Everything about Michael Sheen totally explained
Michael Sheen (born
5 February 1969) is an award-winning
Welsh actor perhaps best known for his portrayal of
Tony Blair in the
Stephen Frears-directed films
The Deal and
The Queen.
Biography
Early life
Sheen was born in
Newport,
Monmouthshire to Irene and
Meyrick Sheen
, both of whom worked in
personnel management. His father is also a very successful part-time professional
Jack Nicholson look-alike. Michael has one sibling, a younger sister named Joanne. The young Sheen was brought up in
Port Talbot where he attended Glan Afan comprehensive school and joined the
National Youth Theatre of Wales at sixteen, eventually training at the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Career
Sheen soon established himself as one of the most promising talents on the theatrical scene, notably being cast as
Mozart in
Peter Shaffers play
Amadeus, which was staged at the
Old Vic theatre and directed by
Sir Peter Hall.
His screen appearances include the
BBC drama serial,
Gallowglass (based on the novel by
Ruth Rendell), and the films
Wilde (1997) (in which he played
Robert Ross) and
Mary Reilly. However, he remains primarily a stage actor, having starred in high-profile productions of
Henry V,
Peer Gynt,
The Dresser,
Caligula and
Look Back in Anger, among others.
In 2003, he appeared with
Kate Beckinsale in the gothic horror-action film
Underworld.
Salon review Andrew O'Hehir commented that while the "... entire movie is full of campy overacting... Brolly and Sheen seem to have been selected for their talents in this regard. Sheen prances around giving one of those line readings where one word is ridiculously overstressed ("You're acting like a pack of wild DOGS!"), and he looks distressingly like the female-to-male backup singer in "Hedwig and the Angry Inch." Sheen has also appeared with Beckinsale in the season seven premiere of
Punk'd.
He played
Tony Blair in the
Channel 4 drama
The Deal and the film
The Queen, as well as
Kenneth Williams in on
BBC Four and
H G Wells in
H G Wells: War with the World on
BBC Two.
At the 2005
British Academy Television Awards, Sheen was nominated for Best Actor for his performance in the TV drama,
Dirty Filthy Love, in which he played a man with
obsessive-compulsive disorder.
In 2007, he received two BAFTA nominations, this time for Best Supporting Actor in a Film, for his performance in
The Queen, and for Best Television Actor, for his role in
Fantabulosa; once again, he was unsuccessful in both cases. In 2006, he played the role of
Emperor Nero in the
BBC's . Later that year, he played
David Frost in the much-acclaimed
Donmar Warehouse production of
Peter Morgan's
Frost/Nixon, which later transferred to the Gielgud Theatre before heading to Broadway. He reprised the role in the Broadway production in 2007.
In 2007, he read
Paul Torday's novel
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen on
BBC Radio 4's
Book at Bedtime. Also in
2007, Sheen was invited to join the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Sheen is expected to play
Brian Clough in
Peter Morgan's
forthcoming adaptation of
David Peace's novel
The Damned Utd, based on Clough's 44-day spell in charge of Leeds United.
On
2 October 2007, it was announced that Peter Morgan was working on a sequel to "The Queen", and that Michael Sheen will be reprising his role as
Tony Blair.
He also will be reprising his role as Lucian in the third Underworld, a prequel to the first. The original director Len Wiseman won't direct or write, and the original star Beckinsale won't star.
Personal life
Sheen and former longtime girlfriend, English actress
Kate Beckinsale, have a daughter together; Lily Mo Sheen was born
31 January,
1999. The long standing relationship ended when, during the filming of Underworld which they both starred, Beckinsale left him for the director of the film Len Wiseman, to whom she's now married. He understandably didn't appear in the sequel except for flashbacks to the first film. He will star in the third Underworld, but Wiseman isn't directing or writing and Beckinsale won't be appearing. After living for a time in the
United States with Beckinsale, he returned to the
United Kingdom when their relationship ended. Sheen and Beckinsale are co-parenting their daughter.
Sheen is a life-long
Swansea City fan.
Filmography
Further Information
Get more info on 'Michael Sheen'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://michael_sheen.totallyexplained.com">Michael Sheen Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
