Michael has proved himself equally accomplished on both stage and screen. His many award-winning stage performances include Caligula and Frost/Nixon at the Donmar Theatre, and Hamlet at the Young Vic. He created, co-directed, and performed in the groundbreaking three-day live event The Passion in Port Talbot for National Theatre Wales.
Sheen has starred in three films nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award: The Queen, directed by Stephen Frears, Frost/Nixon, directed by Ron Howard, and Midnight in Paris, directed by Woody Allen.
He is known to millions as a vampire in The Twilight Saga films and a werewolf in the Underworld franchise. His other feature credits include The Damned United, directed by Tom Hooper; Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland; Tron: Legacy, and the critically acclaimed adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s novel, Far From the Madding Crowd, directed by Thomas Vinterberg; Sony’s Passengers in which he starred alongside Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt and Home Again with Reese Witherspoon. Michael can currently be seen in the Netflix feature film, Apostle, as well as Slaughterhouse Rulez with Simon Pegg. He recently completed filming opposite Robert Downey Jr in The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle.
On television, Sheen has earned multiple awards and nominations for his performances in projects such as Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa!, directed by Andy De Emmony, Dirty Filthy Love, directed by Adrian Shergold, as Tony Blair in HBO's The Special Relationship and as Dr. Bill Masters in four seasons of the acclaimed Showtime series, Masters of Sex, on which he was also a producer. He has created memorable characterizations for NBC's 30 Rock, HBO's mockumentary 7 Days In Hell, the IFC miniseries spoof Spoils of Babylon, and Michael Bolton's Big Sexy Valentine's Day Special for Netflix. He will next appear in Neil Gaimon’s Good Omens for Amazon BBC alongside David Tennant and is currently filming The Good Fight for CBS.
Widely recognised as an equally effective activist, through his role as UNICEF Ambassador, Patron of Social Enterprise UK, President of the Wales Centre for Voluntary Action and many other roles. In 2019 Michael was also instrumental in bringing the Homeless World Cup to Cardiff, bringing over 500 from all across the world to a football tournament whilst shining a light on issues relating to homelessness. Michael is now branching out to start his own social movements. In February 2023 he launched his charitable fund - Mab Gwalia - tackling inequalities and social injustice, funding projects such as A Writing Chance and the Mab Gwalia Scholarship for Welsh Drama students.