Michael Sheen has taken it upon himself to write off £1m of debt for 900 people, using £100,000 of his own money.
The actor 55, who has been making headlines for his kind gestures recently, started a debt acquisition company to help people in south Wales.
The actor forked out of his own pocket to aid others, and according to The BBC, it has all been documented in new Channel 4 show called Michael Sheen’s Secret Million Pound Giveaway, due to air next week.
The programme reportedly aims to reveal how some banks and finance companies make profit from society’s most vulnerable.
Speaking about his gesture on The One Show, the actor said: ‘I didn’t have £100,000 to throw around so I wanted it to be effective but when I realised that I could do this, that I could £1million worth of people’s debt and just write it off, it seemed like a good thing to do.
‘People’s debt gets put into bundles and then debt buying companies can buy those bundles and then they can sell it on to another debt buying company at a lower price.
Michael Sheen has taken it upon himself to write off £1m of debt for 900 people, using £100,000 of his own money
The actor 55, who has been making headlines for his kind gestures recently, started a debt acquisition company to help people in south Wales
‘So the debt itself, even though the amount of people who owe is still the same, the people who own the debt can sell it for less and less money.’
He expalined: ‘So I was able to set up a company and for £100,000 of my own money, but £1million worth of debt because it had come down in value.’
Michael was driven on by the people he met, including a woman in a Port Talbot cafe who told him about ‘steelworkers in tears’ who lost their jobs after the closure of Port Talbot’s last blast furnance and the end of traditional steelmaking in south Wales.
It comes just a month after Michael was praised for ‘putting money where his mouth is’ as he is funding a new national theatre company in Wales.
The actor is reportedly set to become the artistic director of the Welsh National Theatre.
With its first production set to start in 2026, Michael told the Mirror that he likes ‘the idea of starting small and building up’.
The move comes after National Theatre Wales said last month it had ‘ceased to exist’ after £1.6m in cuts to its core funding from Arts Council Wales.
Michael also revealed that the new company didn’t have funding yet but he will work with what he has.
He told the publication: ‘I like the idea of starting small, simple, lean and building it up, working with what you’ve got.
The actor forked out of his own pocket to aid others, and according to The BBC , it has all been documented in new Channel 4 show called Michael Sheen’s Secret Million Pound Giveaway, due to air next week
It comes just a month after Michael was praised for ‘putting money where his mouth is’ as he is funding a new national theatre company in Wales
Don’t pay for swanky offices if you don’t need them, build it slowly with care and with passion and with vision and with ambition.
‘We aim to represent the Welsh people so I would hope that public bodies would be prepared to work with us.
‘I think probably history tells us that relying too much on any one source of funding makes you a bit vulnerable so I first and foremost would hope that this company can stand on its own two feet but we are open to working with whoever wants to get involved.’
After the announcement, Michael’s fans rushed to social media to praise the actor’s next career move.
Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, one user penned: ‘A famous actor not just talking about a lack of funding in the arts but actually DOING something about it. Putting his money where his mouth is. Michael Sheen is one of the good ones.’
‘Can we all agree that @michaelsheen is a Welsh national treasure?’
‘What a wonderful thing to do.’
‘Michael Sheen is an amazing person. Massive credit to Wales.’
Last year, the Hollywood star directed a BBC drama call drama called The Way, which was about a brutal government crackdown in Wales with people becoming refugees and being hounded by English fascists.
In February 2024, Michael revealed why he left Hollywood behind to live in his hometown in Wales (pictured in Port Talbot in 2022)
It is directed by Michael, a Welsh nationalist, and follows the Driscoll family as they try to escape the UK.
The show, which also depicts a crackdown on protests over job cuts at the Port Talbot steelworks, came just weeks after Tata Steel said almost 2,000 jobs were at risk, leading to demonstrations in the town.
Michael, who lives close to Port Talbot, admitted that the show could be seen as political and that he had feared it would be pulled by BBC bosses.
The actor said he had ‘huge sympathy’ for the steelworkers but insisted it was a coincidence that the show he devised in 2016 was released after the job cuts were announced.
‘We wanted to get this out quickly,’ he told The Times. ‘The concern was that if it was too close to an election, the BBC would get nervous.’
But the show attracted criticism with one senior Tory MP saying: ‘This is typical politicisation of the BBC’s drama output.
In February 2024, Michael revealed why he left Hollywood behind to live in his hometown in Wales.
The actor is well known for his Welsh roots and was brought up in the town, where his parents still live.
He previously lived in Los Angeles , where the acting industry is biggest, but a few years ago he decided to return to his home country.
The actor is well known for his Welsh roots and was brought up in the town, where his parents still live
Speaking to The Sunday Times on why he abandoned his Hollywood lifestyle, he said: ‘It’s home. I feel a deep connection to it.’
Michael explained that while working on a play in Port Talbot in 2011, he saw local people in his hometown struggling to cope with the cost of living crisis and job cuts.
His time there made him aware of initiatives and charities that were in need of high-profile help and support, and he realised the impact he could have.
He said: ‘Once you become aware of difficulties in the area you come from you don’t have to do anything. You can live somewhere else, visit family at Christmas and turn a blind eye to injustice.
‘It doesn’t make you a bad person, but I’d seen something I couldn’t unsee. I had to apply myself, and I might not have the impact I’d like, but the one thing that I can say is that I’m doing stuff. I know I am — I’m paying for it!’
He added: ‘It’d take a lot for me to work in America again — my life is elsewhere.’
In 2021, Michael revealed he had become a ‘not-for-profit’ actor, using his future earnings to fund charities and social projects.
After funding for the £2m Homeless World Cup in 2019 in Cardiff fell through, he stepped in to bankroll the project and sold his two mansions.
Speaking to The Big Issue for their Letter To My Younger Self in 2021, Michael admitted that the decision was ‘scary and incredibly stressful’ and he would be ‘paying for it for a long time’.
Michael explained that while working on a play in Port Talbot in 2011, he saw local people in his hometown struggling to cope with the cost of living crisis and job cuts (pictured in Port Talbot in 2022)
But he added: ‘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.’
This inspired him to continue using his wealth and profile to help with similar ventures to ‘make a difference in someone’s life’ and chose to move to Wales to focus on campaigns helping Welsh people.
Speaking about his love for Port Talbot on The One Show, he expalined: ‘There’s no where like it because we are so made fun of.
‘The famous thing about Port Talbot, because of the steelworks, and there used to be a chemical plant there as well, is the industry. And the motorway, the M4, goes straight through it.
‘So people on their way to sunnier climes, off to the Gower coast, or on the other direction to Cardiff, you know, you go past Port Talbot.
‘You sort of overlook it. And people say ‘Oh it’s that smelly dirty place you go past. Now we who live down in the grime…
He continued: ‘So it gives you a special kind of sense of the place, I think, and the spirit of the people there is brilliant. The sense of humour is brilliant.
‘Now that I live back there as well, it’s such a strange mix of worlds where one day I’m on a film set or I’m with whoever.
‘Then the next day I’m shopping in Ystradgynlais and people are coming up to me.’
