the most thrilling and searching performances I have ever witnessed" while
The Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
described him as an "outrageously charismatic actor" with "an astonishing physical presence". The Times praised a "riveting performance" while The Guardian found him "highly impressive ... at one point he attacks his court-poet with a single hair-raising leap across a chair and table". He won an Evening Standard Award for Best Actor and a Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actor, and was again nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor.
Sheen's breakthrough role was as
Tony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
in 2003's The Deal. The
Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
film explored the so-called Granita pact made by Tony Blair and
Gordon BrownJames Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
prior to the
1994 Labour Party leadership electionA leadership election was held on 21 July 1994 for the Labour Party in the United Kingdom, after the sudden death of incumbent leader John Smith. The 1994 election would ultimately decide not only Labour's new leader, but also the next Prime Minister...
, and was the actor's first collaboration with screenwriter Peter Morgan. Director Stephen Frears cast him because "he was in Mary Reilly and I knew he was brilliant." Filmed while he was playing Caligula nightly on stage, Sheen has remarked, "It’s interesting that in searching for monsters to play, you often end up playing leaders." The Daily Telegraph praised his "earnest, yet steely, portrayal" while The Guardian found him "excellent. This is intelligent and honest casting." In 2004, Sheen starred in
ITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
's
Dirty Filthy LoveDirty Filthy Love is a British single television drama starring Michael Sheen as an architect living with obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette syndrome....
, a comic film about a man dealing with
OCDObsessive–compulsive disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce uneasiness, apprehension, fear, or worry, by repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing the associated anxiety, or by a combination of such obsessions and compulsions...
and Tourette's after a marital separation. Sheen spoke of "treading a fine line" because "a lot of the symptoms are intrinsically comical". He was nominated for a
BAFTA Award for Best Television Actor- 1950s :*1955 Paul Rogers — *1956 Peter Cushing — *1957 Michael Gough — *1958 Michael Hordern — *1959 Donald Pleasence — - 1960s :*1960 Patrick McGoohan — *1961 Lee Montague —...
and a
RTS Best Actor AwardThe Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
. Also in 2004, he played a pompous rock star in
Laws of AttractionLaws of Attraction is a 2004 romantic comedy film directed by Peter Howitt, based on a story by Aline Brosh McKenna and screenplay by Robert Harling, Howitt and McKenna. It stars Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore. It grossed $17.8 million in the United States, on a budget of $32 million...
and produced and starred in The Banker, which won a
BAFTA Award for Best Short FilmThis page lists the winners and nominees for the BAFTA Award for Best Short Film for each year. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts , is a British organisation that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, children's film and television, and interactive media...
.
In 2005, he appeared in the National Theatre's production of The UN Inspector, a
David FarrDavid Farr is a writer, theatrical director and Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company.-Background:Farr was brought up in Surrey and educated in Guildford and the University of Cambridge .- Career :...
adaptation of The Government Inspector. The Times wrote of "a scathingly brilliant and inventive performance" while
VarietyVariety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
noted that the actor "adds comic finesse to his apparently ceaseless repertoire". The Evening Standard, while conceding that the performance was "technically brilliant", expressed bemusement as to why "one of the most mercurial and inspiring actors we have seems set on impersonating
Rik MayallRichard Michael "Rik" Mayall is an English comedian, writer, and actor. He is known for his comedy partnership with Ade Edmondson, his over-the-top, energetic portrayal of characters, and as a pioneer of alternative comedy in the early 1980s...
throughout". Also that year, he took part in the Old Vic's 24 Hour Play, in which The Telegraph felt he "dazzled". In 2005 film work, he starred in Dead Long Enough, a small-budget Welsh/Irish film, with his longtime friend,
Jason HughesJason Hughes is a Welsh actor born in Porthcawl, Wales in 1971 best known for playing lawyer Warren Jones in the BBC TV series This Life from 1996 to 1997 , and as Detective Sergeant Ben Jones in Midsomer Murders since 2005.Hughes was a very good rugby player, but was persuaded to take up acting...
. In addition, he had a supporting role in
Kingdom of HeavenKingdom of Heaven is a 2005 epic action film directed by Ridley Scott and written by William Monahan. It stars Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Jeremy Irons, David Thewlis, Marton Csokas, Brendan Gleeson, Kevin McKidd, Alexander Siddig, Ghassan Massoud, Edward Norton, Jon Finch, Michael Sheen and Liam...
, made a cameo appearance in
The League of Gentlemen's ApocalypseThe League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse is a feature film spin-off of the popular British television comedy series The League of Gentlemen. Starring Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, the film was written by the cast with Jeremy Dyson, and directed by Steve Bendelack...
and starred in a short film,
The Open DoorsThe Open Doors is a short British film based on a short story 'The Open Window' by Saki .-Plot:Framton Nuttel enters the house of Mrs Sappleton . He is a young man from London suffering from nervous exhaustion, and he goes to the country side for some prescribed rest...
.
Sheen came to international attention in 2006 for his portrayal of Tony Blair in
The QueenThe Queen is a 2006 British drama film directed by Stephen Frears, written by Peter Morgan, and starring Helen Mirren as the title role, HM Queen Elizabeth II...
. The film focused on the differing reactions of the
British Royal FamilyThe British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
and the newly elected Prime Minister following the
death of Diana, Princess of WalesOn 31 August 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, died as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris, France. Her companion, Dodi Fayed, and the driver of the Mercedes-Benz W140, Henri Paul, were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. Fayed's...
in 1997; it was Sheen's third collaboration with director Stephen Frears and his second with screenwriter Peter Morgan. He enjoyed reprising his role because Blair, at this point in his career, had "a weight to him that he didn’t have before". When asked to discuss his personal opinion of Blair, Sheen admitted that the more time he spent working on the character, the "less opinion" he has of the politican: "Now when I watch him on TV or hear his voice, it's sort of like a cross between a family member, a friend and seeing a really old embarrassing video of yourself."
Peter TraversPeter Travers is an American film critic, who has written for, in turn, People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts a celebrity interview show called Popcorn on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com.-Career:...
of
Rolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
praised "a sensational performance, alert and nuanced" while Empire spoke of an "uncanny, insightful performance". Sheen was nominated for a
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting RoleBest Actor in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film...
. His second film appearance of 2006 was a supporting role in
Blood DiamondBlood Diamond is a 2006 political thriller film co-produced and directed by Edward Zwick and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou...
as an unscrupulous diamond dealer.
Also in 2006, Sheen starred as troubled English comic actor,
Kenneth WilliamsKenneth Charles Williams was an English comic actor and comedian. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the Carry On films, and appeared in numerous British television shows, and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne.-Life and career:Kenneth Charles Williams was born on 22 February...
, in BBC4's
Fantabulosa!Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa! is a 2006 BBC Four television play starring Michael Sheen as the English comic actor Kenneth Williams, based on Williams' own diaries...
In preparation for the role, he lost two and a half stone, studied archival footage and read Williams' published diaries. Sheen has said he is "fascinated by finding the private side of the public face". The Times found his performance "mesmerising" while The Observer described it as "a characterisation for which the description tour-de-force is, frankly, pretty faint praise". He won a
RTS Award for Best ActorThe Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
, and received his second BAFTA nomination of 2006, for
Best Television Actor- 1950s :*1955 Paul Rogers — *1956 Peter Cushing — *1957 Michael Gough — *1958 Michael Hordern — *1959 Donald Pleasence — - 1960s :*1960 Patrick McGoohan — *1961 Lee Montague —...
. He starred in two other BBC television productions in 2006, playing H.G. Wells in HG Wells: War with the World and
NeroNero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
in
Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an EmpireAncient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire is a 2006 BBC One docudrama series, with each episode looking at a different key turning point in the history of the Roman Empire.-Production:...
.
Frost/Nixon and The Damned United
From 2006 to 2007, Sheen played
David FrostSir David Frost is a British broadcaster.David Frost may also refer to:*David Frost , South African golfer*David Frost , classical record producer*David Frost *Dave Frost, baseball pitcher...
in Frost/Nixon at both the Donmar Warehouse and
Gielgud TheatreThe Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, London, at the corner of Rupert Street. The house currently has 889 seats on three levels.-History:...
in London and at the
Jacobs TheatreThe Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 242 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.Designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp, it opened as the Royale Theatre on January 11, 1927 with a musical entitled Piggy...
on Broadway. The play, written by
Peter MorganPeter Morgan may refer to:* Peter Morgan , British sports car manufacturer* Peter Morgan , 1978 British Formula Ford champion* Peter Morgan , Wales and British lions international...
, directed by Michael Grandage and co-starring
Frank Langella-Early life:Langella, an Italian American, was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, the son of Angelina and Frank A. Langella Sr., a business executive who was the president of the Bayonne Barrel and Drum Company. Langella attended Washington Elementary School and Bayonne High School in Bayonne...
, was a critical and commercial success but Sheen initially accepted the role as a favour to his friends and "never thought it was going anywhere".
The GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
said the actor "exactly captures Frost's verbal tics and mannerisms while suggesting a nervousness behind the self-assurance". "He’s got the voice, the mannerisms, the blaze," said the Financial Times, "but, more than that, Sheen – as viscerally exciting an actor as any in Britain today – shows us the hunger of Frost’s ambition .. and fox-like instinct for the hunt and the kill." He was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor and a
Drama League Award for Distinguished PerformanceThe Drama League Awards, created in 1935, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing...
.
Sheen next appeared in
Music WithinMusic Within is a 2007 drama film starring Ron Livingston, Melissa George and Michael Sheen.-Plot synopsis:The true story of Richard Pimentel, a brilliant public speaker with a troubled past. As a young man, Pimentel realized he had a remarkable gift for public speaking. Pimentel's idol is College...
as a political activist with cerebal palsy. He spoke of having a "responsibility" to accurately portray the condition in the 2007 film. Variety said his performance was "remarkable.. utterly convincing",
USA TodayUSA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
found him "outstanding" while the Los Angeles Times felt he was "reminiscent of
Daniel Day-LewisDaniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is an English actor with both British and Irish citizenship. His portrayals of Christy Brown in My Left Foot and Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood won Academy and BAFTA Awards for Best Actor, and Screen Actors Guild as well as Golden Globe Awards for the latter...
in
My Left FootMy Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown is a 1989 drama film directed by Jim Sheridan and starring Daniel Day-Lewis. It tells the true story of Christy Brown, an Irishman born with cerebral palsy, who could control only his left foot. Christy Brown grew up in a poor, working class family, and...
, bringing a vibrancy and wit to the role". Also that year, he starred in a short film,
Airlock, or How To Say Goodbye in SpaceAirlock, or How To Say Goodbye In Space is a short British science fiction film.This film was nominated for the Shine Award at the Bradford International Film Festival 2008.-Plot:...
, with Sir Derek Jacobi and was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.
Sheen revisited the role of television broadcaster
David FrostSir David Frost is a British broadcaster.David Frost may also refer to:*David Frost , South African golfer*David Frost , classical record producer*David Frost *Dave Frost, baseball pitcher...
in 2008's
Frost/NixonFrost/Nixon is a 2008 historical drama film based on the 2006 play by Peter Morgan which dramatizes the Frost/Nixon interviews of 1977. The film was directed by Ron Howard and produced for Universal Pictures by Howard, Brian Grazer of Imagine Entertainment and Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of Working...
, a film dramatisation of the
The Nixon InterviewsThe Nixon Interviews were a series of interviews of former United States President Richard Nixon conducted by British journalist Sir David Frost, and produced by John Birt. They were recorded and broadcast on television in four programs in 1977...
of 1977. Despite appearing in the original stage production in a part written for him by Peter Morgan, Sheen was surprised to have been cast in the film: "Peter said he'd only be prepared to give the rights to someone who would cast me as Frost, which was very nice, but when the studios get their hands on something... Right up until we started filming I was prepared to be disappointed".
Roger EbertRoger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the
Chicago Sun-TimesThe Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
asserted that Sheen embodied his character in a "compelling, intense" performance while
The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
felt he was "a brilliant actor" who "grows his character from a bright-eyed social butterfly to a gimlet-eyed interrogator". However, The New York Times felt "the likable, watchable Mr. Sheen has been pitted against a scene-stealer" in Frank Langella's Nixon. Frost himself later said it was "a wonderful performance". He was the recipient of the Variety Award at the
British Independent Film Awards 2008The 11th British Independent Film Awards, held on 30 November 2008 at the Old Billingsgate Market in London, honoured the best British independent films of 2008.-Best British Independent Film:* Slumdog Millionaire* Hunger* In Bruges...
.
2009 saw Sheen portray another public figure; he starred in
The Damned UnitedThe Damned United is a 2009 British sports drama film directed by Tom Hooper and adapted by Peter Morgan from David Peace's bestselling novel The Damned Utd, a largely fictional book based on the author's interpretation of Brian Clough's tenure as manager of Leeds United...
as outspoken football manager
Brian CloughBrian Howard Clough, OBE was an English footballer and football manager. He is most notable for his success with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. His achievement of winning back-to-back European Cups with Nottingham Forest, a traditionally moderate provincial English club, is considered to be...
. The
Tom HooperThomas George "Tom" Hooper is a British film and television director of English and Australian background. Hooper began making short films at the age of 13, and had his first professional short, Painted Faces, broadcast on Channel 4 in 1992. At Oxford University Hooper directed plays and...
-directed film focused on Clough's disastrous 44-day tenure as manager of
Leeds UnitedLeeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...
and marked Sheen's fifth collaboration with writer Peter Morgan. The actor has said Clough is the real-life character he enjoyed playing most. The Guardian, writing in 2009, declared it the "best performance of his big-screen career" while The Times found him "magnificent". USA Today praised "Sheen's masterful performance" while the Los Angeles Times felt he played the role with "a cheeky, dark panache" and "skillful verve".
Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
asserted that, despite American audiences' unfamiliarity with Clough, "what's lost in translation is recovered easily enough in Michael Sheen's astonishing performance". Variety noted that his "typically scrupulous channeling of Clough gets the tics and mannerisms right, but also carves a moving portrait of a braggart suddenly out of his depth".
Also in 2009, Sheen reprised his role as werewolf Lucian in
Underworld: Rise of the LycansUnderworld: Rise of the Lycans is a 2009 American film directed by Patrick Tatopoulos. It is the third installment in the Underworld series, focusing primarily on the origins of some characters and the events leading to the Vampire-Lycan war, depicted in the previous films Underworld and...
, a prequel to the original film. Of his decision to take part, Sheen has said: "My rule of thumb is that I want to do things I'd like to go and see myself." The New York Times felt he was "the movie’s greatest asset ... [taking] a lively break from his usual high-crust duties to bring wit, actual acting and some unexpected musculature to the goth-horror flick". Variety said he hit "all the right notes in a star-powered performance that will amuse, if not amaze, anyone who only knows the actor as Tony Blair or David Frost" while
Richard CorlissRichard Nelson Corliss is a writer for Time magazine who focuses on movies, with the occasional article on music or sports. Corliss is the former editor-in-chief of Film Comment...
of
TimeTime is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
noted that he "tries bravely to keep a straight face"
Sheen had a supporting role in 2009's The Twilight Saga: New Moon, the second film in the highly popular vampire series. He was paid a reported £5 million fee and director
Chris WeitzChristopher John "Chris" Weitz is an American producer, writer, director and actor. He is best known for his work with his brother, Paul Weitz, on the comedy films American Pie and About a Boy, as well as directing the film adaptation of the novel The Golden Compass and the film adaptation of New...
has said he "aggressively" pursued the actor for the role. In its review, Rolling Stone said: "Late in the film, a real actor, Michael Sheen, shows up as the mind-reading Aro, of the Italian Volturi vampires, and sparks things up. You can almost hear the young cast thinking, "Is that acting? It looks hard." So Sheen is quickly ushered out." While The New York Times said he "preens with plausible menace", USA Today felt he "plays the character with more high-pitched giddiness than menace". He was named Actor of the Year at GQ Magazines annual Men of the Year ceremony. Also that year, Sheen performed a scene from
BetrayalBetrayal is a play written by Harold Pinter in 1978. Critically regarded as one of the English playwright's major dramatic works, it features his characteristically economical dialogue, characters' hidden emotions and veiled motivations, and their self-absorbed competitive one-upmanship,...
as part of a Harold Pinter tribute evening at the National Theatre and performed improvisational comedy as part of
The GroundlingsThe Groundlings are an improvisational comedy troupe based in Los Angeles, California. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin to produce sketches and improvised scenes...
' Crazy Joe Show in Los Angeles.
The Passion and Hamlet
In 2010, Sheen had a supporting role in sci-fi sequel Tron: Legacy. Referring to his
David BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
-esque character, Sheen has said, "I was paid to show off basically". The Wall Street Journal found little fun in the movie "except for a gleefully campy turn by Michael Sheen" while The New York Times said he "shows up to deliver the closest thing to a performance in the movie". The Daily Telegraph felt his "lively hamming as a cane-swishing nightclub owner merely underlines how impersonal – how inhuman – much else here is". However, USA Today felt his "scenery-chewing performance ... is meant as comic relief, but this movie thunders along so seriously that the attempt at humor feels jarring". In other 2010 film work, he provided the voices for characters in
Tim BurtonTimothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
's
Alice in WonderlandAlice in Wonderland is a 2010 American computer-animated/live action fantasy adventure film directed by Tim Burton, written by Linda Woolverton, and released by Walt Disney Pictures...
and Disney's
Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy RescueTinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue is an computer animated film based on the Disney Fairies franchise, produced by DisneyToon Studios. It is the sequel to the 2009 film, Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure and revolves around Tinker Bell, a fairy character created by J. M...
and appeared as a terrorist in
UnthinkableUnthinkable is an American suspense thriller film directed by Gregor Jordan and starring Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Sheen and Carrie-Anne Moss. It was released direct-to-video on June 14, 2010.-Plot:...
.
On television, Sheen's performance in the third installment of Peter Morgan's
BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
trilogy,
The Special RelationshipThe Special Relationship is a 2010 American-British political film directed by Richard Loncraine from a screenplay by Peter Morgan. It is the third film in Morgan's informal "Blair trilogy", which dramatizes the political career of British Prime Minister Tony Blair , following The Deal and The...
, was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Miniseries or Movie. The HBO film examined the "special relationship" between the US and the UK in the political era of Blair and
Bill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. It was the sixth collaboration between Sheen and Peter Morgan; both parties have since said they will not work together again "for the foreseeable future". He also made a guest appearance in four episodes of
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's
30 Rock30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live...
as Wesley Snipes, a love interest for
Tina FeyElizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer, known for her work on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live , the NBC comedy series 30 Rock, and films such as Mean Girls and Baby Mama .Fey first broke into comedy as a featured player in the...
's Liz Lemon. Fey, the sitcom's star and creator, has said that "he was so funny and delightful to work with". "Whenever we want to wrap things up forever, which hopefully will not be next season, I definitely have a plan to bring him back." In November 2010, Sheen received the BAFTA Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year.
In 2011, Sheen starred in and was creative director of
National Theatre WalesNational Theatre Wales is the English language national theatre company in Wales. Focused on producing work in the English language, the company's opening programme of work included twelve shows in twelve months....
's The Passion, a 72-hour secular
passion playA Passion play is a dramatic presentation depicting the Passion of Jesus Christ: his trial, suffering and death. It is a traditional part of Lent in several Christian denominations, particularly in Catholic tradition....
staged in his hometown of Port Talbot, Wales. In addition to a professional cast, over one thousand local amateurs took part in the performance and as many more volunteers from local charity and community groups were involved in preparations in the months leading up to the play. The event was the subject of a
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
documentary and was also filmed by director
Dave McKeanDavid McKean is an English illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician....
for a separate, upcoming release. Sheen has described it as "the most meaningful experience" of his career. The Observer declared it "one of the outstanding theatrical events not only of this year, but of the decade". The Independents critic described it as "the most extraordinary piece of community-specific theatre I've ever beheld". While the The Daily Telegraph bemoaned the large-scale production's logistical problems, "overall I found it touching, transformative and, in its own wayward way, a triumph." The Guardian felt it was "so much more than just an epic piece of street theatre..transforming and uplifting". Sheen and co-director Bill Mitchell were jointly honoured as Best Director at the
Theatre Awards UK 2011The TMA Awards, established in 1991, are presented annually by the Theatrical Management Association in recognition of creative excellence and outstanding work in United Kingdom theatres...
.
Sheen's most notable film appearance of 2011 was a supporting role in
Woody AllenWoody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
's
Midnight in ParisMidnight in Paris is a 2011 romantic comedy-fantasy film written and directed by Woody Allen. The plot centers on a small group of Americans visiting the French capital for business and pleasure...
. Allen noted that "Michael had to do the pseudo-intellectual, the genuine intellectual, the pedant, and he came in and nailed it from the start". Sheen has said: "Unfortunately, I didn’t have to scratch too far beneath the surface of myself to find my inner know-it-all and release it for the film. It was great to be able to play someone who’s just absolutely got no sense that he’s overstepping the mark or that he’s being a bore." The film opened the
2011 Cannes Film FestivalThe 64th annual Cannes Film Festival was held from May 11 to May 22, 2011. American actor Robert De Niro served as the president of the jury for the main competition and French filmmaker Michel Gondry headed the jury for the short film competition...
and became Allen's highest grossing film to date. Also in 2011, he starred in
Beautiful Boy-Plot:Bill and Kate are a married couple who are tightly wound and devoted to their work -- Bill is a businessman, Kate proofreads books...
, an independent drama focusing on the aftermath of a school shooting,, voiced a character in a
Doctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
episode written by his friend
Neil GaimanNeil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
and made cameo appearances in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 and
ResistanceResistance is a 2011 Welsh film based on the novel of the same name by Owen Sheers. It is scheduled to have a UK release on 25 November 2011 .-Cast:*Andrea Riseborough - Sarah*Michael Sheen - Tommy Atkins*Kimberley Nixon - Bethan*Iwan Rheon - George...
.
Sheen is currently playing the title role in
HamletThe Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
at the Young Vic, a role he first explored in a 1999
BBC Radio 3BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
production. While there had been tentative plans over the years for both Peter Hall and Michael Grandage to direct Sheen in the play, he eventually asked
Ian RicksonIan Rickson is a British theatre and film director. He was the Artistic Director at the Royal Court Theatre in London from 1998 to 2006, and currently works freelance....
. Rickson's production is set in a mental asylum and features original music by
PJ HarveyPolly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...
. The Evening Standard declared Sheen's performance "an audacious achievement" that "will live in the memory" while The Independent praised "a recklessly brilliant and bravura performance." The Telegraph felt that Sheen "could be right up there among the great Hamlets" while The Times found him "unbearably moving". The Guardian described him as "fascinating to watch ... intelligent, inventive and full of insights ... [he] delivers the "What a piece of work is man" passage with a beautiful consciousness of human potential." The Observer declared him an actor "always worth crossing a principality to see and hear" whose ""
To be or not to beTo Be or Not to Be can refer to:* To be, or not to be, the soliloquy from Hamlet* To Be or Not to Be , directed by Ernst Lubitsch* To Be or Not to Be , a remake produced by Mel Brooks...
" is a marvel."
Sheen has two projects awaiting release; he plays a supporting role in an as-yet-untitled
Terrence MalickTerrence Frederick Malick is a U.S. film director, screenwriter, and producer. In a career spanning almost four decades, Malick has directed five feature films....
film and will make an appearance in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2. He has also spoken of his intention to direct a film about American writer
Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
.
Personal life
Sheen had an eight-year relationship with English actress
Kate BeckinsaleKathryn Bailey "Kate" Beckinsale is an English actress. After some minor television roles, she made her film debut in Much Ado About Nothing while still a student at Oxford University...
from 1995 until 2003. They met when cast in a touring production of The Seagull in early 1995 and began living together shortly afterwards. She has said it was "love at first sight" and that he saved her from "a hospital for the criminally insane". Their daughter, Lily Mo Sheen, was born on 31 January 1999 in
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England. The actress has said she was "embarrassed" that Sheen never proposed but remarked, "If you keep a library book out long enough, you feel it's yours." Their relationship ended in early 2003, after the filming of Underworld. Beckinsale had persuaded director
Len WisemanLen Ryan Wiseman is an American film director best known for his work on the Underworld series and Live Free or Die Hard. His latest project, Total Recall, is set for release in summer 2012...
to cast Sheen in the film but, while on set, she and Wiseman (who was married) fell in love. She relocated to Los Angeles, California and married Wiseman in 2004.
Sheen also moved from London to Los Angeles following the split in order to live close to his daughter. "I like LA", he has remarked. "It's grown on me and it's my home for now, but I wouldn't choose to live in LA if it wasn't for my daughter... Once Lily's older and able to move around, I'll probably return to the UK." He remains friends with both Beckinsale and Wiseman. "We were very lucky in that we didn't have an acrimonious split," Beckinsale has said. "We are still very close and [our daughter] sees us around each other." "I love him dearly – I would miss him dreadfully if he wasn't in my life."
Sheen had a long-distance relationship with English ballet dancer Lorraine Stewart from late 2004 until mid-2010. He is currently in a relationship with Canadian actress
Rachel McAdamsRachel Anne McAdams is a Canadian actress. After graduating from a theatre program at York University, Toronto in 2001, she worked steadily as an actress until finding fame in 2004 with starring roles in teen comedy Mean Girls and romantic drama The Notebook...
. They met on the set of Midnight in Paris in July 2010 and have since worked together on an as-yet-untitled Terence Malick film.
Sheen does not ascribe to any religion, having asked his parents at the age of seven if he could stop attending church. He has said that he usually votes for the
Labour PartyThe Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
and has criticised the
Conservative PartyThe Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
's
Big SocietyThe Big Society was the flagship policy idea of the 2010 UK Conservative Party general election manifesto. It now forms part of the legislative programme of the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition Agreement. The aim is "to create a climate that empowers local people and communities, building...
initiative as "a totally cosmetic bit of PR". "Rather than trying to encourage people to do more voluntary work, I would say look at the people who are doing the work already and give them more support."
Sheen is the president of TREAT Trust Wales, a charity which aims to provide a rehabilitation and therapy centre in the grounds of
SwanseaSwansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
’s
Morriston HospitalMorriston Hospital is a 750 bed hospital located in Cwmrhydyceirw near Morriston in Swansea, Wales. Morriston is the largest hospital in the city and county of Swansea and is operated by Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board. Alongside its role as a district general hospital, Morriston...
by 2015, and is the Welsh ambassador of
FILMCLUBFILMCLUB is an education charity which sets up film clubs in schools and other education and care establishments in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. The scheme is free to all state primary and secondary schools in Wales and England...
, a charity which offers after-school film clubs to state primary and secondary schools in an effort to improve literacy levels. He is a patron of charities including
Scene & HeardScene & Heard, is a British registered charity which operates as a mentoring project for inner-city children in Somers Town, London.Much of the charity's work involves teaming children with a volunteer theatre professional to write short plays, which are performed by professional actors in front of...
, NSPCC's Child's Voice Appeal, Healing The Wounds, The Relationships Centre and WGCADA, and has taken part in a number of charity football matches, most notably captaining the winning Soccer Aid 2010 team at
Wembley StadiumThe original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
. He is also a patron of the
British Independent Film AwardsThe Moët British Independent Film Awards is an annual award ceremony celebrating achievement in independently funded British film and cinema. Nominations and jury are announced at the beginning of November with the award ceremony taking place in late November or early December.-History:The British...
, an ambassador for the
Dylan Thomas PrizeThe Dylan Thomas Prize is the world’s top cash prize for young writers. The annual prize, named in honor of the Welsh writer and poet Dylan Thomas, brings international prestige and a cash award of £30,000 . It is open to published writers in the English language under the age of thirty. The prize...
and vice-president of Port Talbot Town FC.
Awards and recognition
Theatre awards
- M.E.N. Theatre Award for Best Actor
The Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards, commonly referred to as the MEN or M.E.N. Awards, recognise excellence in live British theatre. They are administered by the Manchester Evening News, and are presented at an annual ceremony in Manchester, England...
(1992) - nominated for Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Exchange, Manchester
- Ian Charleson Award
The Ian Charleson Awards is a British theatrical award to reward the best classical stage performances in Britain by actors aged under 30. It is named in memory of the late actor Ian Charleson and is run by the Sunday Times newspaper and the National Theatre...
(1993) - nominated for Don't Fool with Love at the Donmar Warehouse, London
- Ian Charleson Award (1997) - nominated for Henry V at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford Upon Avon
- Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Performance (1998) - nominated for Amadeus at the Old Vic, London
- Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor
The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on and Off-Broadway and were begun during the 1949-1950 theater season. The awards are decided upon by theater critics who review for out-of-town newspapers, national publications, and other media outlets...
(1999) - nominated for Amadeus at the Music Box Theatre, Broadway
- Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor (1999) - nominated for Look Back in Anger at the National Theatre, London
- Evening Standard Award for Best Actor (1999) - nominated for Look Back in Anger at the National Theatre, London
- Evening Standard Award for Best Actor (2003) - win for Caligula at the Donmar Warehouse, London
- Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actor (2003) - win for Caligula at the Donmar Warehouse, London
- Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor (2003) - nominated for Caligula at the Donmar Warehouse, London
- Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor (2006) - nominated for Frost/Nixon at the Donmar Warehouse, London
- Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance
The Drama League Awards, created in 1935, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing...
(2007) - nominated for Frost/Nixon at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, Broadway
- Theatre Award UK for Best Director
The TMA Awards, established in 1991, are presented annually by the Theatrical Management Association in recognition of creative excellence and outstanding work in United Kingdom theatres...
(2011) - win for The Passion, a site-specific performance in Port Talbot, Wales
Screen awards
- British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
- 1950s :*1955 Paul Rogers — *1956 Peter Cushing — *1957 Michael Gough — *1958 Michael Hordern — *1959 Donald Pleasence — - 1960s :*1960 Patrick McGoohan — *1961 Lee Montague —...
(2004) - nominated for Dirty Filthy Love
- Royal Television Society Award for Best Actor
The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
(2004) - nominated for Dirty Filthy Love
- British Academy Television Award for Best Actor (2006) - nominated for Fantabulosa!
- Royal Television Society Award for Best Actor (2006) - win for Fantabulosa!
- BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Best Actor in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film...
(2006) - nominated for The Queen
- Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
The Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor is an annual award given by the Chicago Film Critics Association.-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:...
(2006) - nominated for The Queen
- Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor is one of the annual awards given by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.This award has been awarded since 1977.-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
(2006) - win for The Queen
- Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor
The Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor is an award given by the Kansas City Film Critics Circle to honor the best achievements in acting.-1960s:-1970:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:*...
(2006) - win for The Queen
- Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
The Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor is one of the annual awards given by the Toronto Film Critics Association.-2000s:-2010s:...
(2006) - win for The Queen
- St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
The St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association is an organization of film critics operating in metropolitan St. Louis and adjoining areas of Missouri and Illinois which was founded in 2004....
(2007) - nominated for The Music Within
- Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor
The Evening Standard British Film Awards were established in 1973 by the British London area evening newspaper Evening Standard. The Standard Awards is the only ceremony "dedicated to British and Irish talent," judged by a panel of "top UK critics." Each ceremony honours films from the previous...
(2008) - nominated for Frost/Nixon
- London Film Critics Circle Award for British Actor of the Year (2008) - nominated for Frost/Nixon
- Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (2008) - nominated for Frost/Nixon
- Variety Award at the British Independent Film Awards 2008
The 11th British Independent Film Awards, held on 30 November 2008 at the Old Billingsgate Market in London, honoured the best British independent films of 2008.-Best British Independent Film:* Slumdog Millionaire* Hunger* In Bruges...
- win
- GQ Magazine's Actor of the Year (2009) - win
- Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
The Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama is an annual award given by the International Press Academy as one of its Satellite Awards.- 1996–1999 :- 2000–2009 :-2010–2019:...
(2009) - nominated for The Damned United
- Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Miniseries or a Movie (2010) - nominated for The Special Relationship
- BAFTA Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year - win
Other honours
Sheen was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2009 New Year Honours list for his services to drama. He was awarded the
freedom of the boroughFreedom of the City is an honour bestowed by some municipalities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and Rhodesia to esteemed members of its community and to organisations to be honoured, often for service to the community;...
of
Neath Port TalbotNeath Port Talbot is a county borough and one of the unitary authority areas of Wales. Neath Port Talbot is the 8th most populous county in Wales and the third most populous county borough....
, Wales in 2008 for his services in the field of the dramatic arts. He is an Honourary Fellow of the
University of Wales, NewportThe University of Wales, Newport is a university based in Newport, South Wales. The university has two campuses; Caerleon on the northern outskirts of the city and a £35 million campus on the banks of the River Usk in Newport city centre opened in 2011...
, the
Royal Welsh College of Music & DramaThe Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama is a conservatoire within the University of Glamorgan Group located in Cardiff, Wales....
and Swansea Metropolitan University, and has been awarded the
James Joyce AwardThe James Joyce Award is an award given by the Literary and Historical Society of University College Dublin for those who have achieved outstanding success in their given field...
by
University College DublinUniversity College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...
.
List of performances
In a career spanning twenty-one years to date, Sheen has 30 theatre credits, 37 film credits and 17 television credits.
Sheen has also appeared in many radio productions, particularly in the early years of his career. Notable radio play appearances include Strangers on a Train (1994) opposite
Bill NighyWilliam Francis "Bill" Nighy is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer Prof...
,
The Importance of Being EarnestThe Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...
(1995) opposite
Judi DenchDame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
,
Romeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
(1997) opposite Kate Beckinsale,
TroyTroy is a trilogy of radio plays, first broadcast in 1998 on BBC Radio 3. The cast is led by Paul Scofield, who came out of retirement to take part. Troy was written by Andrew Rissik and produced by Jeremy Mortimer...
(1998) opposite
Paul ScofieldDavid Paul Scofield, CH, CBE , better known as Paul Scofield, was an English actor of stage and screen...
and
The PretendersThe Pretenders is a dramatic play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.-Play overview:The Pretenders was written in bursts during 1863, but Ibsen claims to have had sources and the idea back in 1858. A five-act play in prose set in the thirteenth-century. The play opened at the old Christiania...
(2004) opposite, again, Paul Scofield. He has narrated five novels for
BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
and
Naxos AudioBooksNaxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest...
:
Crime and PunishmentCrime and Punishment is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It was first published in the literary journal The Russian Messenger in twelve monthly installments during 1866. It was later published in a single volume. This is the second of Dostoyevsky's full-length novels following his...
(1994), The Idiot (1995), The Picture of Dorian Grey (1995), A White Merc With Fins (1997) and
Salmon Fishing in the YemenSalmon Fishing in the Yemen is an upcoming British comedy film directed by Lasse Hallström and starring Emily Blunt, Ewan McGregor and Kristin Scott Thomas. The screenplay is by Simon Beaufoy, based on a novel of the same name by Paul Torday. Principal photography began on August 6, 2010 and was...
(2007).
External links