By Michael Buckley
14 Dec 2008
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"Hello, good evening, and welcome!"..."I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow." The former was a British-TV host's greeting to viewers; the latter, an announcement by the disgraced 37th U.S. President.
Over the course of four summer evenings in 1977, the David Frost/Richard Nixon TV interviews (just released on DVD) played to the (then) largest news-program audience ever. The event was turned into a 2006 play (his first) by TV-and-screenwriter Peter Morgan who, following London and Broadway engagements, has adapted it for the screen. Directed by Ron Howard, "Frost/Nixon" has received five Golden Globe nominations: Picture, Director, Actor (Frank Langella), Screenplay and Score.
Reprising his (third) Tony-winning portrayal, Langella plays the former Commander-in-Chief, opposite the sterling Frost of Michael Sheen, whom Morgan had in mind when he wrote the play. Named "the most exciting actor of his generation" by the London Observer, Sheen is probably best-known to American audiences as former prime minister Tony Blair in Morgan's "The Queen," starring Helen Mirren.
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| Michael Sheen in "Frost/Nixon" |
| photo by Ralph Nelson |
Sheen's stage-and-screen portrayals of real-life characters include Caligula, Nero, Mozart, Robbie Ross (one of Oscar Wilde's lovers), H.G. Wells, Kenneth Williams (of the British "Carry On" series), and soccer coach Brian Clough (in the upcoming "The Damned United," again penned by Morgan).
"Playing a real character brings two responsibilities," he explains. "It's not only the responsibility to the writer and story, as with any character, but also a responsibility to the person. I have to find something that I identify with, something that I connect with, in the person.
"It's an imaginative thing in me that I project onto that person. Then, hopefully, an audience can identify and empathize with that person." So, he captures the essence of the person. "I wouldn't say the essence — it's an essence — of a person. Who knows what the essence of these people are? Hamlet says [Act 3, scene 2]: 'You would pluck out the heart of my mystery.' As to what is the mystery of the heart of each of these people, of Frost, or Blair, I wouldn't presume to know."
Hamlet and Richard III, two roles that are, according to stage lore, supposedly impossible for the same actor to play, were once goals for Sheen. "I'd still like to do Hamlet, before I get too old, but Richard becomes less a possibility all the time [Laughs] — the older, more tired, and frail I become," says the actor, not-yet-40.
London stage credits include When She Danced (his post-RADA debut), Peer Gynt (in the title role), Romeo and Juliet, Charley's Aunt, Look Back in Anger, The Dresser, Henry V, The Homecoming, Amadeus (which he also played on Broadway), and Caligula.
Two real people, says Sheen, "I would love to be able to play are Bobby Kennedy and Kenneth Tynan. They both have hugely impressed me. I find them fascinating." Has he told Peter Morgan? "I think so. [Laughs] I don't think he's much interested in either one." Plans to play Dylan Thomas fell through, but Sheen still hopes "to play him one day."
Thomas (1914-53), was Welsh, as is Sheen, who was born "a little bit down the road from" (but was raised in) Port Talbot, Wales, birthplace of Richard Burton and Anthony Hopkins. "I wish I could have met Burton," who died when Sheen was a teen.
He has met Hopkins, "quite a bit, over the last couple of years. Tony's a gracious man, and great actor. I was honored to be invited to his 70th birthday party, last year, in Port Talbot. He invited my Mom and Dad, too."
Upcoming films: "Unthinkable" (playing an American Muslim terrorist); Tim Burton's live-action "Alice in Wonderland" (as the Cheshire Cat), with Johnny Depp (The Mad Hatter) and Anne Hathaway (The White Queen); and "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans" (starring as werewolf Lucian).
Although Lucian was killed at the end of "Underworld" (2003), he was seen in flashbacks (actually old clips) in "Underworld: Evolution" (2006), and returns in the third entry, since it's a prequel. Actress Kate Beckinsale, Sheen's former partner, played vampire Selene in the first two pictures.
Selene, as a child in the second film, was played by their daughter, Lily Mo Sheen ("now almost 10"). The actor accumulates frequent flyer miles between the U.K. and L.A., in order to spend time with the child, who lives with her mother (now married to Len Wiseman, director of the first two "Underworld" pictures).
Might Sheen, in order not to compete with his co-star as Best Actor in the Oscars, accept a nomination as Best Supporting Actor? "That would be silly, I think. It was brought up, but seemed nonsensical. It's not a supporting part, and I don't do these things for awards.
"I've seen Helen Mirren's fantastic performance get rewarded [with an Oscar], and hopefully Frank Langella's fantastic performance will be, too. James McAvoy in 'Last King of Scotland' [another Morgan screenplay] was every bit as good as [Oscar-winning] Forest Whitaker, but it went unrewarded. Life doesn't end if you don't get a nomination. I've had enough time to lick my wounds off for not getting nominated for a Tony. I'm fine now. I'm used to it."
Which role, thus far, has given him the most satisfaction,? "I couldn't say there's any one. There's a satisfaction in telling a story that means something to someone. I would say that, first and foremost, I'm a storyteller — and it's the most privileged position to be in!"
There's an anecdote Sheen tells that bears repeating. He asked Frost, "What is it like to see yourself portrayed?" Said Frost, "It reminds me of the Yogi Berra line: 'It's like déjà vu, all over again.'" Unfamiliar with Baseball Hall of Famer Berra, Sheen thought it odd for the TV host to quote cartoon character Yogi Bear.
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Various and Sundry
Speaking of déjà vu, Liza Minnelli is all over again. She just extended at the Palace until Jan. 4, 2009, only two days short of her opening 35 years ago (Jan. 6, 1974) at the Winter Garden, when she remarked that the tickets had her name misspelled (one "n").
Meryl Streep once acknowledged that Minnelli was an early influence: "Her desire to give you something [in a performance] was just so fantastic!" Well, it still is. Liza's proof positive that "The Winner Takes It All."
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Two entries competing for Best Picture Golden Globes, "Revolutionary Road" and "The Reader", star five-time Oscar nominee Kate Winslet and have some theatre connections.
The former, directed by Winslet's husband, Sam Mendes (Broadway credits: Cabaret, The Blue Room, Gypsy, The Vertical Hour; Oscar winner for "American Beauty"), reunites Winslet with "Titanic" co-star Leonardo DiCaprio, both of whom are up for Globes. This time around, they're not lovers. They're married. Playing an older married couple are Broadway vets, two-time Tony nominee Kathy Bates and Tony winner Richard Easton.
The latter, which teams Winslet with Rafe Fines (spelled Ralph Fiennes), is directed by Stephen Daldry (Tony winner for An Inspector Calls, currently represented on Broadway by Billy Elliot — the movie of which he also helmed), from a screenplay by three-time Tony nominee (Plenty, Racing Demon, Skylight) David Hare.
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Two actors on opposing sides in "Frost/Nixon," Oliver Platt (Frost strategist Bob Zelnick) and Kate Jennings Grant (former Nixon press assistant Diane Sawyer) will share the same Broadway stage, as Nathan and Sarah, in Guys and Dolls.
Craig Bierko and Lauren Graham ("The Gilmore Girls") are Sky and Adelaide in the revival. The 1951 original won five Tonys: Musical, Robert Alda (Sky), Isabel Bigley (Sarah), George S. Kaufman (Director), Michael Kidd (Choreography). Sam Levene and Vivian Blaine created the roles of Nathan and Adelaide.
Blaine was one of three original-cast members, along with Stubby Kaye (Nicely-Nicely) and B.S. Pully (Big Jule), to reprise their roles in the 1955 movie version, which also starred Marlon Brando (Sky), Frank Sinatra (Nathan), and Jean Simmons (Sarah).
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Congratulations to Storyline's Craig Zadan and Neil Meron on the Golden Globe nomination for "A Raisin in the Sun", which I covered in my February column. But what happened with other nominations? Audra McDonald and Phylicia Rashad won Tonys for the revival, and deserved at least nominations.
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Happy holidays! Happy 2009! Happy New President!
Stage to Screens is Playbill.com's monthly column that connects the dots between theatre, film and television projects and people. Contact Michael Buckley at stagetoscreens@aol.com.
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