The Damned United
One more time, Sheen would take on a high-profile British personality, this time in northern football manager Brian Clough. 2009’s The Damned United covers Clough’s early career in the lower leagues, intercut with his disastrously short time as manager at Leeds United FC.
Clough was an enigmatic character, with an outward confidence that his beneath it a far more vulnerable side. Sheen puts this all on-screen, showing the conflicting traits of a man who had struggled to get to the top of his profession, only to let his over-confidence and conceit derail his first chance at major glory. Sheen is a master mimic, and sounds the part, whilst also perfecting Clough’s self-righteous smirk.
It is in Clough’s less confident moments, though, that Sheen really shines. He shows a real vulnerability, as the fire inside the young manager tries to stay alight as all around him are trying to extinguish the flame.
Another great role for Sheen to get his teeth into, and a part that allowed him to showcase emotional range and a talent for drama, with occasional moments of comedy thrown in.
Unthinkable
Michael Sheen’s role in 2010’s Unthinkable was a major departure from the roles he was synonymous with, and it is a shame that it has not been more widely seen. He plays Steven Arthur Younger, an American soldier turned Muslim, who apparently has become a terrorist, threatening the US with strategically placed nuclear explosives.
Younger allows himself to get caught, and endures questioning and the worst kinds of torture imaginable. Sheen plays Younger as a mild-mannered man, committed to his cause but obviously conflicted about the actions he is taking. The torture scenes are harrowing, and it is down to Sheen’s performance during those scenes that they feel so real.
Though we believe he is a terrorist, he remains sympathetic throughout, and it is genuinely difficult to watch him endure the pain of his situation. Sheen brings an incredible humanity to his character, in a film that is sadly too over the top and far-fetched to effectively convey the message it is trying to deliver.
A strong performance for Sheen, and an important role that signalled that the talented actor was ready to move on from the roles he had been pigeon-holed in, and begin a new phase of his Hollywood career.
