Michael Sheen considers leaving Hollywood to become a full-time political activist
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Expect to be seeing a little less of Michael Sheen -- at least in film and television.
In an interview with U.K.'s The Times on Saturday, the 47-year-old actor said he plans to "work less as an actor, and possibly stop for the time being" in order to become a full-time political activist.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Once I'm in, I'm fully in, and this is big. It will be a big change for how people relate to me," he shared, citing Donald Trump's election and the Brexit vote as reasons for his move back from Los Angeles to Wales. "In the same way as the Nazis had to be stopped in Germany in the '30s, this thing that is on the rise has to be stopped."
"It's not going to look like this in ten years' time," Sheen added. "Everything has shifted. The dice are being rolled again."
The British actor's interest in activism first started with his involvement in the National Theatre of Wales' production of The Passion in 2011, which involved more than 1,000 local volunteers.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It started with a connection to something, and an idea of why I wanted to do it. How I was going to do it emerged over time, and was a lot to do with listening rather than telling," he explained, adding that Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election but a "massive urgency" on his decision to return home. "How can I be most effective? What am I going to do?"
Following his interview (and the subsequent articles claiming the actor was retiring from acting altogether), Sheen took to Twitter to set the record straight.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Before this gets ridiculous I said I'm thinking I might start acting less and maybe even stop for a while at some point but don't know yet," he said. "Brexit will of majority and totally understandable. Not about that. Talked about general world rise of anti-democratic forces. Must be stopped."
Whatever Sheen decides to do, he's got some room in his schedule. His Showtime series, Masters of Sex, was not renewed for a fifth season, and his new film, Passengers, opens Dec. 21. Sheen has two other films yet to be released, Home Again and Brad's Status, though both are currently in post-production.