I’m torn on this. I like Sheen as an actor (for those who don’t recognize the name, he’s the male lead in Masters of Sex, opposite the extremely delicious Lizzy Caplan. And I admire his passion on the subject, and of his opinion on Trump.
On the other hand, who gives a shit about an actor/musician/author/etc and their political opinions? Well, I do. Kind of. I probably shouldn’t, and his views won’t influence mine.
Still, whether you agree with him or not, you have to respect his willingness to follow through on his decision.
I agree with him. I think he is one of the very best actors of his generation, and I admire his guts to do what he feels must be done.
If one believes in liberal policies, the importance of the social safety net and health care for all, then you have a moral imperative to oppose those who would destroy them.
I feel he’s just being self-indulgent. If he wanted to do something for liberal causes, he should continue to work and donate ninety percent of his salary to those causes. Or look for opportunities to do movies and television series that spread the message he believes in. Or announce he’s going to run for Congress in 2018.
Instead he declares he’s quitting acting to “fight for freedom”. Is he planning on forming a revolutionary band and taking to the hills?
Why would an actor’s opinions be any less worth consideration than those of someone in any other profession (with or without an established public image and name)? It’s hardly new - Reagan, George Murphy, Helen Gahagan Douglas could do it in America, and actors have gone into political activism in and out of Parliament in the UK, and not all of them were quite so way out as, say, Vanessa and Corin Redgrave.
Glenda Jackson went into politics, was in Parliament for 20-odd years and for a few uncomfortable ones was a junior minister in Tony Blair’s government.
I can’t help but think there’s some movie out there about to be made in which the message against fascism is clear and concise and it inspires people to act… except that the movie flops because Michael Sheen declines the lead role.
Valid perspective. My point is that the majority of people don’t go to a movie/play/concert based off of the political opinions of the artist. There
are exceptions, of course. But if I go see, for instance, a Quentin Tarantino movie, my enjoyment isn’t necessarily affected by his opinion on abortion (as an example).
Watch the video I linked. He’s an amazing public speaker, a genuine liberal firebrand of the kind we haven’t seen in a long time. He can accomplish more speaking and inspiring others to donate money and time.
Besides, if he only gave money, he’d be dismissed as “just another limousine liberal” by the right.
I guess you don’t go to a lot of movies then. He has 72 credits on IMDB. I remember one evening, he had two films out at the same time - playing David Frost in Frost/Nixon and a werewolf in Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. They were in theaters next to each other. That’s some range.
My wife and I first really noticed him when he was playing Art Honeyman, a man with cerebral palsy in the movie Music Within.
I consider him the finest actor currently working.
Whew. Got him confused with Michael Shannon and was upset that I might not see him in anything again.
Also quite impressed that the guy I was thinking of was such a good actor, I never once thought he wasn’t American. Which made for a confusing story, until I actually clicked on the link and saw the photo.
Michael Shannon: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0788335/