10 Best Michael Sheen Roles, Ranked (According to IMDb)
Fans and critics alike consider Michael Sheen an asset in any given project. Sheen seemingly has the ability to inhabit just about any role and bring it to life. This is because the actor somehow manages to straddle the difficult line between comedy and drama with ease.
Playing one historical figure is impressive enough, but Sheen has stepped up to the plate numerous times, portraying everyone from a journalist to a former British Prime Minister. As comfortable playing a controversial real-life figure as he is a parodically named sitcom character, Sheen is a chameleon. Fans and general viewers alike have responded to his performances, as seen on IMDb.
10 Tony Blair – The Queen (7.3)
It's not surprising that Sheen has played the role of Tony Blair more than once. The actor shares a fairly uncanny resemblance to the political figure.
Fortunately, Sheen has the acting chops to back up the physical similarities. His most noteworthy foray into the life of the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom came in the form of 2006's The Queen. Taking place shortly after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, Sheen's Blair has a fairly prominent role in the film.
9 Brian Clough – The Damned United (7.5)
Sheen played the lead role in 2009's biopic, The Damned United. Directed by Tom Hooper (The King's Speech), the film follows football club Leeds United and their coach, Brian Clough.
As (short-term) coach Clough, Sheen received the lion's share of the movie's praise. Or, as Roger Ebert wrote, "It stars Michael Sheen, who now in three films has embodied modern British icons so uncannily that he's all but disappeared into them." On top of Sheen's performance, The Damned United also works as a fantastic soccer film.
8 Paul – Midnight In Paris (7.7)
A high point in the controversial Woody Allen's later filmography, Michael Sheen plays a relatively prominent role in Midnight in Paris.
It's Owen Wilson's film (even one of Owen Wilson's best), but Sheen plays arrogant well in the role of Paul. Paul thinks he's smart, but the pedantic man's appreciation for accuracy is limited at best. His character also serves as the third part of a love triangle between Wilson's and Rachel McAdams' characters.
7 Dr. Martin Whitly – Prodigal Son (7.7)
While it only ran for two seasons from 2019-2021, Prodigal Son was well-liked by IMDb users. Sheen starred as Martin Whitly, the NYPD protagonists' incarcerated father. It was a meaty role for Sheen, and a little out of his wheelhouse.
This was primarily because he portrayed a character who had committed twenty-three murders under the name "the Surgeon." Playing a serial killer strayed far from Sheen's work as uptight but overall genial historical figures such as Tony Blair and Brian Clough. Rotten Tomatoes' critical consensus cited how the show could have used even more Sheen. It's fair to say that Prodigal Son's best episodes owe at least a little to his performance.
6 David Frost – Frost/Nixon (7.7)
While it was Oscar-nominated, 2008's Frost/Nixon has gone on to be somewhat of a forgotten gem.
Fortunately, Ron Howard's film holds up on a rewatch, even over a decade later. As intimidatingly terrific as Frank Langella is as Nixon, it's impressive that Sheen matches him as David Frost. Frost was almost never a subtle journalist, but he was with Nixon. Sheen captures this understatedness to a startling degree, and his lack of an Oscar nomination for the role is still surprising.
5 Dr. William Masters – Masters Of Sex (7.9)
Alongside Lizzy Caplan, Michael Sheen had a lead role in Showtime's Masters of Sex. It was another weighty semi-biographical part for Sheen, and the series lasted for four seasons, from 2013-2016.
Caplan and Sheen portrayed Washington University human sexuality researchers, Virginia Johnson and William Masters, respectively. While it didn't possess strict adherence to history nor accuracy regarding its real-life characters, the series and its two lead actors were widely praised. Masters of Sex was a poignant exploration of those with an obsession for knowledge.
4 Rupert Simmons – Blood Diamond (8.0)
Sheen isn't in much of Edward Zwick's Blood Diamond, but the 2006 movie as a whole was well received.
It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou, and Jennifer Connelly as various individuals stuck in the middle of the Sierra Leone Civil War that raged from 1991 to 2002. The highlight of the film is Hounsou's performance as Solomon Vandy, a victim of the terroristic Revolutionary United Front's search for (blood) diamonds. Sheen essentially plays a shady extortionist, the type of character who assists in holding a man's family for ransom. It's a small role but one played with cold efficiency.
3 Aziraphale – Good Omens (8.1)
There are so many easily missed background details in Good Omens that it would be fair to almost forget the strength of the two lead performances.
Along with David Tennant, Sheen's energy sells Amazon's Good Omens. Adaptations of fantasy author Neil Gaimon's work require both a certain type of filmmaker and actor. Sheen is the type of actor who lets the audience know when he's having fun in a role, if only because his joy is so infectious. His role as angel Aziraphale in Good Omens is arguably the best example of this.
2 Wesley Snipes – 30 Rock (8.2)
30 Rock's Liz Lemon had some stinkers when it came to boyfriends, but there was only one she outright hated. That was her "future husband," Wesley Snipes, who appeared on the show in 2010.
Sheen is perfectly pathetic as Wesley. He leans into (scripted) English stereotypes in a way that's brave, organic, and ridiculously funny. Wesley never seems like a bad guy, just kind of a socially inept square. Sheen leans into his boyish look (particularly while he's wearing a helmet) and makes the absolute most of Wesley Snipes.
1 Roland Blum – The Good Fight (8.3)
Sheen appeared in 2019 in a recurring role throughout season 3 of Paramount+'s The Good Fight. He played Roland Blum, an attorney working in coordination with Rose Leslie's Maia.
Blum is a character who thrives on upsetting the status quo by pushing people's buttons. As an attorney on a murder trial, Blum should be all business, but he also has the affable Sheen charm. The character is a pure indicator of how Sheen can be just as effective in a recurring role as he is in the main one.
Source: Screenrant
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