Michael Sheen has stated that he finds it “very difficult” to accept actors who are not Welsh playing Welsh roles.
The 54-year-old Newport native has played a variety of characters over his career, including Edinburgh-born former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair, English broadcaster David Frost, and Reading-born TV personality Chris Tarrant.
He has also played football manager Brian Clough from Middlesbrough, as well as other Americans, including Dr William Masters in Masters of Sex and sleazy lawyer Roland Blum in The Good Fight.
In a new interview, he explored whether performers can legitimately embody characters they have not directly lived and acknowledged that Welsh depictions in acting were a particular concern for him.
‘Seeing people playing Welsh characters who are not Welsh, I find, it’s very hard for me to accept that,’ he admitted.
‘Not particularly on a point of principle, but just knowing that that’s not the case.’
After working on his latest drama, Best Interests, in which he plays the dad of a kid with cerebral palsy, the actor stated that he had been addressing his beliefs on which roles he believes actors may play.
The programme had numerous individuals with impairments working on it, which Sheen found ‘striking’ given its rarity.
He told The Telegraph: ‘That’s a very different end of the spectrum, but a part like Richard III is such a great character to play, it would be sad to think that that character is no longer available or appropriate for actors to play who don’t have disabilities, but that’s because I’m just not used to it yet, I suppose.
‘Because I fully accept that I’m not going to be playing Othello any time soon.’
Sheen also said he felt he hadn’t seen ‘many actors who have come from quite privileged backgrounds being particularly compelling as people from working-class backgrounds’.
‘If you haven’t experienced something, the extreme example is, well, if you haven’t murdered someone, can you play a murderer?’ he mused.
With Sherlock producer Bethan Jones, the actor has formed his own production company, Red Seam, with the goal of creating more Welsh stories.
He returned his OBE from the late Queen in 2009 in 2017 so that he may argue for the abolition of the Prince of Wales title and study the relationship between Wales and the English and British states in his Raymond Williams speech that same year without being a hypocrite.
On Tuesday, the Good Omens star addressed the issue once more, calling its continuation “ridiculous” and “just silly.”
He also explained that he saw ‘no reason why the title should continue. Certainly not with someone who’s not Welsh’.
‘That’s not the majority view. So, whatever the majority of people want, I’m sure will continue,’ he added.
Source My Celebrity Life.
