Best Known As: Film Actor

Gist:  Michael Sheen, OBE (born 5 February 1969) is a BAFTA- and Laurence Olivier Award-nominated Welsh actor.

Having worked with screen writer Peter Morgan on five films, Sheen has become known for his portrayals of well-known public figures: Tony Blair in the Stephen Frears directed films The Deal and The Queen, and again in the upcoming The Special Relationship; David Frost in both the stage production and the film version of Frost/Nixon; and football manager Brian Clough in The Damned United. He is also known for his role as Lucian in the Underworld film series.

Life Facts:  Michael Sheen was born in Newport, to Irene and Meyrick Sheen, both of whom worked in personnel management. His father is also a part-time professional Jack Nicholson look-alike. Sheen has one sibling, a younger sister named Joanne.

When he was five, the family moved to Liverpool, where as a winger he became a lifelong Liverpool F.C. fan by watching the side of the 1970's. Three years later, the family returned to his parents home of Port Talbot, where he attended Glan Afan Comprehensive School and played football for Baglan boys club.

Sheen was offered a trial at Arsenal FC after being spotted by the father of Tony Adams during a family holiday at Pontin's on the Isle of Wight, but chose to pursue an acting career instead. "I was wearing a Swansea kit at the time, so everyone called me Swansea, which I hated. Tony Adams was playing against me and I skinned him a few times, so I must have made an impression." he lost interest in football in his early teens as football became a more physical game.

He became interested in the theatre through both school study and parents being members of the local amateur dramatic group, which resulted in Sheen joining the West Glamorgan Youth theatre, where he was a contemporary of writer Russell T Davies. [ After leaving school Sheen accepted a place to study acting at the National Youth Theatre of Wales in Cardiff, and then trained at the internationally renowned Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Career Facts:  During his second year at RADA he scored his first starring role, opposite Vanessa Redgrave in When She Danced. 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. He later reprised this role on Broadway

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 remained 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 action film Underworld as the werewolf Lucian. Salon critic 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 has also appeared with Beckinsale in the season seven premiere of Punk'd.

He has become well-known for playing real-life characters. He played Tony Blair in the Channel 4 drama The Deal and later, in the film The Queen. He has also played Kenneth Williams in Fantabulosa! on BBC Four, H G Wells in H G Wells: War with the World on BBC Two, and in 2006, he played Nero in the BBC's Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire.

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.

Later that year, he played David Frost in the critically acclaimed Donmar Warehouse production of Peter Morgan's Frost/Nixon, which later transferred to the Gielgud Theatre before heading to Broadway in 2007. He has reprised the role in the 2008 Ron Howard-directed film adaptation.

In 2007, he read Paul Torday's novel Salmon Fishing in the Yemen on BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime. The same year, Sheen was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

On 2 October 2007, it was announced that Peter Morgan was working on a sequel to The Queen, and that Sheen will be reprising his role as Tony Blair.

In January 2009, he returned to the role of Lucian in Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, the third release in the Underworld film series and prequel to the original 2003 film.

In March 2009 Sheen played Brian Clough to critical acclaim in Peter Morgan's adaptation of David Peace's novel The Damned Utd, based on Clough's 44-day spell in charge of Leeds United.



Other future projects include the upcoming Tim Burton film Alice in Wonderland alongside Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Anne Hathaway; in a television series My Last Five Girlfriends; in an American thriller, Unthinkable , alongside Samuel L. Jackson and Carrie-Anne Moss, due out in December 2009; and as the vampire Aro in the second installment of the Twilight film series, New Moon, due out on November 20, 2009 (US), and November 27 2009 (UK). He will reprise his role as Tony Blair in The Special Relationship, starring alongside Dennis Quaid as former US President Bill Clinton and Hope Davis as Hillary Clinton. Sheen has also been the subject of rumors concerning the next James Bond film, in which it has been indicated he may play villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld.