Michael Sheen and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation have joined forces to create a new project called A Writing Chance to help “new and aspiring storytellers from under-represented backgrounds.”
We sought fresh perspectives and great stories from people whose voices have historically not been heard in publishing and the media.
The 11 writers selected for A Writing Chance will receive £1,500 bursaries, one-to-one mentoring with industry leaders, publication or broadcast of their work and more.
This UK-wide project is co-funded by Michael Sheen and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and supported by media partners New Statesman and Daily Mirror. The project is delivered by New Writing North and literature organisations nationally, with research from Northumbria University.
Click here to learn more about the project.
He talked to the Mirror about it:
When it came to role models, Welsh actor Michael Sheen got very lucky. For not one but two world-class actors – Richard Burton and Sir Anthony Hopkins – hailed from his hometown and had already successfully blazed the very trail the young Michael wanted to follow.
From the outset he knew his dreams to swap the working-class steel town of Port Talbot for glitzy Hollywood were far from pie in the sky.
“Growing up in Wales, let alone in Port Talbot, the voice of Richard Burton is one of the most recognised there is, next to your own mother,” says the Frost/Nixon star.
“You grow up with it, the extraordinary myth of a man, the legend of Richard Burton. Then there’s Anthony Hopkins, a man I’ve come to appreciate as one of the best actors of all time.
“To have those people in your consciousness from such a young age makes a massive difference.
“These were iconic performances, and not just from Welsh actors – these were actors from the town where I grew up.”
The importance of those connections cannot be underestimated, says Michael, who has played a wide range of characters, from Tony Blair in The Queen to football manager Brian Clough in The Damned United.
“It means a lot to see that people from the same background as you have gone out and done what you want to do. It gives you something to aspire towards and the confidence to know it’s possible.”
It’s with these thoughts in mind that the actor, with the Mirror, today launches A Writing Chance, a UK-wide initiative to help working-class writers break into the media.
Co-funded by the actor and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the project is designed to discover and support new writers.
“We’ve got the chance to take a small group of writers, who are all phenomenally talented, and share opportunities with them that they may not have been getting for all kinds of reasons,” says father-of-two Michael.
Eleven applicants, selected from a pool of 750, will receive one-to-one mentoring with an established writer or journalist, a £1,500 bursary and publication or broadcast of their work.
“We want to make a difference,” the actor says, “because if all that talent isn’t able to break through and become part of the national conversation and our national storytelling, then we’re all the poorer for it.”
Political activism like this means such a lot to Michael that at one point, he admits, he thought he “might stop acting altogether”.
“But I’ve realised they’re dependent on each other,” the 51-year-old adds. “I have the opportunity to do this stuff because of the acting, the financial support it gives me and the platform I have. Keeping the two things in balance is the challenge, but this kind of work is what drives me.”
As for acting, he is starring in Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood – the play famously linked to Richard Burton – at London’s National Theatre. And his latest TV show, Prodigal Son, in which he plays serial killer Dr Martin Whitly, is in its second series on Sky One. It features another major Welsh star as doctor Vivian Capshaw: Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Despite the actors growing up just miles apart and having mutual friends they had never actually met before.
Michael cut his teeth at the Dylan Thomas theatre company in Swansea, while the young Catherine went to the dance school.
“In the end it was a very odd way to finally meet because we had our masks on, but immediately it was lovely and we talked about all the people we knew from home, our families, everything that connected us – and our Welsh accents got stronger.”
Now living back at home in Port Talbot after many years in LA, Michael and partner Anna Lundberg, 27, have had 21-month-old baby Lyra to keep them busy in the pandemic. “Fortunately we had a garden and we were able to make things work,” he says.
“One of the stand-out pieces in the writing project was the story of a woman who didn’t have a garden during lockdown.
“It was funny and moving and it really struck a chord because it felt very stark to me what a massive difference that could make.”
Michael, Anna and Lyra were all hit by Covid in the spring.
“I was shaking and feeling really terrible,” he recalls. “It was horrendous for a couple of weeks and I got as close to having to go to hospital as I think you can, without actually going in.”
The baby tested positive around the same time, “which was scary”, he says, and Anna a week later.
“Ultimately we were all fine, but it’s definitely something to take seriously.”
With life returning somewhat to normal, Michael, who is also dad to Lily, 22, whose mum is actor Kate Beckinsale, is turning his attention to giving other people a hand up.
“I want my children to have the opportunity to do something they feel passionate about and fulfil their potential,” he says. “But everyone’s children should have that, no matter their background, and that’s why we’ve got to help these pathways open up to all our communities.”
He adds: “If you can’t see someone like you doing what you want to do, then you don’t know it’s possible for you. You certainly don’t know how to go out and do it, and that means you might not have the confidence to try. That’s what we need to change.”