Read below a very nice collection of accounts from residents on Michael’s contribution to Welsh community:

Oonah Kearney, who directs the Channel 4 two-part drama Vardy v Rooney: A Courtroom Drama, revealed to The Irish Examiner how happy she was to have Michael Sheen as barrister David Sherbone OC in the cast:

Ryan and Kearney are full of praise for the cast, especially Chanel Cresswell (This is England) as Coleen Rooney and Natalia Tena (Game of Thrones) as Rebekah Vardy. They also scored a coup in securing the talents of Michael Sheen to play Rooney’s formidable lawyer David Sherborne.

“I was pinching myself… I remember the moment when Julie [Ryan, producer] confirmed that he was on board and it was like, wow, this is really happening,” says Kearney. 

“He is one of the most charismatic and compelling actors of his generation and so well suited to this role. It’s a really strong cast and I was incredibly blessed to work with them, because they made it a joy and a privilege to turn up on set every day.”

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Vardy v Rooney: A Courtroom Drama airs on Channel 4 on December 21 and 22 at 9pm UK time.

In an interview to Deadline’s Contenders Television award-season event, Catherine Zeta-Jones revealed she joined Prodigal Son season 2 to play Dr. Vivian Capshaw because of her fellow Welsh Michael Sheen, who she had never worked with:

“I’d seen the show, I loved the show. I watched it because of my hometown boy, literally from my hometown in Wales, which is this tiny little place in the middle of the map there, is Michael Sheen, who I’d been wanting to work with. So, that’s been in my bucket list and I went, ‘Huh, let me speak to the producers and see what they have in store.’ I’m always drawn toward the darker side of family kind of dysfunctional-ness if that’s a word. I think historically great drama comes out of family stories. You think of The Godfather, you think of The Sopranos on television, you think of, you know, Breaking Bad. I mean, something about the storyline of it being a family because we can relate to it. As dysfunctional as this particular family is, it’s still a family at the end of the day. There are some principles in there that we can all relate to.”

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.

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In an interview to the Entertainment Weekly, Neil Gaiman spoke about the audiobook adaptation of The Sandman, to be released on Audible tomorrow, July 15. Among other things, he had a few nice words to say about Michael’s performance as Lucifer:

Aside from Morpheus, which actors’ performances surprised you the most?

Morpheus was funny because it was like, the last thing we put in was the foundation. For me the most surprising moment in the studio was probably Michael Sheen’s Lucifer. Michael was a huge fan of the comics, reading them since he was a kid, so Michael knew that Lucifer had been drawn as the young David Bowie. I think of Michael Sheen as one of the greatest actors of his generation, which he is. I forget he is also one of the greatest impressionists. All of a sudden, I’m standing here in the studio, and Michael Sheen’s mouth is open, and David Bowie’s voice is coming out. It was so weird and amazing.

You can pre-order The Sandman here. Listen to a clip of the audiobook featuring Michael Sheen as Lucifer, James McAvoy as Morpheus and Neil Gaiman as The Narrator:

The three-part drama based on the true story of coughing Major Charles Ingram and the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? scandal starts on ITV on Monday April 13 at 9PM GMT. Read an interview Michael gave to the British channel on the minisseries:

What are your memories of Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? when it first came to the screen in 1998?

I remember being really struck that a TV quiz show was on every night of the week in primetime. It was unheard of at the time. Then watching Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? and being blown away by the tension of it. It was so compelling and really groundbreaking.

In doing the research for this it was fascinating to be able to watch the experimentation they did before they got it right. The version of the show they did before they had all the tense music, the lighting and all of that. It just looked like any game show at that stage.

Apart from the £1 million on offer and the structure of how you could win it, the show was completely different and not in any way gripping. It was really interesting to see the difference the tweaks they made had and how it suddenly became a massive hit. As soon as it hit its groove it was mind-blowing.

Why did you want to be involved in Quiz?

It is an extraordinary story. It’s one of those things that has such potential. At first you think, ‘Oh really? A story about Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? Is that going to be that interesting?’ Initially you think it’s going to be a little bit flimsy, maybe. Then you realise that actually it’s a way to explore all kinds of much bigger, complicated, complex issues. That you can’t take anything for granted when it comes to how it looks on the surface.

I was drawn to Quiz because I remembered what happened. And the fact James Graham had written it and Stephen Frears was directing. You think, ‘This is going to be interesting.’ Then as I started reading the scripts you really get drawn into it. So, I hope that’s the experience for the audience watching it as well. I’m sure it will be. It’s a story about far more than just the ‘Coughing Major’. And yet it says so much about us as a nation as well in so many ways. It says a lot about television, about entertainment, about how public perceptions can be influenced by all kinds of different things. It’s a very British heist that happened.

Robert King, co-creator and executive producer of The Good Wife and The Good Fight, was interviewed by website Assignment X, where he discussed the two aforementioned shows, his and wife Michelle King’s new production, CBS’s Evil, and the possibility of casting Michael as a villain. Here’s what he said:

AX: Given how good Michael Sheen was at being demonic as lawyer Roland Blum on Season 3 of THE GOOD FIGHT –
KING: Thank you –
AX: Do you think you might have him come over to be demonic on EVIL?
KING: You know what? The only reason he might not is there’s a Fox show he’s doing, PRODIGAL SON –
AX: Where he plays a serial killer –
KING: Right. And the other thing is, because he did GOOD OMENS, in which he was so good. Although he played the angel, so maybe he’d flip over and do the villain. We love him. We’d love to have him back, and so if you talk to him, tell him we want him back to play some villainous demon here.

Unfortunately Michael’s retuen as Roland Blum in season 4 wasn’t confirmed. Read here the interview in its entirety.

In an interview to Entertainment Weekly, the Prodigal Son showrunners Chris Fedak and Sam Sklaver spoke about Michael’s casting as Dr. Martin Whitly:

Did you always have Michael Sheen in mind to play that serial killer/good dad?
FEDAK: When we knew Fox was going to make the show, there was this big, gigantic search where we put together a list of names and start to figure out who’s going to be the person. Michael Sheen’s name was always going to be on that list and we were just like, “There’s no way! There’s no way we could possibly get Michael.” Then he read the script and he liked it, and all of a sudden it was just like, “Wait a minute. Everybody stop! Breathe! Hold on!” He’s a generational talent. He’s incredible and for us, we were so stoked and amazed to be working with him. We always wanted someone who could be dark and sinister and scary, but we also needed someone who could be a great dad and wear a cardigan and have a beautiful beard. We didn’t really let ourselves believe that Michael would do the role until he did the role because it’s hard on network television to get this caliber of actors that we got — not just in Michael, but in Bellamy, bringing in Lou. The material brought us some great actors who we were thrilled to get.

They also gave some hints of what to expect from “The Surgeon” when the crime drama returns on January 20th 2020:

Does Martin get out of solitary confinement soon? Has that messed him up even more?
FEDAK: He will not be unaffected by solitary confinement, because Martin being alone with his thoughts is one of the most dangerous and scary things you can probably imagine. From a spoiler perspective, we can promise that he will be featured heavily and a be a big part of our return in episode 11.
SKLAVER: To Jessica Whitley’s dismay, he will not stay in solitary forever.
FEDAK: Which also gives us an opportunity to do something we’ve been wanting to do for a while: In episode 11, it’ll give us a chance to put Michael Sheen and Lou Phillips Diamond in the same scene.

You can read the rest of their interview here and find more about “Silent Night”, the fall finale aired last night on Fox. Don’t click if you haven’t seen the episode yet!