The three-part drama writer James Graham and actress Helen McCrory also speak. Production airs on ITV on April 13. Check out the new still on our gallery and read the full interview below:
Some cultural prompts become hardwired. Hear “Ask the audience”, “Phone a friend” or “50:50” and most likely your subconscious will respond with the melodramatic sound effects and swooping lights of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Read the words “coughing major” and you’ll probably think of the fidgety, stiff-shirted bumbler Charles Ingram, who went on to win the £1m prize.
Except, of course, he didn’t. Ingram had a plant called Tecwen Whittock in the audience who was coughing (the “coughing major” actually didn’t do any coughing) to tell him which of the multiple-choice answers was correct. Anyone who heard the playback could hear it clear as a bell, as Martin Bashir’s documentary A Major Fraud — made by ITV, complete with assumptive title, and watched by a remarkable 17 million viewers in 2003 — showed.
“It was a heist story about the most popular game show of all time,” says James Graham, who was so captivated by the tale that he wrote a play, Quiz, and now a three-part TV series of the same name, about the case of the coughing major. Michael Sheen, in another of his unnervingly flawless character melts, plays the show’s ringmaster, Chris Tarrant, all meringue hair and slick suits. Matthew Macfadyen is Charles Ingram, Sian Clifford his wife, Diana, Mark Bonnar plays Paul Smith, the executive producer of Millionaire, and Stephen Frears directs. But the real star of the show is the show itself — it is a startling reminder of just how big Millionaire was 20 years ago.
“It was like TV crack,” says Sheen, speaking from Wales via video link. “The thing that first struck me about it then was that it was on every night — I thought, ‘What could possibly justify that?’ It must signify something important or amazing. But a quiz show? Then, watching it, you got it immediately. When I was watching it, nothing could pull me away, and as soon as it finished I would want to watch the next one. It was addictive. I’d never seen a quiz show like that.”
Ler maisIn this new interview for the American newspaper, Michael talks about his character on the Fox crime drama and gives a spoiler about Martin Whitly’s cardigan. It contains spoilers from episode Alone Time, aired on January 20!
There are also a couple of photos for this interview, which you can see on our gallery:
Michael Sheen has made cardigans dangerous. On the Fox drama “Prodigal Son,” he plays Dr. Martin Whitly, also known as the Surgeon, a brilliant Manhattan doctor who is responsible for at least 23 murders, most of them gruesome. Convicted and confined to a psychiatric hospital, he spends his days swathed in a nubbly, oatmeal sweater, playing mind games with his son, Malcolm (Tom Payne), a profiler for the New York Police Department.
Ler maisRead below a long but great interview Michael gave to Collider in which he talked about Dolittle and working with Robert Downey Jr., Good Omens, Quiz, Prodigal Son, and The Way, a three-part series he is directing:
I recently sat down with Michael Sheen, who stars as the villainous Dr. Blair Müdfly in director Stephen Gaghan’s Dolittle, opening this weekend. While sitting in his trailer on the Universal backlot, Sheen and I had a wide-ranging conversation about working with Robert Downey Jr. and spending so much time looking at a tennis ball on set, the success of Amazon’s Good Omens, his idea for a Columbo episode, why he agreed to co-star on Prodigal Son, his upcoming limited series Quiz (which is about a huge Who Wants To Be A Millionaire scandal in Britian), being in an episode of The Simpsons, how he’s getting ready to direct a three-part series called The Way, and a lot more.
As you’ve seen in the trailers, Dolittle stars Downey Jr. as the famed doctor that can talk to animals. After his wife dies, Dolittle retreats behind his castle walls until being tasked to try and save the young Queen (Jessie Buckley) from a deadly illness. As he travels the world looking for a mythical island, he’s joined on his quest by a young apprentice (Harry Collett) and numerous animals that are voiced by Emma Thompson, John Cena, Tom Holland, Rami Malek, Craig Robinson, Ralph Fiennes, Selena Gomez, Octavia Spencer, Kumail Nanjiani, and Marion Cotillard. Dolittle also stars Antonio Banderas and Jim Broadbent.
Check out what Michael Sheen had to say below.
Ler maisIn an interview to the website The Beat, Michael talks about what it was like to work with Robert Downey Jr, the possibitily of doing more Good Omens and more:
Dolittle antagonist Michael Sheen has been crushing his way through all forms of entertainment media for a few decades now, from theater to movies and lately, television, the latter taking up most of his time in recent years. Depending on your interests might determine the work of his that you’re most familiar with, whether it’s “The Twilight Saga,” his work with writer Peter Morgan (The Crown) on The Queen and Frost/Nixon or some of his television work, like Masters of Sex – or fan favorite Good Omens.
In the new family fantasy-adventure Dolittle, Sheen plays Dr. Blair Müdfly, doctor to Queen Victoria and the ersatz arch-rival of Robert Downey Jr’s titular Doctor John Dolittle, a physician with the ability to talk to animals who has disappeared from the public view after the tragic death of his wife, Lily. Dolittle’s only friends are the animals that surround him at his estate until a young lad named Stubbins (Harry Collett from Dunkirk) stumbles onto the grounds. When Victoria (Jessie Buckley) falls ill, Dolittle is called back to London, but in order to find a cure, he must travel with his animals to the far sides of the globe. Of course, Müdfly isn’t happy about Dolittle’s interference.
Besides those mentioned above, the cast includes Antonio Banderas and Jim Broadbent, as well as a slew of actors providing their voices for various animals, including Emma Thompson, Octavia Spencer, Rami Malek, John Cena, Kumail Nanjiani and Craig Robinson.
The Beat had a chance to get on the phone line with Mr. Sheen last week, and we did throw in a question about his possible return as the angel Aziraphale for any sort of follow-up to Amazon’s series based on Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s novel, Good Omens.
Ler maisWatch an interview Michael gave to Indo-American website SocialNews.XYZ in which he discusses Dr. Blair Müdfly, his character in Dolittle, working with Robert Downey Jr., CGI and more. Don’t forget to check out some screencaptures from the video on the photo gallery.
The Amazon miniseries based on Neil Gaiman and Terry Prattchet’s beloved book is coming to BBC Two on January 15th at 9PM (GMT). Read Michael’s interview to the British channel:
What drew you to Good Omens?
I have been a huge fan of Neil’s work for years. I first read Good Omens at drama school when someone in my year introduced me to comic books, and Neil’s work in particular. I read all the classic comic books – Sandman, Hellblazer, Watchmen and Swamp Thing. I loved them. I had always assumed that comic books were about superheroes and wasn’t that interested in them. But this stuff was brilliant. It was great storytelling; it was dark, gritty and fantastical. It really rang my bell. So I’m absolutely delighted to be involved in the TV version of Good Omens.
At the heart of Good Omens is the relationship between Aziraphale and Crowley. What brings them together?
They both begin to realise they are rather more fond of the human race than they should be. When Aziraphale and Crowley start to appreciate each other’s positions, that compromises them, but it also draws them together. It is something that is particular to them. Over hundreds of years, we see that bond developing. They’re on opposite sides, but they’re actually very similar. They’re both supernatural, but both very appreciative of humanity.
Ler maisRobert 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!
Read below the latest “What I’ve Learnt” column on The Times newspaper featuring Michael, where he shares what he has learnt from parenthood to his work and life:
Award-winning actor Michael Sheen, 50, played Tony Blair in The Deal and The Queen, Brian Clough in The Damned United, and David Frost in Frost/Nixon. He has a 20-year-old daughter with actress Kate Beckinsale and dated the US comedian Sarah Silverman. He is the father of seven-week-old Lyra with his partner, the Swedish actress Anna Lundberg.
Pretty much everything my parents told me to do, I didn’t. But as I’ve got older, I’ve ended up doing what they did, like community activism. I was a keen footballer and when I was 12 I was offered a place with Arsenal’s youth team, but my parents didn’t want to relocate to London. I was upset, but the chance of playing professional football in the Premier League is so slim. Ultimately, I was grateful to them.
I’m a bit obsessed with quiz shows. My new Pointless Celebrities trophy takes pride of place on my mantelpiece. I won it with [actor] Steve Pemberton.
Ler maisThe latest episode of RHLSTP (Richard Herring’s Leicester Square Theater Podcast) featuring Michael Sheen was published this week. He talked about his works like Passengers, Good Omens, his lover co-star David Tennant, what made him reconnect with Port Talbot, UFOs he spotted there and more.
You can either watch the video below or listen here, where you can also download the file.
Check out over 1.3k screencaptures from the interview on the gallery:
