- Meyrick Sheen, Michael’s father, is a Jack Nicholson impersonator.
- About why Michael is called Michael: “Actually my parents named me Christopher but the nurses had to look after me the first week as my mum wasn’t well and they got my names mixed up on my tag so when I was collected my parents asked for Christopher and the nurses said… we have a Michael? So they went with it. Then a few years ago I did one of those family history shows. They told me about my ancestor coming to Wales from Ireland during the famine. They showed me the certificate for him getting married in Cardiff. And then the list of children he and his wife had. They had something like 20 or more children but not many survived. On the certificate it showed that they kept naming the male babies Michael but they all died. They were clearly desperate to have a Michael Sheen but sadly they never managed it. Generations went by in our family and no Michaels emerged and their story was forgotten. Then one day, many, many years later a nurse got a name tag mixed up and unknowingly tricked whatever malevolent force was at work trying to stop a Michael Sheen emerge. And, that long forgotten young mother and father, without ever knowing it, and without us knowing why they so desperately wanted it, finally got their wish. So to that nurse, whoever you are, wherever you are, if you’re even still alive, on behalf of my long dead ancestors and their mysterious desire – thank you. ❤️“
- He was brought up in Port Talbot, the Welsh town that famously produced Richard Burton and Anthony Hopkins.
- He portrayed British Prime Minister Tony Blair three times: in The Deal (2003), The Queen (2006) (both directed by Stephen Frears) and in The Special Relationship (2010).
- He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2009 Queen’s New Year Honours List for his services to Drama, but handed it back in 2017 so that he could call on the royal family to end the practice of giving the title of Prince of Wales to the heir apparent to the English throne.
- His favorite film is A Matter of Life and Death (1946). Other favorite films include Apocalypse Now (1979), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Twelve Monkeys (1995), and The Last Temptation of Christ (1988).
- His favorite album of all time is “War of the Worlds” by Jeff Wayne.
- His favorite song to karaoke is Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline.
- He lived with fellow Welsh actor and friend Matthew Rhys for some time in Los Angeles. They had previously shared a flat along with Ioan Gruffudd when living in London.
- Two of his paternal great-great-great-grandparents, Edward Sheehan and Catherine Hickey, were Irish. The surname “Sheehan” was later changed to “Sheen”.
- He appeared in thre films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: The Queen, (2006), Frost/Nixon (2008) and Midnight in Paris (2011).
- He has kept “the shoes I wore in the last season of Masters of Sex, which I wear every day now. They hit the sweet spot between comfort, understated style and Steve McQueen–ness”. He also “was given his Lycan collar at the end of 2009’s Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. I keep it in my study.”
- He played both a vampire elder and werewolf elder in separate movie series. In the Underworld series, he was the first werewolf who could turn from human into werewolf and back at will, leading a war against the vampire covens who had oppressed werewolves, but in the Twilight series, he was the head of a vampire coven who fought against werewolves, and the vampires who sided with them.
- The best advice he was ever given about acting came from actress Fiona Shaw. After seeing his performance in Look Back in Anger at the National Theatre, she said he was very good, but told him to be careful not to enjoy himself too much, which was what he was doing during the play.
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