Actor Michael Sheen said he is giving up Hollywood to focus on fighting the rise of the far-right populism in Britain and beyond, he told the U.K.’s The Times Magazine.
“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 The Times. “Once I’m in, I’m fully in, and this is big. It will be a big change for how people relate to me.”
Sheen, who is at the height of his acting career, is apparently willing to give it up to dedicate himself to political activism and to opposing demagogues and fascists. The “Passengers” star told The Times that he is moving back to Wales to start grassroots organizing.
Sheen is known for a variety of hits including “Frost/Nixon,” “The Queen,” “Midnight in Paris,” “Kingdom of Heaven” and “Nocturnal Animals.” He also starred in the TV series “Masters of Sex.”
Sheen told The Times that he plans to “work less as an actor, and possibly stop … for the time being.” He told the publication that he is not currently signed up for any future acting projects. He eventually cleared his stance on Twitter.
Before this gets ridiculous I said I'm thinking I might start acting less and maybe even stop for a while at some point but don't know yet.
— michael sheen ? (@michaelsheen) December 17, 2016
Sheen has lived in Los Angeles for the past 14 years, according to The Guardian. However, he is from the steel port town of Port Talbot in Wales, an area that mostly voted for Brexit in the June referendum, a decision that the actor doesn’t agree with.
“How can I be most effective?” Sheen told The Times. “What am I going to do?”
Donald Trump’s shocking victory over Hillary Clinton in the presidential election pushed Sheen’s decision to head home and fight for what he believes in. He told The Times, “It started with a connection to something, and an idea of why I wanted to do it. How I was going to do it emerged over time and was a lot to do with listening rather than telling.”
Sheen has also been in the political forefront on-camera, having portrayed former Prime Minister of the U.K. Tony Blair three times: the TV movie “The Deal,” followed by “The Queen” (starring Helen Mirren as Elizabeth II) and “The Special Relationship,” about Blair’s firm ties with then-President Bill Clinton.