In a recent interview for Collider, Tom Payne, who plays Malcolm Bright in Prodigal Son, has spoken about working with Michael Sheen (Dr. Martin Whitly) in the show:
What’s it like to explore that [family] dynamic with Michael Sheen and have a relationship that is always so intense when they’re together? How does he most challenge you, as a scene partner?
PAYNE: When I got the part, I knew Michael was going to be playing the father and I was incredibly excited about that because I know Michael’s career and I admire him, as an actor. Now having personally worked with him, everything I’d heard to be true was true. He’s completely present, and completely in the character and in the scene. It’s all there, which is just such a gift for another actor to be in a scene with a person like that, especially if you’re of the same type. All you do is you do your preparation, and then you walk in the room and see how the scene goes, which is just so fun. Those scenes that I have with Michael are mostly just me and him in that room, and there’s already electricity in the air. As soon as Mr. David closes that door, we’re left in there on our own, which is actually torturous and exhausting, but it’s so fun because you know that it works and that it’s all there, and you just have to let it happen. After I’d been on The Walking Dead, there are some wonderful actors on that show, but I never really felt that I stretched myself and had an opportunity to really get involved in some storylines that pushed me as an actor. And then, I got this job and it was like, “Okay, have all of it at once, and have it with one of the best actors alive.” So, it’s been a real pleasure and a real gift.