Editing Michael Sheen (section)

==Early life==
Sheen was born on 5 February 1969 in [[Newport, Wales|Newport]], [[Monmouthshire (historic)|Monmouthshire]], Wales,<ref name="BBC Wales Profile">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/arts/sites/michael-sheen/pages/biography.shtml |title=Michael Sheen biography |date=11 January 2011<!-- last updated--> |publisher=[[BBC Cymru Wales]]|access-date=23 December 2019 |archive-date=26 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626200622/http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/arts/sites/michael-sheen/pages/biography.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> the son of Irene, a secretary, and Meyrick, a [[British Steel Corporation]] personnel manager.<ref name="thefreelibrary" /> He has one younger sister, Joanne.<ref name="thefreelibrary" /> The family had already been living in [[Llanmartin]] for seven years prior to his birth.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-24578061|title=Michael Sheen's anger over mural demolition|date=18 October 2013 |publisher=[[BBC]]|access-date=26 July 2020|archive-date=23 May 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150523081809/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-24578061| url-status=live|quote=Sheen was born in Newport and his family lived in Llanmartin in the county for 12 years before moving to Port Talbot when the actor was five.}}</ref> When he was five, the family moved to [[Wallasey]] for work,<ref>{{cite tweet |user=michaelsheen |number=637357951552884736 |title=I lived in Wallasey for three years when I was a kid |date=28 August 2015 |last=Sheen |first=Michael |access-date=16 October 2016|archive-date=26 June 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190626200618/https://twitter.com/michaelsheen/status/637357951552884736|url-status=live}}</ref> but settled in his parents' home town of [[Port Talbot]], [[Glamorgan]], three years later.<ref name="Guard1">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/mar/20/michael-sheen-interview-damned-united |title=That's all I play – me |first=Simon |last=Hattenstone |newspaper=The Guardian |date=20 March 2009 |access-date=20 September 2010 |archive-date=19 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219064933/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/mar/20/michael-sheen-interview-damned-united |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="coming home">{{cite news |url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/showbiz/michael-sheen-coming-home-find-1885305 |title=Michael Sheen is Coming Home to find his family roots |first=Kirstie |last=McCrum |website=Wales Online |date=13 November 2010 |access-date=9 January 2018 |archive-date=10 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180110054456/http://www.walesonline.co.uk/lifestyle/showbiz/michael-sheen-coming-home-find-1885305 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Director [[Sam Mendes]] has described Sheen as "a stage creature" and attributed that to the actor's Welsh roots: "I'm serious. He's Welsh in the tradition of [[Anthony Hopkins]] and [[Richard Burton]]: fiery, mercurial, unpredictable."<ref>{{cite news |title=An Actor Creates A Fearful, but Still Bratty, Mozart |first=Matt |last=Wolf |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/12/theater/theater-an-actor-creates-a-fearful-but-still-bratty-mozart.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=12 December 1999 |access-date=18 December 2013 |archive-date=25 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225113743/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/12/theater/theater-an-actor-creates-a-fearful-but-still-bratty-mozart.html |url-status=live }}</ref> A keen footballer, Sheen was scouted and offered a place on [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]]'s [[Arsenal F.C. Under-21s and Academy|youth team]] at the age of 12, but his family was unwilling to relocate to London. He later said he was "grateful" for his parents' decision, as the chances of forging a professional football career were "so slim".<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Michael Sheen on vampires, politicians, and soccer |first=Darren |last=Franich |url=https://ew.com/article/2010/02/26/michael-sheen/ |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=26 February 2010 |access-date=24 February 2020 |archive-date=24 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224202032/https://ew.com/article/2010/02/26/michael-sheen/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Sheen was raised in a theatrical family; his parents were both involved in local amateur operatics and musicals<ref name="This Is Who I Am: Michael Sheen">{{cite web |url=http://thisiswhoiam.empireonline.com/Celebrities/View/Michael-Sheen_ |title=Michael Sheen – This Is Who I Am |work=Empire |year=2009 |access-date=24 October 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090705084423/http://thisiswhoiam.empireonline.com/Celebrities/View/Michael-Sheen_ |archive-date=5 July 2009}}</ref> and, later in life, his father worked as a part-time professional [[Jack Nicholson]] lookalike.<ref name="touchoffrost">{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/michael-sheen-a-touch-of-frost-410387.html |newspaper=[[The Independent]]|title=Michael Sheen: A touch of Frost |first=Michael |last=Coveney |date=3 August 2006 |access-date=25 May 2012 |archive-date=10 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101210013656/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/michael-sheen-a-touch-of-frost-410387.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> In his teenage years, Sheen was involved with the West Glamorgan Youth Theatre and, later, the National Youth Theatre of Wales.<ref name="This Is Who I Am: Michael Sheen" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Owain Arwel Hughes and Michael Sheen recognised in New Year's Honours List |date=15 January 2009 |website=[[WJEC (exam board)|WJEC]] |access-date=21 August 2011 |url=http://www.wjec.co.uk/index.php?nav=14&news=61 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927101054/http://www.wjec.co.uk/index.php?nav=14&news=61 |archive-date=27 September 2011 }}</ref> "It was a brilliant youth theatre", Sheen has said, "and it taught me not only a lot about acting, but also about work ethic; it was very disciplined."<ref>{{cite news |title=British Actor Michael Sheen Fights for The Damned United |first=Brad |last=Balfour |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/brad-balfour/qa-british-actor-michael_b_320393.html |work=HuffPost |date=14 October 2009 |access-date=18 September 2011 |archive-date=14 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114180952/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brad-balfour/qa-british-actor-michael_b_320393.html |url-status=live }}</ref> He was influenced by the performances of [[Laurence Olivier]] and the writings of theatre critic [[Kenneth Tynan]], saying "the combination of those two things kind of blew my head off."<ref>{{cite news |title=Profile: Michael Sheen |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7805058.stm |publisher=BBC |access-date=21 August 2011 |date=31 December 2008 |archive-date=30 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930003342/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7805058.stm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=theartsdesk>{{cite web |url=http://www.theartsdesk.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=2184:theartsdesk-qa-michael-sheen&Itemid=80/ |title=Q&A: Actor Michael Sheen |date=11 September 2010 |website=The Arts Desk |access-date=29 July 2019 |archive-date=16 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716223852/http://www.theartsdesk.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=2184%3Atheartsdesk-qa-michael-sheen&Itemid=80%2F |url-status=live }}</ref> Sheen was educated at Blaenbaglan Primary School, [[Glan Afan Comprehensive School]] and, finally, [[Neath Port Talbot College]] where he sat [[A-levels]] in English, Drama and Sociology.<ref name="thefreelibrary">{{cite news |title=Portrait of the artist as a young man |first=Gavin |last=Allen |url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Portrait+of+the+artist+as+a+young+man%3B+Michael+Sheen+will+be+at+the...-a0194199675 |newspaper=The Western Mail |date=21 February 2009 |access-date=20 September 2011 |archive-date=25 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025074406/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Portrait+of+the+artist+as+a+young+man%3B+Michael+Sheen+will+be+at+the...-a0194199675 |url-status=live }}</ref> He considered studying English at university but instead decided to attend drama school.<ref name="This Is Who I Am: Michael Sheen" /> He moved to London in 1988 to train as an actor at the [[Royal Academy of Dramatic Art]] (RADA),<ref name="This Is Who I Am: Michael Sheen" /> having spent the previous year working in a Welsh fast-food restaurant called Burger Master to earn money.<ref name="thefreelibrary" /> Sheen was granted the [[Society of London Theatre#Laurence Olivier Bursary|Laurence Olivier Bursary]] by the [[Society of London Theatre]] in his second year at RADA.<ref>{{cite web |title=Laurence Olivier Bursary |url=http://www.solt.co.uk/bursaries.html |website=Society of London Theatre |access-date=21 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830140013/http://www.solt.co.uk/bursaries.html |archive-date=30 August 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Larry, dear Larry! In Olivier's footsteps |first=Kate |last=Youde |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/news/larry-dear-larry-in-oliviers-footsteps-2348908.html |newspaper=The Independent |date=4 September 2011 |access-date=18 September 2011 |archive-date=23 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110923161328/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/news/larry-dear-larry-in-oliviers-footsteps-2348908.html |url-status=live }}</ref> He graduated in 1991 with a [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] in Acting.<ref name="thefreelibrary" />