Michael Sheen is a proud Welshman (Picture: Getty)
Michael Sheen has said he finds it ‘very hard to accept’ actors who are not Welsh portraying Welsh characters.
The Newport-born actor, 54, has starred in a raft of various roles throughout his career including playing Edinburgh-born former prime minister Sir Tony Blair, English broadcaster David Frost and Reading-born TV presenter Chris Tarrant.
He has also appeared as football managed Brian Clough from Middlesbrough, and in as multiple Americans such as Dr William Masters in Masters of Sex and sleazy lawyer Roland Blum in The Good Fight.
In a new interview, he discussed whether he felt actors can credibly play identities they have not personally lived and revealed that a personal issue for him was Welsh portrayals in acting.
‘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.’
The actor, who has played Scottish-born Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair on multiple occasions, said he found it ‘hard to accept’ non-Welsh actors in Welsh roles (Picture: BBC/HBO)
The actor explained that he had been confronting his thoughts on which roles he feels actors can play after working on his new drama, Best Interests, where he portrays the parent of a child with cerebral palsy.
The drama has several people working on it with disabilities, which Sheen found ‘striking’ in 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.’
He mused on the casting debate thanks to his new show, Best Interests (Picture: BBC)
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.
The actor has set up his own production company, Red Seam, with Sherlock producer Bethan Jones with the aim of telling more Welsh stories.
He returned his OBE that he received from the late Queen in 2009 in 2017 so he could call for the scrapping of the Prince of Wales title and explore the history between Wales and the English and British states in his Raymond Williams lecture that same year without being a hypocrite.
Sheen has previously returned his OBE so he could speak out against the Prince of Wales title (Picture: Getty)
The Good Omens star returned to the topic again on Tuesday, railing against its continuation as he branded it ‘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.
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The actor himself has played multiple English, Scottish and American parts.