Hollywood actor Michael Sheen has revealed how he sold his houses and gave the proceeds to charity as he declared himself to be a “not-for-profit” actor.
The Welsh actor and activist, 52, who handed back his OBE in 2020 so he could criticise the monarchy without seeming a “hypocrite”, believed organising the 2019 Homeless World Cup in Cardiff was a turning point for him.
When funding for the £2million project fell through at the last moment, Sheen sold his own houses to bankroll it.
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Speaking to the Big Issue, he said: “I had a house in America and a house here and I put those up and just did whatever it took, it was scary and incredibly stressful. I’ll be paying for it for a long time.”
After Sheen “came out the other side” he realised that his wealth and status could be used for all different kinds of ways.
After recovering financially, he realised “it’s not going to ruin me” so he pledged to carry on using money earned from his acting career to fund future projects and charities.
He said: “There was something quite liberating about going, all right, I’ll put large amounts of money into this or that, because I’ll be able to earn it back again.
"I’ve essentially turned myself into a social enterprise, a not-for-profit actor.”
Sheen is a patron for a vast amount of different charities. In 2017 he set up the End High Cost Credit Alliance, which helps people find more affordable ways of borrowing money.
A staunch supporter of the Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn, and Welsh Independence, Sheen previously donated £50,000 over five years to fund a bursary that helps Welsh students go to Oxford University.
Sheen, known for his intimate character acting, and star of The Damned United, Good Omens and Frost/Nixon, revealed the first “turning point” in his life was after a 72-hour production of The Passion through the streets of his hometown Port Talbot in 2011.
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He said: “I got to know people and organisations within my home town that I didn’t know existed.
"Little groups who were trying to help young carers, who had just enough funding to make a tiny difference to a kid’s life by putting on one night a week where they could get out and go bowling or watch a film and just be a kid.
“I would come back to visit three or four months later, and find out that funding had gone and that organisation didn’t exist anymore.”
He said he realised the difference between that child’s life being a little bit better or not was ultimately a small amount of funding.
He said: “And I wanted to help those people. I didn’t just want to be a patron or a supportive voice, I wanted to actually do more than that.
"That’s when I thought, I need to go back and live in Wales again."
What do you think of Michael Sheen's decision to become a non-profit actor? Let us know in the comments
Direct-Reputation-94 on December 12nd, 2021 at 12:32 UTC »
The lockdown stuff he did with David Tennant was good.
kalevetklep on December 12nd, 2021 at 10:58 UTC »
I enjoyed his version of Aziraphale. Good to see he’s becoming a bit of an angel himself now.
imagrandma2 on December 12nd, 2021 at 10:56 UTC »
*From one of my favorite actors and his “Letter To My Younger Self”:
I’ve realised in the last few years that I want to be one of those people who help other people the way so many people helped me. I don’t want to just be someone who enjoys the fruits of what other people have done and then pull the drawbridge up and go, well I’m alright Jack, I’ve had a nice time. I’m at the stage of my life and career where I have a window of opportunity that will probably never be this good again. I’m able to get people in a room, I can open doors. I don’t want to look back and think, I could have done something with that platform. I could have done something with that money.
Doing The Passion in 2011 [a 72- hour National Theatre Wales production through the streets of Port Talbot] was a turning point in my life. That project involved the entire town and it was a big awakening for me. I got to know people and organisations within my hometown that I didn’t know existed. Little groups who were trying to help young carers, who had just enough funding to make a tiny difference to a kid’s life by putting on one night a week where they could get out and go bowling or watch a film and just be a kid.
I would come back to visit three or four months later, and find out that funding had gone and that organisation didn’t exist any more. That stuff doesn’t make the news but it makes a massive difference to kids’ lives. I realised the difference between that child’s life being a little bit better or not was ultimately a small amount of funding. And I wanted to help those people. I didn’t just want to be a patron or a supportive voice, I wanted to actually do more than that. That’s when I thought, I need to go back and live in Wales again. https://www.bigissue.com/culture/michael-sheen-ive-essentially-turned-myself-into-a-social-enterprise-a-not-for-profit-actor/