'Good Omens' Star Michael Sheen Becomes A Not-For-Profit Actor, Paying For Underfunded Social Projects
In this season of giving, Welsh actor Michael Sheen has decided to take this mantra to the next level by giving away all profits he makes as an actor to fund social projects.
During a recent interview with The Big Issue, Sheen talked about a life-changing moment he had during a 72-hour National Theater performance of The Passion, through his hometown of Port Talbot South Wales in 2011. He had this to say about the experience,
That project involved the entire town and it was a big awakening for me. I got to know people and organizations within my hometown that I didn't know existed. Little groups who were trying to help young carers, 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.
I would come back to visit three or four months later, and find out that funding had gone and that organization didn't exist anymore. 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.
Sheen continued,
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, 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.
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. I don't want to just be someone who enjoys the fruits of what other people have done and then pull the drawbridge up.
Adding to his good will, he decided to also contribute to the Homeless World Cup, a soccer tournament held in Cardiff which was in dire need of funding in 2019. It was then that Sheen decided to do one of the most selfless and daunting acts of charity a person could do.
I had a house in America and a house [in the U.K.] and I put those up and just did whatever it took. It was scary and incredibly stressful. And I'll be paying for it for a long time.
It didn't take long for Sheen to realize these selfless acts were something he could continue through future projects, while still being successful as at his profession.
When I came out the other side I realized I could do this kind of thing and, if I can keep earning money it's not going to ruin me. There was something quite liberating about going, alright, I'll put large amounts of money into this or that, because I'll be able to earn it back again. I've essentially turned myself into a social enterprise, a not-for-profit actor.
In other words, the iconic actor is basically turning HIMSELF into a not-for-profit venture. Truly an example we can all learn - and grow - from.
