Michael Sheen OBE

Michael Sheen has been shortlisted for his remarkable achievements both in Wales and further afield as an actor and a humanitarian.

After training at RADA, he made his professional debut in 1991, starring opposite Vanessa Redgrave in When She Danced at the Globe Theatre. He worked mainly in theatre in the 90’s. Since the 2000s, Michael has become better known as a screen actor. He starred in a trilogy as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, for which he was nominated for both a BAFTA and an Emmy. He also played comic actor Kenneth Williams in a BBC Four drama and portrayed David Frost both in a TV play and a film adaptation. He has also starred as outspoken football manager Brian Clough in the Damned United in 2009. In 2009, Sheen appeared in 2 fantasy films, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans and The Twilight Saga: New Moon, while in 2010, he made a four-episode guest appearance in the NBC comedy 30 Rock. At Easter 2011, Michael directed and starred in National Theatre Wales’ The Passion, a 72-hour secular passion play staged in his hometown of Port Talbot, which received great critical acclaim.

Outside the world of acting, he is patron of a number of Welsh and British charities such as TREAT Trust Wales, the Dylan Thomas Prize and Keep Wales Tidy. He is a UK ambassador for Unicef and has visited Chad and the Lebanon to see UNICEF’s work in action. He has also been involved in The Wales We Want initiative, a national conversation to find out what about the Welsh public’s priorities. He is on TV screens in the UK in February taking part in the Great British Comic Relief Bake Off to raise money for Comic Relief. He was awarded an OBE in the 2009 New Year’s Honours for his services to drama.