Michael Sheen Juggled Blair Role And Stage Caligula The Welsh actor reveals how he balanced playing Tony Blair on screen and Emperor Caligula on stage, racing across London each day despite exhaustion.
Key Points Michael Sheen simultaneously filmed The Deal as Tony Blair during the day and performed as Caligula on stage at night, managing intense logistics.
Sheen initially declined the role of Tony Blair but accepted after being persuaded during a chance encounter at the theatre.
Sheen's portrayal of Tony Blair led to reprising the role in The Queen (2006) and The Special Relationship (2010), highlighting Blair's political life.
Michael Sheen is no stranger to embodying iconic real-life figures, but even for an actor of his caliber, juggling the demands of two major roles simultaneously proved to be both a logistical puzzle and a test of endurance. The Welsh actor, now 56, recently opened up about the whirlwind period when he took on the role of former prime minister Sir Tony Blair in Channel 4’s The Deal—a part he initially turned down—while also performing as the notorious Roman Emperor Caligula on stage each night.
According to BBC News, Sheen’s journey to playing Blair was as serendipitous as it was chaotic. The story began one evening in London, when Sheen was simply enjoying a play. During the interval, a woman he had never met approached him out of the blue. “She said, ‘I’m working on a love story about Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and casting it, and I think you should play Tony Blair,’” Sheen recalled on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs. His first reaction? He thought she was a bit eccentric. “I just thought she was a mad woman, ‘what are you talking about?’ and this was The Deal.”
Sheen was already committed to portraying Caligula at the Donmar Warehouse, a prestigious London theatre. “I was committed to doing a play, and I said, ‘well, I can’t do it because I’m doing this play’, and everyone was like, ‘well, you need to not do that play’,” he told the BBC. But for Sheen, honoring his word was paramount. “If I say I’m going to do something, then I can’t go back on my word. I didn’t want to let people down.”
Yet, as fate would have it, a solution was found. Sheen managed to arrange his schedule so he could film The Deal during the day and perform as Caligula at night. This required a level of stamina and determination that would make most people’s heads spin. “We managed to work it out for me to do the play and play Caligula at night and filming The Deal in the day,” he said. The logistics were intense: “I would film, and then someone would run on to the set and say, ‘right, you’ve got to go now’. And I would run off, and I would wet my hair so there wasn’t Blair hair any more, put a helmet on, get on the back of a motorbike, where someone would then ride me across London to the theatre. By the time I took the helmet off, my hair had gone all curly again.”
Sheen described this period as “absolutely exhausting,” but he also spoke of it with a sense of gratitude and disbelief at his own good fortune. He vividly remembers the nightly ride across central London, passing by RADA—his old acting school. “I have a really strong memory of being on the back of the motorbike whizzing through central London, going past Rada,” he told BBC Radio 4. “If someone had come up to me when I was at Rada and said, ‘one day, you will be playing Tony Blair in a drama for Stephen Frears in the day, and going and playing Caligula at the Donmar theatre at night, I mean, I can’t imagine anything better. I remember thinking being tired is a very small price to play.”
Sheen’s dedication paid off. Not only did he deliver memorable performances in both roles, but his portrayal of Tony Blair in The Deal proved so successful that he was invited to reprise the part in two subsequent films: the 2006 Oscar-winning The Queen and the 2010 HBO film The Special Relationship. Each of these projects explored different facets of Blair’s political life—from his partnership with Gordon Brown to his relationship with Queen Elizabeth II and his alliance with U.S. President Bill Clinton.
Sheen’s knack for playing real people has long been a hallmark of his career. He’s perhaps best known for his transformations into figures like Brian Clough in The Damned United (2009), Sir David Frost in Frost/Nixon (2008), and Chris Tarrant in ITV’s Quiz (2020). But it was the unique challenge of playing Blair—while simultaneously channeling the madness of Caligula—that stands out as a testament to his work ethic and versatility.
On Desert Island Discs, Sheen also shared some of his favorite songs, which provided a glimpse into his personal tastes amid the chaos of his professional life. His selections included Ultravox’s “Vienna,” Talk Talk’s “Desire,” and the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter.” Each track, in its own way, perhaps offered him a moment of solace during those hectic days and nights.
The image of Sheen racing through London on the back of a motorbike, hair still damp from hastily washing out the “Blair look,” is both cinematic and oddly relatable for anyone who’s ever had to juggle competing demands. “I would run off, wet my hair so there wasn’t Blair hair any more, put a helmet on, get on the back of a motorbike, where someone would then ride me across London to the theatre, where I would get off and by the time I took the helmet off, my hair had gone all curly again,” he recounted, painting a vivid picture of the lengths he went to for his craft.
Sheen’s story also highlights the often-unseen side of acting: the relentless hustle, the sacrifices, and the moments of sheer exhaustion. Yet, as he made clear, the rewards can far outweigh the hardships. “Being tired is a very small price to play,” he mused, summing up the attitude that has propelled him to the top of his profession.
For Sheen, the experience of balancing two demanding roles—one on stage, one on screen—served as a reminder of the unpredictable nature of an actor’s life. Sometimes, the best stories are the ones that happen behind the scenes, in the hurried journeys between one world and another. And for audiences, it’s a reminder that the magic they see on stage or screen is often the result of extraordinary commitment and a dash of real-life adventure.
Sheen’s tale, told with humility and humor, is a testament to the passion that drives performers to go the extra mile—sometimes quite literally across a bustling city—to bring characters to life. It’s a journey he wouldn’t trade for anything, and one that’s left a lasting mark on British television and theatre alike.
[SRC] https://evrimagaci.org/gpt/michael-sheen-juggled-blair-role-and-stage-caligula-504693
