Masters Of Sex star—and one true Wesley Snipes—Michael Sheen has announced that he’s stepping away from acting for a while, in order to work as a political activist. Variety reports that Sheen, who recently co-starred in the upcoming Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence space romance Passengers, is returning to his native Wales to combat the rise of far-right triumphs like Brexit and the election of Donald Trump.
“In the same way as the Nazis had to be stopped in Germany in the Thirties, this thing that is on the rise has to be stopped,” Sheen told London’s The Times. “It’s not going to look like this in ten years’ time. Everything has shifted. The dice are being rolled again.”
Sheen hasn’t announced how long he’ll stay out of the on-screen performance game, but he is currently free of acting commitments, Showtime having recently announced that Masters Of Sex has reached its ultimate climax. The Frost/Nixon actorvist cited his work on a National Theater of Wales production of The Passion, involving more than 1,000 volunteers, as part of his inspiration to step up his political game.
UPDATE: Sheen has said that the Times’ headline misinterpreted his statements, and jumped on Twitter to clarify what he actually said:
He also wrote a longer post on Tumblr, clarifying his position, and saying, among other things:
I DID NOT declare that I’m ‘quitting acting and leaving Hollywood’ to go into politics. In the actual original interview I said I have become more involved with community issues back at home over the last few years and because of the political situation it’s something I would like to focus on more. The interviewer asked me what that meant for my career and I said it might mean I work less as an actor and maybe even stop for a while AT SOME POINT. But I don’t really know yet.