Bad Omens star, who grew up in Port Talbot, tells Edinburgh TV festival schemes that helped him break into profession are all but gone
Michael Sheen has warned the pathways that helped him break into acting have all but collapsed, as he said the “bank of mum and dad” would be unable to support aspiring actors from poorer communities.
The Bad Omens star, who grew up in the working class community of Port Talbot, said he had benefited from school support, youth theatres and grants that have since come under financial pressure or been abolished entirely.
He said his journey was also aided by a supportive family and the knowledge that his home town had already produced acting royalty in Richard Burton and Sir Anthony Hopkins. However, he said the prospect for actors from underprivileged backgrounds now looked “quite scary”.
“Having those school plays where the drama was happening in my school – then there was a youth theatre that was funded through the education department of the council, and then I got a grant to go to drama school,” said Sheen, who was speaking at an event opening the Edinburgh TV festival. “So just to get to the point of going to drama school, all of those things sort of had to be in place. All of those things have gone, essentially.
