Michael Sheen has said that he is now a “not-for-profit actor” after selling his houses and giving the proceeds to charity.
Writing in The Big Issue, the Welsh actor said that his outlook on life changed while helping organise the Homeless World Cup in Cardiff in 2019, during which funds to put on the event ran out, leaving them with “no money”.
“I had to make a decision – I could walk away from it, and it wouldn’t happen. I thought, I’m not going to let that happen. So, I put all my money into keeping it going.”
Sheen said that he sold his houses in the US and UK to pay for the event, describing the experience as “scary and incredibly stressful”.
“I’ll be paying for it for a long time,” he said. “But when I came out the other side I realised 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.”
Last year, Sheen admitted that he had quietly handed back his 2009 OBE after taking a “crash course” in Welsh history, stating that he had done so as he did not want to be a “hypocrite”.
