Michael Sheen returns home to Swansea

Source: WalesOnline

Michael Sheen is returning to Wales to shoot his next movie, which is based on the debut novel of a Swansea writer. Karen Price finds out more about Submarine

HE may spend much of his time in Hollywood these days but Michael Sheen is heading home to film his new movie.

Submarine is based on the acclaimed debut novel by Welsh writer Joe Dunthorne – named by the Western Mail as one to watch out for in 2009.

The Film Agency for Wales reveals today that it will be investing £100,000 in the project to help bring it to Wales.

Submarine is set in and around Swansea and filming will take place in the area from September for six weeks.

The Damned United and Frost/Nixon star, who was born in Newport and grew up in Port Talbot, will be joined by young Welsh talent in his new feature for which open auditions are being held via the internet.

Also starring in the film will be Paddy Considine, who appeared in The Bourne Ultimatum and Hot Fuzz.

Submarine is a coming-of-age comedy set in Swansea which follows the fortunes of 15-year-old Oliver Tate as he goes through the break-up of his parents’ marriage and his first relationship.

Details of Sheen’s role are set to be announced in the coming weeks.

Pauline Burt, chief executive of the Film Agency for Wales, says they are delighted that Sheen, who played Tony Blair in The Queen, is returning to Wales.

“I think it’s fantastic that he is coming back to his home ground because he’s an international star,” she says.

“He’s an aspirational figure and it just shows young people what can be achieved.

“ You don’t have to limit your aspirations.”

She also believes that increased investment in the film sector in Wales is encouraging more film-makers to shoot their projects in the country. The Edge Of Love, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows and Ridley Scott’s new Robin Hood film have all recently been filmed here.

“To have such vibrancy in the film industry in Wales so that actors like Michael Sheen come to work here is a real sign of progress.”

Dunthorne, who is from Swansea, published Submarine in spring 2008.

It was shortlisted for the 2008 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize and long-listed for both the 2008 Desmond Elliott Prize and the 2008 Dylan Thomas Prize.

He will continue his creative role in the film as script editor, working alongside writer-director Richard Ayoade who has directed bands like the Arctic Monkeys and Super Furry Animals.

Submarine is being produced by Mark Herbert and Mary Burke of Warp Films. Burke has previously produced A Complete History of my Sexual Failures and Bunny & the Bull.

Among others lending their weight to the production are Andy Stebbing, producer of Kicks, and Red Hour Films, the American production company behind Tropic Thunder, Dodgeball and Starsky and Hutch. Executive producers and financiers are set to be announced in the coming weeks.

Dunthorne would never have expected his first novel would be adapted for the big screen when he started writing at the age of 15. “I wanted to be a rock star,” he says.

“I was in a band and they needed someone to write the lyrics so that was my first experience of writing.

“I got into writing short stories and then did the creative writing course at university.”

But he admits that penning novels isn’t his favourite aspect of writing. “I enjoy writing poetry the most because you get the sense of completion with a poem. You can’t feel completely happy with every part of a novel as it’s so huge.”

Today’s announcement comes at a time when Welsh Assembly Government has announced a review of the creative industries to be led by the former editor of the Independent newspaper, Professor Ian Hargreaves. Ms Burt added: “The Film Agency welcomes Professor Hargreaves’ review.

“The creative industries, and film as a crucial part of that, play a significant role in both the economic and cultural vibrancy of Wales.

“To ensure value for money and long-term benefits to the industry a balance needs to be struck in ensuring indigenous talent is supported, as well as services that support inward investment.

“Film feeds into the full range of delivery platforms – television, DVD, video, music, internet, games – while also being responsive to newly evolving opportunities. It has a huge amount to offer if strategically supported.”

Meanwhile, aspiring young Welsh actors who would like to be considered for a role in Submarine can visit an online auditioning site, www.thecastingscene.com

The website is being launched by producer Grant Keir, award-winning director Virginia Heath and web developer James Russell. Keir says: “We are convinced there is a wealth of undiscovered acting talent in Wales and we are keen to use the scope and immediacy of the internet to find it.”

Feel free to comment:

A Feathery Chat with Michael Sheen

Source: Hollywood.com

You arrived on set three days ago. What is it like to come in so late in shooting?
MS: It’s been great shooting at the deep end of it. The first day filming, we did the 18th century stuff and then some of the modern stuff. It was a lot to deal with — you know with the wig and contact lenses all day and the makeup — but it was fantastic. And these sets are amazing and the look of everyone is so strong. So it was great. Just kind of to get right into it.

Is there an irony for you, playing a vampire after playing a Lycan in Underworld?
MS: I feel a bit like a traitor now that I’ve swapped sides. The vampires get to wear much cooler clothes in Underworld and in this. So now I get a nice bit of tailoring instead of raggedy leather.

The nice thing about playing a werewolf is that you don’t have to worry about getting dirty on set. At lunch time, I can have a lie down, and it doesn’t matter because I’m supposed to look rough, versus this where I have to look perfectly tailored and groomed and clean all the time. So I can’t sit down or do anything because I’ve got all this white makeup on, and I'm wearing black clothes. I’ve got to be really careful that I don’t get covered in stuff.

How did you approach playing Aro?
MS: I loved the thing in the books where Stephenie wrote about how the Cullen family is all really beautiful, and that’s what kind of lures people into their web. And Aro is not like that. She describes Aro as being not the same sort of thing.

I like the idea that it’s his voice that lures people in — and his sort of demeanor rather than the way he looks — because he looks very weird and kind of scary. So I’ve tried to sort of go down that route to make him very mesmerizing. That his voice is quite gentle and soft, and yet there’s something kind of unhinged about him. They’re great scenes.

Stephenie was saying that she loved writing this scene that we’re doing now. I read it over and over and over again, that particular bit in the book. There’s a part where she describes his voice as being quite feathery. That’s what gave me sort of the idea of making him very soft and light. I think she describes it as being like a sigh, his voice. And that he’s a bit like a concerned grandfather at times with Edward. Even though he’s this deadly, really dangerous character, there’s something quite sentimental about him, something soft.

Sheen is whisked back off to set before he can answer the next question. An ancient vampire lord’s work is never done.


Please feel free to comment below:

Sheen Receives Honorary Fellowship

Reported By: WalesOnline

Actor Michael Sheen received an honorary fellowship from Swansea Metropolitan University today.

Sheen, who grew up in nearby Port Talbot, received two Bafta nominations in 2007 for his performance as Tony Blair in The Queen and for his role as Carry On actor Kenneth Williams in Fantabulosa.

He was also nominated for the Best Actor Bafta in 2005 for his performance in the TV drama Dirty, Filthy Love.

Addressing the audience after receiving the honour, Sheen said: “I would like to congratulate you all on completing your studies and finishing your degrees.

“And a special congratulations on being able to navigate the walk, through the doors and down the steps. The old heels and hat combo is a treacherous one.

“I’d like to say thank-you so much to Swansea Metropolitan University for admitting me to the Fellowship, it’s a huge, huge honour for me and it’s one I’m glad to share with my family who are here today.”

Commenting later on the website Twitter, Sheen said it was the first graduation ceremony he had attended.

He added: “Gave an impromptu speech. All rather nerve-wracking but I got through it. Have to try quite hard not to cry when I do a speech.

“Embarrasingly (sic), get easily moved by occasions like that and if I have to do a speech I can get a bit overwhelmed. Did alright today though.

“Lovely seeing everyone on the lawn outside having photos taken in their gowns with their families and the sun shining down.”

Swansea Metropolitan University vice-chancellor Professor David Warner said: “Critics have compared Michael’s screen gravitas favourably with fellow Welsh and Port Talbot actors Richard Burton and Sir Anthony Hopkins.

“There seems little doubt that Michael is destined to become one of the world’s greatest actors.”

Please feel free to comment.

Sheen reveals his secret for crying on camera

Posted By: WalesOnline

WE’VE seen him morph at will into characters as disparate as Tony Blair and Kenneth Williams, but it seems even natural chameleons like Michael Sheen have their limits.

Faking one’s emotions for example, can sometimes prove a little too difficult, even for that most versatile of Port Talbot acting talents.

But the Welsh star has confessed he has a secret weapon when it comes to crying on camera – he listens to Song to the Siren by the tragic American cult singer Tim Buckley.

“I’ve used it many times when I’m filming and I need to weep in a scene,” confessed the star in a new book, Inspired, which quizzes celebrities on the pieces of music that move them the most.

“Sometimes it can be very hard to come up with the tears, so I plug in my iPod and listen to a bit of Buckley and that tends to get me in the right place.”

Sheen added that one of the main reasons the tune, first recorded by Buckley for his 1970 album Starsailor had such an emotional resonance for him was because he first heard it not long after he and former partner, the actress Kate Beckinsale, had their little girl Lily, 10.

“First of all it’s such a beautiful song and it always makes me cry, mainly because it makes me think of my daughter,” he said.

“I remember listening to it shortly after she arrived and there’s a line in it which goes: “Swim to me, Let me enfold you,” and it just makes me think of her being born and swimming to me, and me being away from her.

“There’s just a kind of terrible beauty to the song which I love, that whole thing about not being able to stop yourself doing something that’s going to be bad for you, something destructive.”

That was certainly true of Buckley himself, the hard-living folk singer having overdosed on heroin in 1975, establishing him in rock mythology to such a degree the plenty of other acts have been similarly drawn to cover his most famous tune – from Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant to Red Hot Chili Peppers’ guitarist John Frusciante.

“Oh, there’s lots of versions, techno ones, trance ones, all kinds of stuff,” smiled Sheen.

“The very first version I heard was by a Northern Irish Elvis Presley impersonator and that’s my favourite version, sung in the style of The King.

“It’s just a wonderful song.”

Also featured in the book, released in aid of The Prince’s Trust and sponsored by Starbucks Coffee Company, is Cardiff-born Catatonia singer Cerys Matthews who cites her love for the traditional Christian hymn How Can I Keep From Singing?

“I love the melody, but it’s the words that get me: “No storm can shake my inmost calm / While to that refuge clinging. Since Christ is Lord of Heav’n and Earth / How can I keep from singing?”

“I remember I performed it in front of Bill Clinton at the Hay-on-Wye Literary Festival.”

Please feel free to comment

Michael Sheen on New Moon

Reported By: Empire Magazine

In The Twilight Saga: New Moon, due out later this year, Michael Sheen takes the role of Aro, head vampire of an ancient coven that rules the vampire world. We talked to him recently, and asked for the lowdown on a bloodsucking role that's a far cry from his recent run of real-life figures.

"I'm all done on it; I had a great time," he told us. "It was nice to go in and not be playing the main part, just go in for a few days and play this really really extraordinary character. I remember I was thinking, 'Oh, there's a bit of a Child Catcher here [from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang]; bit of the Blue Meanie from The Yellow Submarine; bit of Olivier from Richard III. There was a bit of all kinds of stuff."

He also talked about director Chris Weitz.

"It was great to work with Chris Weitz; it was a really funny set, really relaxed. We had a lot of things in common, and hopefully we're going to work together again soon doing something. That might be the thing that I direct, I don’t know yet, you never know."

And the rest of the cast? "It was quite intimidating being on the set with so many young, beautiful people. That was quite extraordinary being the old, ugly one amongst loads of young, beautiful ones. It's not something I'm used to really. Not because I'm young and beautiful but usually there's loads of old, ugly people around me. It was quite encouraging to see how Robert and Kristin are committed to it, how much they put into it and how serious they are about it. They don't take it lightly at all so that was great to see."

So, from playing a werewolf in the Underworld movies to a vampire here, it sounds like Sheen's got the undead pretty much covered. One thing's for sure: his description of his character has got us interested. What do you think? Is he your Aro?

Michael Sheen's Impersonations

Reported By: Press Association

Michael Sheen revealed he perfected the art of impersonations - by putting on voices for his daughter.

The actor - who has played real life people such as Tony Blair, Brian Clough and David Frost - has a 10-year-old daughter from his previous relationship with Kate Beckinsale.

He said: "When she was much younger and she was in the bath she'd want me to play all the characters from the films that she watched - slowly over months and months and months of me playing all seven dwarfs or whoever it might be, Monsters Inc, I realised that I was actually getting quite close to the voices."

He added: "It was because she was so non-judgmental about me and she wouldn't say 'that doesn't sound anything like the character', that it gave me the opportunity to practice."

Although Michael doesn't consider himself to be an impressionist, he said the skill helps him play real life people.

The actor also said he finds he needs to research real characters more, because audiences are more familiar with them.

He said: "If you're playing a fictional character you have to try and meet the requirements of the writer and the demands of the story, but with a real person you have to do a little bit more than that as well and that's what I enjoy about it."

Please feel free to comment:

Sheen 'thrill' at OBE from Queen

Reported By: BBC News

The actor from Port Talbot, has played a host of real people - David Frost, Brian Clough and Kenneth Williams.

Awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours, Sheen said he was looking forward to meeting the Queen for the first time.

"This is a huge honour," he said. "I am both thrilled and slightly mystified. But very grateful."

Sheen has played the former prime minister on two occasions - in The Queen and The Deal - which charted his rise to 10 Downing Street.

He added: "The Queen asked me what I was doing next and I was in the slightly tricky situation of saying 'I'm playing the prime minister again in a film about Tony Blair and Bill Clinton' and she said 'that must be a terribly difficult thing to do'."

Last month on a visit to Wales the actor, who recently turned 40, said he was returning to the role for a third time for The Special Relationship, about Mr Blair's time with ex-US presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush.

He has also appeared in other Hollywood films including the Underworld series and the upcoming sequel to the vampire drama Twilight.

Sheen was born in Newport but grew up in Port Talbot, where his parents still live.

He attended Blaenbaglan School and then Glanafan Comprehensive before moving on to Neath College.

He was also a member of both the West Glamorgan Youth theatre and the National Youth Theatre of Wales.

Last year he was awarded the Freedom of the Borough of Neath Port Talbot.

Please feel free to comment below:

Actor Sheen off to the Palace

Reported By: WalesOnline

ACTOR Michael Sheen will officially receive his OBE at Buckingham Palace today and says it will be nice “to meet the real Queen at last”.

Sheen, 40, the latest of the Port Talbot production line of top actors after Richard Burton and Sir Anthony Hopkins, was made an OBE in the New Year Honours list.

The actor has turned in a string of intense and moving performances.

He has played a host of famous names to great critical acclaim, including two appearances as ex-prime minister Tony Blair.

He portrayed Blair in Stephen Frears’ TV drama The Deal and later on the big screen in Frears’ award-winning film The Queen.

Having met the Queen as played by Dame Helen Mirren, Sheen will now come face to face with the monarch herself when he picks up his OBE today.

Sheen said after hearing of his award in the New Year’s Honours list: “This is a huge honour. I am both thrilled and slightly mystified. But very grateful. It’ll be nice to meet the real Queen at last.”

His proud father Meyrick said all the family, including Michael’s daughter Lily, 10, will be at Buckingham Palace.

Sheen senior, who lives in Baglan, Port Talbot, said: “Lily’s flying out from America to be with her dad on the day and we are all looking forward to it.”

Please feel free to comment below.

Don’t let your background hold you back, Michael Sheen tells pupils

Reported By: WalesOnline

ACTOR Michael Sheen has urged teenagers not to let their background hold them back in their pursuit for stardom.

The Hollywood star of films such as Frost/Nixon and The Damned United said budding actors, actresses and filmmakers from South Wales had a lot to offer the industry.

Sheen, 40, was speaking to children at Porth County Community School, Rhondda.

He said: “The one thing I hear from people in South Wales is they think the film industry is very glamorous, that it’s not for people like them.

“I try to tell them that stories of people from places like the Rhondda are probably more important and have as much to contribute as stories from anywhere else.

“It is just having the confidence to go for it.”

The pupils are part of the school’s Filmclub scheme, a Film Agency for Wales and Skillset Screen Academy Wales initiative to give children access to classic films.

Sheen, who is from Port Talbot, said: “Schemes like this only exist because of the hard work of those involved and through the funding available to them.

“If I was the age now I was when I first got into acting, I simply would not be an actor because the route I took does not exist any more.

“The West Glamorgan Youth Theatre is not being funded like it once was, and there’s no drama in my old school any more.

“So if I can help to encourage people to put money into schemes like this then I will because it is very important to me.”

Porth County Community School head girl Jodie Williams, 16, went to the Welsh Baftas in the Millennium Centre on Sunday night thanks to the Filmclub.

She said: “It was a great opportunity for me and I really enjoyed it.

“Having Michael Sheen come to our school is brilliant and gave us all a real insight to what it is like to be an actor.”

Alex Flook, 13, who is in Year 8, is writing a report of the day for the BBC One show Newsround.

He said: “I found Michael down to earth and easy to talk to. He answered loads of our questions.”

Head teacher Steve Bowden said: “It was a real once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the children and staff.

“I’m sure it has changed the way a lot of the children thought about the industry.”

Sheen hits out at lack of drama funds

Reported by: Wales Online

HOLLYWOOD star Michael Sheen has claimed he probably would not make it in the business if he was a budding actor growing up today.

The Frost/Nixon and The Damned United actor said he is “saddened” by a lack of funding for drama schools and clubs throughout Wales.

Sheen was speaking to a group of school children at the Porth County Community School in the Rhondda Valley.

They are all part of Filmclub, a Film Agency of Wales and Skillset Screen Academy Wales initiative to give children access to thousand of classic film titles.

Sheen, who is set to play former Prime Minister Tony Blair for the third time later this year, said: “Schemes like Filmclub only exist because of the hard work of those involved and through the funding that is available to them.

“I am very saddened that the way I came up and the reason I got into acting is now gone.

“The West Glamorgan Youth Theatre is not being funded like it once was and there’s no more drama in my school any more.

“If I was the age now I was when I first got into acting, I simply would not be an actor because the route I took does not exist any more. There is one reason for that – funding.

“So if I can help to encourage people to put money into schemes like this then I will because it is very important to me.” Port Talbot-born Sheen, 40, spent nearly two hours with the children talking about his favourite films – Apocalypse Now, A Matter of Life and Death and The Great Escape.

He then took questions from the children about how he got into acting and what it is like to be a Hollywood A-lister.

“The one thing I hear from people in Wales is that they think the film industry is very glamorous, that it’s not for people like us,” he said.

“I try to tell them stories of people from places like the Rhondda and Port Talbot are probably more important and have as much to contribute as stories from anywhere else.

“It is just having the confidence to go for it and show our ideas are interesting to a lot of people.”

Sheen joined stars of film and television such as Ruth Jones, Russell T Davies, Matthew Rees and Eve Myles at the Welsh Bafta Awards at the Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay on Sunday night.

He said: “There’s definitely never been a lack of talent in Wales, it is just having the platform for it to flourish."

“I hope young people growing up in Wales are able to let their creative sides develop without the politics getting in the way of things.

“I know I am very fortunate to be able to make my living out of my passion for acting and films."

“When I first started doing Frost/Nixon on the stage three years ago I would never have imagined I would be involved in the movie that was up for the Oscar for best film."

“I’m just trying to keep my head down and do my best.”

Pauline Burt, chief executive of the Film Agency for Wales said: “Filmclub is designed to inspire pupils about all aspects of film and give them an insight into the industry.

“It is a fantastic opportunity for these pupils to meet a star like Michael Sheen, I’m sure that he will help to spark the imagination of our young people and broaden their horizons.”