Michael Sheen extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Michael Sheen
Born	5 February 1969 (1969-02-05) (age 39) Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales
Years active	1993 – present
Awards won Other awards KCFCC Award Best Supporting Actor 2007 The Queen

Michael Sheen (born 5 February 1969) is a BAFTA and Laurence Olivier Award- nominated Welsh actor perhaps best known for his portrayal of Tony Blair in the Stephen Frears-directed films The Deal and The Queen.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Career 1.3 Personal life 2 Awards 3 Filmography 4 References 5 External links

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.¹² 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 Shaffer's 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."³ 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 Fantabulosa! 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 Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. 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.⁴

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 will also be reprising his role as Lucian in the third Underworld, a prequel to the original film.

Personal life

Sheen and English actress Kate Beckinsale have a daughter, Lily Mo Sheen. born 31 January 1999. Their longstanding relationship ended when, during the filming of Underworld, in which they both starred, Beckinsale left him for the film's director, Len Wiseman, whom she then married.^{citation needed} Although, he did not appear in the 2006 sequel, other than in flashbacks to the first film, Sheen is scheduled to have a prominent role in the prequel Underworld 3: The Rise Of The Lycans, which Wiseman will produce but not write or direct,⁵ and in which Beckinsale does not appear.⁶

After living for a time in the United States with Beckinsale,^{citation needed} Sheen returned to the United Kingdom when their relationship ended. Sheen and Beckinsale are co-parenting their daughter.^{citation needed}

Awards

On July 15, 2008, Sheen was awarded the freedom of the borough of Neath Port Talbot.^{citation needed}

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Gallowglass	Joe	Made-for-television
1995	Othello	Lodovico
1996	Mary Reilly	Bradshaw
1997	Wilde	Robbie Ross
1998	Lost in France	Owen	Made-for-television
2002	Heartlands	Colin
	The Four Feathers	Trench
2003	Bright Young Things	Miles
	Underworld	Lucian
	The Deal	Tony Blair	Made-for-television
	Timeline	Lord Oliver
2004	Laws of Attraction	Thorne Jamison
	Dirty Filthy Love	Mark Furness	Made-for-television Nominated Best Actor by BAFTA
	The Banker	The Banker
2005	Dead Long Enough	Harry Jones
	Kingdom of Heaven	Priest
	The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse	Jeremy Dyson
2006	Underworld: Evolution	Lucian
	Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!	Kenneth Williams	Made-for-television
	The Queen	Tony Blair	Nominated Best Actor in a Supporting Role by BAFTA
	Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire	Nero	6 part television series
	HG Wells: War with the World	H. G. Wells	Made-for-television
	Blood Diamond	Simmons
2007	Music Within	Art Honeyman
2008	Frost/Nixon	David Frost	awaiting release
2009	Underworld: Rise of the Lycans	Lucian	post-production
	The Damned United	Brian Clough	post-production
	Unthinkable	TBA	filming
2010	Alice in Wonderland	Cheshire Cat	filming

References

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Michael Sheen

External links

• Michael Sheen website
• Michael Sheen at the Internet Movie Database
• Q&A: Michael Sheen at Broadway.com
• 2006 Interview with Michael Sheen on Theatre.com (dead link as of November 26, 2008)
• Yahoo Lifestyle: "The Queen 's Michael Sheen (interview), January 29, no year given
• BBC News, January 11, 2007: "Actor Sheen backs Burberry fight"

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