ACTOR
Michael Sheen
23 archived facts 3 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (23)
- #001
Michael Sheen is the son of Irene, a secretary, and Meyrick Sheen, a former personnel manager for the British Steel Corporation, and he bears a professional resemblance to Jack Nicholson. He has a sister named Joanne Sheen. He grew up in Port Talbot, the famous Welsh town that also produced Richard Burton and Anthony Hopkins.
- #002
Sheen's primary residence is in London, England. He has a daughter named Lily Mo Sheen with his long-term partner Kate Beckinsale. Lily lives in Los Angeles with her mother, and Sheen keeps an apartment there so he can spend time with her.
- #003
Sheen lived in Los Angeles for a time with his friend, the Welsh actor Matthew Rhys. Earlier, while living in London, the two had shared a flat together.
- #004
Sheen has played both a werewolf (in the Underworld series) and a vampire (in The Twilight Saga).
- #005
Sheen was in a relationship with the actress Rachel McAdams from July 2010 to 2013.
- #006
Sheen has played British Prime Minister Tony Blair three times: in The Deal (2003), The Queen (2006) (both directed by Stephen Frears) and The Special Relationship (2010).
- #007
For his performance as Caligula at the Donmar Warehouse, Sheen received the 2003 London Critics Circle Theatre Award and the Evening Standard Drama Award for Best Actor.
- #008
Two of his father's great-great-great-grandparents, Edward Sheehan and Catherine Hickey, were Irish. The surname "Sheehan" was later changed to "Sheen".
- #009
After Sheen was born in Newport, his family moved to Liverpool and then to Port Talbot.
- #010
For his performance in "Caligula" at the Donmar Warehouse, Sheen was nominated for the 2004 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actor of 2003.
- #011
In 1997, as both actor and director, Sheen ran a Welsh theatre company called "Thin Language" jointly with Simon Harris, and staged a production of Harris's play "Badfinger" (directed by Sheen) at the Donmar. That same year he joined forces with Helen McCrory and Robert Delamere to found a new writing production company called "Foundry".
- #012
Sheen was appointed an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2009 Queen's New Year Honours for services to drama. However, he quietly returned his OBE in 2017, before delivering the annual Raymond Williams Memorial Lecture, believing it would be hypocritical to criticise the monarchy and Wales's relationship with the British state while formally an officer of the Order.
- #013
A talented footballer, Sheen was scouted and offered a place in Arsenal's youth team at the age of 12, but his family was reluctant to move to London. He later said he was grateful for his parents' decision and did not believe he could have played professionally.
- #014
For his role in "Amadeus", Sheen was nominated for the 1999 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Supporting Performance of 1998.
- #015
Sheen was in a relationship with Sarah Silverman from January 2014 to December 2017.
- #016
Sheen's favourite film is A Matter of Life and Death (1946). Other favourites include Apocalypse Now (1979), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), 12 Monkeys (1995) and The Last Temptation of Christ (1988).
- #017
Sheen is completing his run as David Frost in the West End production of "Frost/Nixon" and preparing for its transfer to Broadway.
- #018
In two separate film series, Sheen has played both an elderly vampire and an elderly werewolf. In the Underworld series he was the first werewolf, able to transform from human to werewolf and back at will, who led the war against the vampire covens that oppressed the werewolves, whereas in The Twilight Saga he was the head of a vampire coven fighting werewolves and the vampires who sided with them.
- #019
As of 2014, Sheen had appeared in three films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: The Queen (2006), Frost/Nixon (2008) and Midnight in Paris (2011).
- #020
In 2007, Sheen was one of 115 people invited to join AMPAS.
- #021
Michael Sheen has a daughter named Lyra Arwen Ingrid Sheen with the Swedish actress Anna Lundberg (born on 23 September 2019).
- #022
Michael Sheen has said that his favourite film of all time is A Matter of Life and Death (1946).
- #023
Michael Sheen graduated from RADA. He later became an Associate Member of RADA.
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