‘I Want to Help Other People’: Michael Sheen to Donate Future Earning to Charity
By Movieguide® Contributor
Actor Michael Sheen announced that he plans to donate the majority of his future earnings to charity and will no longer keep the wealth to himself.
“I’ve realized 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,” he said in an interview with The Big Issue. “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, ‘We’ll, I’m all right, 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,” the actor continued. “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.’”
Sheen credits his participation in his famous 72-hour production THE PASSION in 2011 for this desire to help others.
“That project involved the entire town and it was a big awakening for me,” he said. “I got to know people and organizations within my hometown that I didn’t know existed. Little groups who were trying to help young careers, 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.”
The play took place in the Welsh town of Port Talbot and was loosely based on the Gospel’s accounts of Jesus’ final days and His crucifixion. Sheen said the story resonated with him because “it’s about what community represents, like how do you treat the people in your culture who are at their most needy and most vulnerable who are not necessarily, obviously contributing anything obvious to that society and that culture at that moment because of the circumstance they’re in.”
When the play’s production was over, Sheen found out many social programs in Port Talbot were out of funds, leading him to the decision to give away his money.
“That stuff doesn’t make the news, but it makes a massive difference to kids’ lives,” the actor continued. “I realized 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.”
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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
