In a new interview, Michael spoke about episode 4 “Take Your Father to Work Day”, getting to act with more actors of the main cast and Catherine Zeta-Jones joining the show. Spoiler alert to those who haven’t seen the aforementioned episode!
Ler maisMichael Sheen discusses the events of the latest episode of Prodigal Son “Take Your Father to Work Day”, and he also teases Catherine Zeta-Jones’ role:
Ler mais(Warning: This post contains spoilers for Tuesday’s episode of “Prodigal Son.”)
Two seasons into “Prodigal Son,” Martin Whitly (Michael Sheen) finally got to join the team for a murder-solving case rather than just consult from within the walls of his prison — because the murder in question occurred within the walls of his prison.
In the interview below, Michael also talked about meeting fellow Welsh Catherine Zeta-Jones, with whom he’s never worked before:
Ler maisMichael Sheen’s Martin Whitly unleashes a killer performance in Tuesday night’s episode of “Prodigal Son.”
In “Take Your Father to Work Day,” there’s a murder in Martin’s asylum — which means that his son, former FBI profiler Malcolm (Tom Payne) ,must come investigate — much to Martin’s delight.
Tensions soon arise as they’re forced to confront their complex mixture of love for each other versus their long-simmering resentment (Malcolm of serial killer Martin’s dark legacy; Martin of Malcolm’s turning him in years ago).
“I am drawn to characters that have something different going on underneath rather than what’s on the surface,” Sheen, 51 tells The Post. “I think that’s true of people generally — we’re always aware of the version of ourselves that we want people to see, and then there’s that version that we feel like we’re covering up.
Michael Sheen and Tom Payne, who play Martin Whitly and Malcolm Bright in Prodigal Son, have recently been interviewed by Brief Take and ET Canada to discuss the second season, which premiered last week on Fox.
Watch both interviews below and check out screencaptures from them on our photo gallery:
Michael Sheen, the main cast and the writers of Prodigal Son have attended a virtual panel at Paley Front Row, where they discussed the second season, to premiere on FOX next Monday 12. You can watch it here or here.
Paley Front Row presented by Citi (2021). Stars and creators of Fox’s Prodigal Son (Tom Payne, Michael Sheen, Bellamy Young, Lou Diamond Phillips, Halston Sage, Aurora Perrineau, Keiko Agena, Frank Harts, Chris Fedak, and Sam Sklaver) gather with moderator Kevin Frazier to celebrate their show. Topics include: how COVID-19 affected season one, including their relief at having shot the finale first; the shocking twist in which Ainsley became her killer father’s “child #1”; Jessica and Gil’s complicated relationship; Dani’s father/daughter bond with mentor Gil; Edrisa’s sense of humor in disturbing scenarios; hints about an upcoming moment deemed “the funniest scene so far”; how the “twisted” writers invent unique and creative murders for each episode; Sheen’s encounters with eager Welsh fans while in lockdown; Sage’s study of Barbara Walters’ interview tactics for Ainsley; Payne’s awe at how much the show “can get away with”; the challenge of rehearsing together while safely masked; and assurances that the show won’t be “subtle” with answers and reveals in season two.
Here are some screencaptures from the panel:
Michael sheen has spoken about growing up and becoming an actor in Port Talbot. Read more:
Ler maisMichael Sheen, 51, is a Welsh actor best known for his portrayal of David Frost in “Frost/Nixon” and as Tony Blair in three films, including “The Queen.” He currently stars in the Fox TV series “Prodigal Son.” He spoke with Marc Myers.
The skyline where I grew up in Wales was dominated by steel mills, tangles of pipes and shooting flames. I loved it all. There was an energy and charm about Port Talbot.
But it could be terrifying at times. As a child, I was obsessed with soccer at school. A bus dropped us off to compete locally, but we were on our own after.
To get to the public bus stop, you tied your soccer boots around your wrist and fought your way out. The rival team was always waiting for us—win or lose.
My entire extended family lived in Port Talbot. When I was 5, our family moved near Liverpool for my dad’s work. Three years later, when we returned, I felt a little like an outsider. I constantly wanted to prove myself, to show that I belonged.
Ahead of the second season of Staged, Sheen and Tennant spoke about what it was like to film again and what we can expect from the new episodes. Read more:
Ler maisStaged, the comedy which David Tennant and Michael Sheen filmed from their own homes during lockdown returns to BBC One at 9.45pm on January 4. Here they talk about the new series…
What can you tell us about the new series of Staged?
Michael: David and I are still being ridiculous with and about each other – that’s still very much the tone of it. We have a lot of amazing surprise appearances which I hope people will enjoy as much as David and I enjoyed doing the scenes with them.
David: It’s the same set up as before. Michael Sheen and I talking rubbish to each other over the internet from our respective homes, with Georgia and Anna, our other halves, keeping us from becoming too self-indulgent, not always successfully. But there is a bit of a twist to it all, which I’m not going to reveal here…
In the show you play exaggerated versions of yourselves, are you anything like these characters in real life?
David: I imagine not at all, but probably… quite a lot.
Michael: I think David would say that he’s not at all like his character in the first series. Whereas I would say, I probably am quite like that. But I think between the two series, there’s a slightly more representative version of ourselves emerging, or at least that’s what I would say anyway.
In a recent interview to The Big Issue magazine, Michael talked about how he manages his duties as an activist and as an actor and his hopes for the world after COVID pandemic. He also talked about the second season of Staged and what he was up to during lockdown. Read more below:
Ler maisMichael Sheen, activist and actor. It is in that order these days. And he’s doing rather well in both spheres. He has spent the last few years trying to find a way to balance his twin passions. And, he says, he is slowly getting there.
“A big part of it was shifting things in my head and knowing what the priorities were,” says the 51-year-old.
“I made the shift psychologically to go, right, the acting work and everything that comes with that is going to support the other stuff I’m doing.
“So even though to the outside world, maybe it wouldn’t seem like it – because I’ve been doing lots of acting work and things that have kept the profile up and all that – from my point of view, the priority has been different. Now the acting work fits in around the other stuff.”
That ‘other stuff’ involves supporting the Homeless World Cup and the fight to expand access to affordable credit, campaigning to get the right to a good home enshrined in law in Wales and combating loneliness with the Great Winter Get Together (an idea inspired by the late MP Jo Cox). Then there’s working with Social Enterprise UK, for whom he is a patron alongside The Big Issue’s Lord Bird, helping local journalism and communities get access to trustworthy information, publicising and supporting both foodbanks and theatres and fighting period poverty.
Read the interview Michael has given to the Australian newspaper about the Fox production as it comes to the country by Foxtel:
Ler maisIn Prodigal Son, Michael Sheen plays Martin Whitly, a highly intelligent, charming and cultured medical practitioner. But he’s also a serial killer, kept under close surveillance in a prison where he is visited by profiler Malcolm Bright (Tom Payne), who comes seeking insights into a copycat killer using Whitly’s murderers as a template.
There’s an unmistakable echo in all this of The Silence of the Lambs, and not only because Sheen is, like Anthony Hopkins, who played Hannibal Lecter in the 1991 film, so proudly Welsh.
“One of the useful things about this story is that it touches tropes and little motifs from other shows and stories in the genre,” says Sheen, speaking via Zoom from his home in Port Talbot, Wales, where he is spending – and largely enjoying – lockdown with his partner and young child.
Watch an interview Michael Sheen, co-creator Simon Evans, editor Dan Gage and composer Alex Baranowski gave to Sam Cook about Staged, available on BBC iPlayer (UK residents only):
Alternatively, an uncut version of Michael’s interview has been released: