Date of Birth: February 5th, 1969
Current Age: 34
Place of Birth: Newport, Gwent, Wales, UK
Michael Sheen trained at RADA, where he won the SWET/ Laurence Olivier Bursary. He made his West End debut in "When She Danced". His stage appearances have included leading roles at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre, where he was nominated for the Manchester Evening News Award for Best Actor, and at the Royal National Theatre. In 1993, he was nominated for the Ian Charleson Award for his performance in "Don't Fool with Love", with the Cheek By Jowl company and created the role of Fred in the world premiere of Harold Pinter's "Moonlight" at the Almeida. In 1994 he played the title role in "Peer Gynt" in Ninagawa's production in Oslo, Tokyo and London. 1996/97 has seen him play Lenny in Pinter's "The Homecoming" at the RNT. He played the title role in Ron Daniel's production of "Henry V" for the RSC staged in Stratford, at the Barbican and on National tour. His television credits include the leading role in "Gallowglass", a 3-part serial for the BBC. On film, he has appeared in Stephen Frear's "Mary Reilly", "Wilde" with Stephen Fry, and Oliver Parker's "Othello".
The family life...
Michael was with English actress Kate Beckinsale (Pearl Harbor, Shooting Fish, Last Days of Disco, Brokedown Palace, Underworld) for several years. They had a daughter, Lily, who was born on the 31st of January, 1999, weighing in at 8 pounds. Sources report that Kate was on the pill at the time of conception and that the pregnency was entirely "unexpected". But they were together for several years, having met playing opposite each other in a production of The Seagull. As of now, various media sources report that Kate is engaged to someone else now but no mention of Michael's romantic life.
Next to his theatre, film and TV credits, Michael also works regularly for BBC radio 4 and World Service: 'Composer of the Week' - Berlioz, In Touch, The Blind Men, Much Ado About Nothing, The Left Over Heart (Johnny), Sailing With homer, the Importance of Being Earnest (Jack), Alaska, Strangers On A Train, The Life of Christ, White Merc With Fins and Wiglaf.
Michael is co-founder of Thin Language Theatre Company. When asked what it was, he explained that everyone who wants to follow drama classes, can take drama courses during the summer (or so) with the help of this company. The courses most likely cost a lot of money.
...MORE????
We've all been dying to know!!!!!!!! When did Michael Sheen start off his career as a professional actor? in 1991. He has been dazzling audiences ever since 1991 when, while still a student at Rada, he was cast opposite Vanessa Redgrave in Martin Sherman's When She Danced
By the by, Michael is director of The Foundry Production Company. I don't know anything else about this.
A man of distinction...
Twice, Michael has been among the finalists of the Ian Charleson awards, here is the info from their site:
Finalists for the 1993 Sunday Times-Royal National Theatre Ian Charleson Award
Michael Sheen Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Cheek By Jowl/Don't Fool With LoveFinalists for the 1998 Sunday Times-Royal National Theatre Ian Charleson Award
Michael Sheen Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Royal Shakespeare Company/Henry VIn 1998, Presentable Productions and the BBC Wales collaborated to make a documentary-type program all about Michael Sheen. This program is called .B R I G H T. .S M O K E...... Go to the page to read everything that I know about it. *grin* Thanks.
The machine behind the monster...
His father is Meyrick Sheen (Michael's grandfaher was Charlie Sheen, but no relation) and Meyrick works sometimes as a lookalike for Jack Nicholson. If you look up the website for Susan Scott (one of his agents) you may see his photo. Michael's sister Joanne and her husband had a baby boy three months after Lily was born. Michael also has a cousin, Caroline Sheen, who is on the stage. She is 23 and has understudyed the lead in Mamma Mia, the huge new West End show. She was in Grease in the West End before that, playing Marty, (understudying Rizzo and Sandy).
From Hollywood.com:
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".
The only son of Meyrick and Irene 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 two children 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 fellow Port Talbot natives Richard Burton and Anthony Hopkins by attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art instead of university. In his second year at RADA, 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 "Gallowglass", 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" 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", was filmed and released. Perhaps his most memorable big screen role, however, was Robert Ross, Oscar Wilde's erstwhile lover, in the 1997 biopic "Wilde".
Thanks to Karen, close sources and the Kate Beckinsale sites for much of the info. More to come as more becomes available.
This page last updated September 21 2003 [Main | News | Film and TV | Audio | Theater | Bio | Reviews | Pictures | Links | Misc]
