The Queen
As well as Kenneth Williams, 2006 saw Sheen play another real life personality, this time then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Sheen had already played Blair 3 years earlier in TV Movie The Deal, and would subsequently go on to play him once again in 2010’s made-for-TV The Special Relationship.
This time, Sheen plays opposite Helen Mirren’s titular Queen, as Blair helps the royal family to navigate the difficult days following the tragic death of Princess Diana. Whilst The Queen is the title character, Sheen’s Blair is the hero of this story, judging the mood of the nation perfectly in the wake of the death of the popular princess, pleading with the Royal Family to see sense and allow a public funeral.
Sheen’s Blair has conflicting emotions about the actions of the Queen, and Sheen shows this very well, alternating between condemning the Queen’s coldness, and praising her willingness to change, and bend to the will of the people. Sheen had obviously had practice, but it is still remarkable how he manages to look and sound so much like the former Prime Minister.
Frost/Nixon
Michael Sheen continued his trend of playing famous people with his 2008 portrayal of talk show host David Frost, during his interviews with disgraced former US president Richard Nixon. Ambitious Frost tempts Nixon into a series of interviews regarding the Watergate scandal with the offer of big money, Frost’s relative low profile means he struggles to sell the interview to the big TV networks.
Sheen has several elements to show in his portrayal of Frost. His intense ambition, his self doubts, as well as his developing personal life. Sheen juggles the elements well, able to present a well-rounded character in a film that revolves around just a few incidents set in a short span of time. He uses his well-developed ability to copy voices to become David Frost, playing a strong character that was, at the time, a little bit out of his depth. The highlight, clearly, is his on-camera battle of wits with Richard Nixon.
Another score for Sheen, in a role that would bring him several award nominations, and was arguably his critical peak so far.
