Michael Sheen Writes Off Over $1M Worth of Debt for 900 People Using His Own Money
The Welsh star, famed for roles in Good Omens, Twilight and more recently, A Very Royal Scandal, has started a debt acquisition company to help the group in his native south Wales. The business venture is documented in an upcoming Channel 4 documentary Michael Sheen's Secret Million Pound Giveaway, set to air in the U.K. next week.
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Sheen's show aims to reveal how banks and finance companies are profiting from the country's most vulnerable.
'The shocking thing is that people have started having to use credit cards, overdrafts to pay for basics, to pay for necessities, rather than luxuries or anything like that, so the debt that I was able to buy included credit card debt, overdrafts, car finance, that kind of stuff,' he said. 'You need some help to get through these times. And people are getting into spirals of debt. Once you're underwater it's very hard to get out again. That's why I wanted to do this — to draw attention to the fact that this is going on, and there is a way to change it, there are alternatives, and we need to push to try and make a difference for people.'
The actor was initially cautious about spending the money, he told BBC's The One Show on Wednesday, saying he does not have £100,000 to 'throw around' and therefore wanting the project to be 'effective.' It was only when he met a woman in a Port Talbot cafe who told him about 'steelworkers in tears' that Sheen decided to see the debt acquisition company through. Sheen's efforts, directed at the Port Talbot region, come five months after the closure of a blast furnace in Wales, marking the end of traditional steelmaking in the region and prompting in the widespread loss of jobs.
Sheen has become a champion of Wales in recent months, self-financing a new national theater to fill the gap left by the 2024 shutdown of National Theatre Wales, forced to close after a 1.6 million pound ($1.96 million) funding cut.
The actor said the closure of National Theatre Wales was 'incredibly sad, but not a surprise' and that it motivated him to find a solution. '[I realized] if we don't find a way to reimagine the way forward, it may be a long time — if ever — that we have the opportunity to have a national theater in Wales again.'
He added at the time: 'I want it to be something that represents the rich culture that we are and always have been in this country,' he continued, explaining that the company is seeking private and public funding but self-financing initially allows the business to stand 'on its own two feet.'
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