Michael Sheen(I)
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Even though he had burned up the London stage for nearly a decade--and
appeared in several films--Michael Sheen was not really "discovered" by
American audiences until his critically-acclaimed turn as
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the
1999 Broadway revival of "Amadeus".
Sheen was born in Newport, Wales, the only son of Irene (Thomas) and
Meyrick Sheen. The charming, curly-haired actor grew up a middle-class
boy in the working-class town of Port Talbot, Wales. Although his
parents worked in personnel, they shared with their son a deep
appreciation for acting, with Meyrick Sheen enjoying some success later
in life as a Jack Nicholson
impersonator.
As a young man, Michael Sheen turned down the opportunity to pursue a
possible professional football career, opting to follow in the
footsteps of Daniel Day-Lewis and
Patrick Stewart by attending the
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School instead of university. In his second
year, he won the coveted
Laurence Olivier Bursary for
consistently outstanding performances. While Sheen was still studying,
he landed a pivotal role opposite stage legend
Vanessa Redgrave in
Martin Sherman's "When She
Danced" (1991). He left school early to make his West End debut and has
been dazzling audiences and critics with his intense and passionate
performances ever since. Among his most memorable roles were "Romeo" in
"Romeo and Juliet", the title role in
Yukio Ninagawa's 1994 Royal Shakespeare
Company's staging of "Peer Gynt" and "Jimmy Porter" both in a 1994
regional staging in a 1999 London revival of "Look Back in Anger". A
critic from the London Times panned the multimedia production of "Peer
Gynt", but praised Sheen for his ability to express "astonishing
vitality despite lifeless direction". Referring to Sheen's performance
in "Look Back in Anger", Susannah Clapp of The Observer hailed him for
his "luminous quality" and ability to be goaded and fiery and defensive
all at the same time. Sheen also managed to set critics' tongues
wagging with a deft performance in the role of "Henry V", not a part
traditionally given to a slight, boyish-looking actor. One writer
raved: "Sheen, volatile and responsive in an excellent performance,
showed us the exhilaration of power and conquest".
In 1993, Sheen joined the troupe "Cheek By Jowl" and was nominated for
the Ian Charleson Award for his performance in "Don't Fool with Love".
That same year, he excelled as a mentally unstable man who becomes
enmeshed in a kidnapping plot in
Mystery!: Gallowglass (1993), a three-part
BBC serial that aired in the USA on PBS' "Mystery!" in 1995. The actor
nabbed his first feature film role in 1994, playing Dr. Jekyll's
footman in Mary Reilly (1996)
opposite John Malkovich and
Julia Roberts, but that film did
not make it into theaters until 1996, a year after Sheen's second
movie, Othello (1995), was filmed and
released. Perhaps his most memorable big screen role at that point,
however, was "Robert Ross", Oscar Wilde's
erstwhile lover, in the 1997 biopic
Wilde (1997). He would also be seen in the
Brit road film Heartlands (2002)
opposite Mark Addy.
Hot off the success of "Amadeus", Sheen began racking up even more
notable big screen credits, starring opposite
Heath Ledger,
Wes Bentley and
Kate Hudson in
The Four Feathers (2002) and
landing a major role opposite
Kate Beckinsale in the action-horror
blockbuster Underworld (2003), along
with supporting turns in
Bright Young Things (2003),
Timeline (2003) and as British Prime
Minister Tony Blair in director
Stephen Frears' film
The Queen (2006). Next, Sheen grabbed
good notices played a divorce-embattled rock star, stealing scenes from
Pierce Brosnan and
Julianne Moore in the romantic comedy
Laws of Attraction (2004).
Back on the stage, the actor earned raves for his performance as
"Caligula" in London, for which he won the Evening Standard Award and
Critics Circle Award for Best Actor, along with a nomination for the
prestigious Laurence Olivier Award.
appeared in several films--Michael Sheen was not really "discovered" by
American audiences until his critically-acclaimed turn as
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the
1999 Broadway revival of "Amadeus".
Sheen was born in Newport, Wales, the only son of Irene (Thomas) and
Meyrick Sheen. The charming, curly-haired actor grew up a middle-class
boy in the working-class town of Port Talbot, Wales. Although his
parents worked in personnel, they shared with their son a deep
appreciation for acting, with Meyrick Sheen enjoying some success later
in life as a Jack Nicholson
impersonator.
As a young man, Michael Sheen turned down the opportunity to pursue a
possible professional football career, opting to follow in the
footsteps of Daniel Day-Lewis and
Patrick Stewart by attending the
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School instead of university. In his second
year, he won the coveted
Laurence Olivier Bursary for
consistently outstanding performances. While Sheen was still studying,
he landed a pivotal role opposite stage legend
Vanessa Redgrave in
Martin Sherman's "When She
Danced" (1991). He left school early to make his West End debut and has
been dazzling audiences and critics with his intense and passionate
performances ever since. Among his most memorable roles were "Romeo" in
"Romeo and Juliet", the title role in
Yukio Ninagawa's 1994 Royal Shakespeare
Company's staging of "Peer Gynt" and "Jimmy Porter" both in a 1994
regional staging in a 1999 London revival of "Look Back in Anger". A
critic from the London Times panned the multimedia production of "Peer
Gynt", but praised Sheen for his ability to express "astonishing
vitality despite lifeless direction". Referring to Sheen's performance
in "Look Back in Anger", Susannah Clapp of The Observer hailed him for
his "luminous quality" and ability to be goaded and fiery and defensive
all at the same time. Sheen also managed to set critics' tongues
wagging with a deft performance in the role of "Henry V", not a part
traditionally given to a slight, boyish-looking actor. One writer
raved: "Sheen, volatile and responsive in an excellent performance,
showed us the exhilaration of power and conquest".
In 1993, Sheen joined the troupe "Cheek By Jowl" and was nominated for
the Ian Charleson Award for his performance in "Don't Fool with Love".
That same year, he excelled as a mentally unstable man who becomes
enmeshed in a kidnapping plot in
Mystery!: Gallowglass (1993), a three-part
BBC serial that aired in the USA on PBS' "Mystery!" in 1995. The actor
nabbed his first feature film role in 1994, playing Dr. Jekyll's
footman in Mary Reilly (1996)
opposite John Malkovich and
Julia Roberts, but that film did
not make it into theaters until 1996, a year after Sheen's second
movie, Othello (1995), was filmed and
released. Perhaps his most memorable big screen role at that point,
however, was "Robert Ross", Oscar Wilde's
erstwhile lover, in the 1997 biopic
Wilde (1997). He would also be seen in the
Brit road film Heartlands (2002)
opposite Mark Addy.
Hot off the success of "Amadeus", Sheen began racking up even more
notable big screen credits, starring opposite
Heath Ledger,
Wes Bentley and
Kate Hudson in
The Four Feathers (2002) and
landing a major role opposite
Kate Beckinsale in the action-horror
blockbuster Underworld (2003), along
with supporting turns in
Bright Young Things (2003),
Timeline (2003) and as British Prime
Minister Tony Blair in director
Stephen Frears' film
The Queen (2006). Next, Sheen grabbed
good notices played a divorce-embattled rock star, stealing scenes from
Pierce Brosnan and
Julianne Moore in the romantic comedy
Laws of Attraction (2004).
Back on the stage, the actor earned raves for his performance as
"Caligula" in London, for which he won the Evening Standard Award and
Critics Circle Award for Best Actor, along with a nomination for the
prestigious Laurence Olivier Award.