Original subtitles

You all right? Over there. Hello. Hello. You all right? I'm Charlotte. Hello,

Charlotte. Love. Pleased to meet you. Hello. What's your name?

Paul. Paul. Lovely to meet [music] you, Paul. Yep. Yeah. How are you?

[music] Where shall I sit, do you think? Hello. I heard you like

um football and stuff. Yes. Well, I'm not really a football person,

right? [music] Okay. Do you do rock climbing? I've I've not done much rock climbing. No. Okay.

[music]

We're gonna start officially now if that's okay. I think Sophie's got an introduction.

Welcome to the assembly, our collective of autistic, neurodivergent, and learning disabled

interviewers. We are delighted to have you join us today. Our rules are no subject is out of bounds.

No question in off the table and all might happen. Please tell us who you are. [applause] That was

that was brilliant and terrifying. [laughter] I can't believe he actually said that. My name is

Michael Sheen. I'm an actor. Uh I come from Wales. Uh and and it's an absolute pleasure to be here

today. Um this is very exciting and thank you for having me. And our first question is from Jacob.

Hello Michael Sheen. Nice to meet you. I'm Jacob. Hello Jacob. My first question is, was John Taylor

from Duran Duran your first ever crush? Oh, that question. He absolutely was. Yes. His I thought

he was the most beautiful person I'd ever seen, man or woman. What? [laughter] His His hair Oh,

no. His hair was [laughter] like a miracle. and I used to try and make my hair like him,

but I what I didn't realize was my hair was very curly and his was very straight and that doesn't

really work. Um I was going to ask um so about Strictly, have you ever been asked to do Strictly?

Cuz this year is the 20th anniversary of Strictly. Is it really? Yeah. Started the year I was born,

2004. Started before I was born. Yeah. It's it's an amazing show, isn't it? It

is fantastic. I I would be such a terrible dancer on it, though. I don't I don't Well,

I Maybe I'm not brave enough to go on. I I'll tell you something. I'll be honest with you. I

don't like doing things that people watch me doing if I'm not very good at it. I don't, It makes me

feel too vulnerable and insecure. I think that's part Yeah, that's part of what is good about that

show and what's very brave about people who go on that show. It really takes a lot of guts, I think,

to go on that. And I'm not sure I want to show people me doing something that I'm not very good

at. Thank you. Thank you, Jacob. Thank you. You have a fantastic voice, Jacob. By the way, do you

act? Um, well, I've been on TV um once before. I was on TV for a school I went to for children

with autism. Um I was on BBC Breakfast back in 2019. Wow. Um cuz our school won a horticultural

society award. Wow. Well, you have a fantastic speaking voice. It's really lovely to listen

to. Do you ski? I've been skiing once. Okay. Yeah. Okay. This question is a bit intense. So,

okay. How does it feel to be dating someone who's only 5 years older than your daughter?

Um, [laughter]

yeah. Yeah, I think I think when you because of the age difference um I think both of us were

quite surprised when when we got together. I don't think either of us were kind of looking for that.

You know, it's not like it's not like I've dated lots of, you know, people who are much younger

than me or but you know, you meet who you meet. We were very aware of what, you know, what that

was what what differences that would make and also how people might respond to that. Um so it's not

like it was the easiest thing to do. You know, we were both aware that it it would be difficult and

challenging. Uh ultimately, we felt it was it was worth it because of how we felt about each

other. Um and now we have two beautiful children together. And uh I bet you're happy. Yeah. Very

happy. Yeah. Really happy. Really, really happy because of the age difference. I'm aware that

I'm a much older father and that and I it does worry me, you know, it makes me concerned and

makes me sad thinking about the time that I won't have with them, you know, but ultimately I think,

you know, if you if you find someone who who brings you happiness and you make them happy,

um, you got to go you got to go for that, I think. And definitely and so that's what we

decided to do. And I'm so happy we did cause we have this wonderful family now. Who's the rudest

celebrity? Who's the rudest celebrity? I have you. Have you heard of a man called David Tenant? Yes.

He was Doctor Who. He was Doctor Who. Dr. Rude. [laughter] The rudest man. What did he say? No,

he's not really. I'm well aware of your He's very nice. Were you just going to dodge around

that question. Well, no. What I'll do is I'll as we keep going, I'll try and think and it

will someone will occur to me and then I'll let you know. Okay. Cool. Ben wanted to go next.

Okay, excuse me, please. All right. Jennifer Lawrence was very cheeky. [laughter] She's very

cheeky. Okay. Sorry. It's It's all right. It's all right. Um, how tall are you? Yeah. I would Well,

I would like to say 5 foot 11. [laughter] I'm I'm closer to 5' 10. I'm 5' 11. There

you go. You've got Yeah, that I would like to be your height. All right. Thank you,

Mr. She. Thank [applause] you. By the way, my mom likes you. She said she likes you. [laughter]

Don't tell Anna. Next up, Leo's got a question.

Hello, Leo.

Oh. Come on, Leo. Don't worry. We're all there for you. That's all right. We got plenty of time.

[snorts]

Do you want me to read it for you, Leo, or do you want to do it? We'll get there,

won't we? We'll get there. Good. You can do it. Just I know. Look,

it's all right. The normal. You take as much time as you want. Just increase your courage.

Come on, Leo. You got this.

You say that there is no other writer than Dylan Thomas. Do you relate to his work more

on a personal level because you are both Welsh? That's a fantastic question. Um, so Dylan Thomas

comes from Swansea. I come from Port Talbot which is just next to Swansea. I mean, a lot

of his poetry I don't understand. I mean, it's quite hard to understand what he's writing about,

but it sort of makes you feel something and it conjures up images in your head and it definitely

kind of resonates with me, I think, because a lot of his references are my references. A lot of

things that he describes are places that I know, that I've been to, that are near where I live. Um,

and I I find the way he writes just really exciting and vivid and vital. Um, and I suppose

quite Celtic, so quite Welsh, I suppose. And so [clears throat] that definitely does resonate with

me. Yes. Because of coming from a similar place, I think, and having similar interests. It's a great

question. Fantastic. Thank you. Well done, Leo. Luca has a Dylan Thomas poem he'd like to share.

Do not go gentle into that good night. Old age should burn and rave at close of day. Rage, rage

against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right, because their words

had forked no lightning, they do not go gentle into that good night. Good men, the last wave by,

crying how bright their frail deeds could have danced in a green bay. Rage, rage against the

dying of the light. Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, and learned too late they greed

it on its way. Do not go gentle into that good night. Grave men near death who see with blinding

sight. Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height curse. Bless me now with your fierce tears. I

pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage. Rage against the dying of the light. Beautiful.

[applause] That was fantastic. Thank you so much for doing that. This is a opportunity I've never

expected to do. Well, that was wonderful. Really fantastic. That was amazing. Takara,

what makes you cry? Oh my goodness. So many things make me cry. I cry every day. I think when I was

growing up, I think like a lot of people um sort of made to feel like it's not a good

thing to cry that it somehow shows that weakness or something. It's not weak to cry. I cry all the

time. Exactly. Yeah. To be moved by something and to uh to be touched and and to and to feel deeply

about something. Um and to show that through tears, I think is a a beautiful thing. Alli,

you're up. Good to see you. Michael Sheen. Lovely to see you, too. My name is Alli,

as my introduction. Hi, Ally. Have you ever taken any part of any TV quiz shows? Uh,

yes. But I went on The Chase. I've seen you. I've seen you on the on the Chase celebrity special

with Sarah Jane and Martin. You were in the final. We should have won that. How much did you lose? It

was very close. It was uh 72 and a half thousand, right? It might have been. Funny enough, I don't

remember that. I've seen it on YouTube as well to refresh my memory about Oh, good. Well, I'm glad

you I'm glad you refreshed your memory about how much money I lost. Thank you for that. Do you know

anything about Tom Jones, the long-term celebrity? [laughter] Do you know anything about I have never

heard him be called the long-term celebrity before. That's an excellent phrase. I hope that

eventually people will say that about me. When I was living in Los Angeles, uh I broke my toe. You

broke? My big toe. It was on an exercise machine in a gym. This is why gyms are bad for you. So I

went I was on an exercise machine at the gym, you know, like um what you call a cross trainer and

your feet your foot feet on that and my foot slipped off the front of the cross trainer,

but it kept going around and it crushed my foot into the I couldn't do anything. And then I went

to the foot doctor and I was sitting in this room and he's, you know, looking at my foot and then I

hear a voice from across the corridor going, "Is that Michael Sheen?" [laughter] And I said, "Yes."

And this voice went, "I'm Tom Jones's sister." [laughter] No freaking way. Sister in the other

room. So, we had this conversation. I didn't see her. I to this day I don't know what she

looks like. I was How's Tom? Yes. He's very good. Thanks. What are you in for? I broke my toe. Oh,

god. I can't remember your original question now, but um but you you said Tom Jones. Thank you,

Michael Sheen. Appreciate your time. Right, Miss Paris. Okay. Hello. What's your favorite Disney

film? My favorite Disney film is Moana. Moana. I love Moana. I think it's a perfect film. Every

time I watch it and I watch it a lot because um my youngest daughter, Miy, she watches it maybe twice

a day at the moment. Watch it a day. Yeah. I love Moana. It makes me cry every time I watch it and

makes me feel inspired and uh and I I love that film. when I was younger. Quickly say something.

Sorry to interrupt, but nowadays I really think that Disney have fallen off with their films, man.

Do you think? Yeah. Like like Wish Wish is bad. I haven't seen that one. I haven't seen that one.

I recommend you don't watch it. It's bad. Things like Disney films, they'll they'll go up and down.

I've kind of had my doubts. I don't think they're going to be able to redeem themselves. Right.

Well, you straight. We'll see. Can you cook? I mean, I did win bake off. Oh, yeah. You can either

s sit down or stand up if you want, Nicola. No, I'll stand up. Hi, Miracle. Hello, Nicola. Um, are

you scared of bats? Do you know that's a brilliant question. I could talk literally for hours

about [laughter] bats. Strap yourselves in, folks. So in um in our house in Wales, we have bats and

if if our window was open, they might accidentally come in. Yeah. All right. Now, I didn't know that.

One day, just sitting in the in the living room and suddenly this thing starts flying around

inside. [laughter] And I mean, I was we were all terrified. Oh, really? And this was just before

Lyra was born. Uh we brought her back from the hospital and you know she's in the bedroom and we

put her in a little crib and then we discover what the bats like to do. They like to fly in and they

they like to find things like curtains or clothes that they can go into the folds of and they hook

their little feet on them and then they are upside down and they hidden in the folds of curtains but

then sometimes they can't get out and they die. So I was moving the curtains one day and then I

found a dead bat on the floor. It had been in the folds of the ghost and it had been in our bedroom

with the baby for ages. I I realize I'm talking a lot about bats. [laughter] Paul, do you worry that

AI will take your job away? Yes, I do. [laughter] I think AI is something that, you know, we only

started hearing about not that long ago, but it's it seems like it's going to change everything. I

think a lot of people think that it's just actors and people in this profession who are going to be

affected by it's going to affect everything. AI is going to change everything. And I worry sometimes

that just because we have technology that can do all kinds of things that somehow nobody seems

to be in charge of deciding whether it should do those things or not, it just seems to just

happen. And by the time it gets to the point where people start to say maybe this is not good for us,

it's too late. Thanks Paul. Marcus, would you like to ask your questions now, mate? Okay.

Do you like beatboxing? Beatboxing? Yeah. Oh, right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No,

I love all that. I think it's brilliant. Do you remember a TV series called uh Dynasty? Yes. I

remember once um thinking of the theme tune to Dynasty and then discovering that I could do a

really bad sort of beatboxy type thing. So, I trying to remember how it goes. is

everyone.

So that's it. You gave it your all. But that was I gave it my all. [snorts] [laughter] Right.

Anan. Hello Ann. What's your favorite food? Um my favorite food probably egg and chips.

Oh egg and chips. He's a real British. You can't you can't beat it. You can't beat egg

and chips. Maybe with a bit of ham. Do you travel by trade or bus? I travel by both train and bus,

but my favorite thing is train. I love going on train journeys. So train. Nice one, Anan. Thank

you so much for that. Thanks an fabulous. Thank you. Right, Callum. Hello. Hello. Would you ever

go on to Love Island? Oh my goodness. Love Island. That's about everyone. Isn't Isn't everyone sort

of half naked all the time? [laughter] Bikini. I'm trying to get off with each other. Isn't

that what that is? Yeah. I think my Love Island days are over now. Okay. Yeah. Right. We're going

to have a little bit of a word from Jurio and then I'm going to come to Essen after

that. Hello. Hello. Uh Superman. Superman. Love Superman. Yeah. By Spider-Man. Spider-Man. Big

fan of Spider-Man. Yeah. Bye-bye, Doctor Who. Doctor Who. Depends on which one. [laughter]

Scooby-Doo,

that's [laughter] my Scooby-Doo. That's my Scooby-Doo impersonation.

Scooby-Doo. Do it again. Scooby,

that's funny. in Europe. You were awarded I can't remember it was an NBA or something and

you had it for a while but then you gave it back. [clears throat] Can I ask why? Yeah,

sure. So, I was given an OBBE which was a a great honor. A few years later,

um I was asked uh if I would do something called the Raymond Williams lecture. It

essentially became a history of Wales really. As I was researching that and writing my lecture,

I realized that if I was to give this lecture and to say the things that I was discovering,

yeah, I would be very hypocritical to also have something that was calling me an officer of the

British Empire. And I had nothing against the honesty. I mean, if people want to do that,

that's fine. But I felt at that moment I couldn't give this lecture and have the uh OB. So I gave

the OB back because I thought um it had something to do with when the British royal family came into

Wales and that malarkey happened. I'm curious what is your opinion on the British royal family? Uh I

think well I think like everybody I was a huge fan of the queen. I thought you know as as individuals

I think um you know there are some rums in there. Clearly there's a few of them that are you know I

I I have a bit of a problem with people who have so much wealth and yes uh when there are people

who are sleeping on the streets I find that a bit difficult and personally in with with

the particular title of prince and princess of Wales there is a history to that title which I

think is is problematic which I was hinting at but I I didn't know how you felt about it so I

was trying to be diplomatic. Yeah. No sure. Well I think it's problematic. I get you. If you had to

replace two members of the royal family, who would you replace them with? And it can't be yourself.

Replace on the spot. Interesting. So, I can pick anyone to be put into the royal family. Well,

let's get rid of Andrew. Let's get rid of And let's put Joe Lyset in there. Oh,

yeah. That would be interesting. I think he would be great. Would he to be put in the royal family?

I would pay to see that. That would be brilliant. And then um maybe I put David Atenburgh in there.

You have everything. But who would they replace? Uh I would I would maybe uh I mean Camila Camil

or you could put Tom Jones in as Prince of Wales. How about that? There we are. Yeah,

that's a good idea. Harry, hello Michael Sheen. Hello Harry. How are you? I'm very well, thank

you. here. It's good to meet you. Oh, it's lovely to meet you, too. If you were in Doctor Who,

who would you play, the Doctor or the Master? Oh, he's put you on a spot. Okay. I'm on that

spot. I mean, there's been a lot of very good Doctor Who's. There has been. The first Doctor

Who I watched was John Perwe. John Perwe. He was the third Doctor Who, right? Well,

he was and I thought he was brilliant. And then Tom Baker. He was the fourth Doctor Who,

right? Yeah. I think maybe the master would be a a good master. I think you'll be the good master.

They'll have to bring David Tenant back as Doctor Who again. And then I can be the master opposite

him. Maybe. What are your most afraid of? Fears or phobias? Wow. Criy. My biggest fear is probably

um being alone. To feel like you you you have to deal with um things that are very scary or

difficult and you've got no no one to help you. I think that's the thing that I'm most afraid of

myself and it's what I I I I worry about the most for other people. Which is your favorite season,

cold or hot? [sighs] You put me on that spot again, Ari. Put you on the spot again. Yes.

I mean, I I do really love when it's a cold day, cold winter's day, maybe snow. Snow and

and everywhere looks so beautiful. It's nothing better than that. So, I mean, probably winter.

I'm more of a summer person. me. You seem like a summer person, Ar. You do. You got a

very sunny disposition. Yes. [laughter] Very good to meet you, Mark. Lovely to meet you, too. Jack,

I just want to say that actually it's like a dream generally having you here. I feel like I'm going

to wake up any second out of my bed. So, the one question I just had to ask, can you just walk us

through the before, the during, and the after of your passionate kiss with David Tenant? [laughter]

after. Well, I remember I remember reading the script and thinking that's going to be a big

deal. Uh and um yeah, didn't really talk about it and just went for it. I remember seeing that

everyone was quite moved by the scene and and all the people who were working on it. So, you knew we

knew that it had gone quite well. Yeah. And now we never talk about it. If if I had the opportunity

to kiss David T, I'd never live it down. I tell everyone. Well, maybe you will. Maybe one day you

will. I wish. Amazing. Thank you. This one is very important. Right. Okay. The autistic community

are often rejected for employment. Have you ever been as an actor rejected for roles? And if so,

do you have any tips for us about this? Uh well uh first of all just being an actor means that you

you are going to be rejected. I mean, no actor has got every job that they've gone up for. You know,

what you're talking about, though, has a different point to it as well, which is that for years and

years and years, people who have the sort of life experiences that you have, whether it's to

do with autism or physical disabilities, um people have have been shut out from the industry really.

Yeah. And and I mean, in the past, I have played a character uh who had uh CP cerebopy. I loved

playing that character. He was a wonderful man and I got to know him a bit doing it. But you know

these days you kind of go well why wasn't a person with cable policy play in that part. You know it

is acting and so acting is about pretending to be something that you're not and all that kind

of stuff but there is a wealth of richness of experience you know the experiences you've gone

through the experiences everyone here has gone through. you know that better than anyone else,

you know, and if you have aspirations to act, I mean, we've just seen a brilliant performance

of that poem, then surely people who are in a position to give the jobs out, surely they'd want

Exactly. people like yourselves or whoever it is to to to bring that experience to them. And if the

only reason that that is being stopped is because, well, we just don't give jobs to people or it'll

be too difficult or whatever it is, then that's nonsense, you know. So the more that that's being

addressed now, I think absolutely the better. Some of our group have prepared a musical performance.

Here [music] comes the [singing] sun. Here comes the sun. And I say it's all right, [music]

little [singing] darling. It's been a long, cold, lonely winter. [singing] [music] Little darling,

it feels [singing] like years since it's been here. Here comes [music and singing] the sun.

Here comes the sun. I say it's all right, [singing]

little [singing and music] darling.

[music] Little darling, it feels like [singing]

everyone [music] here. [singing]

Here comes the sun. I say it's all right.

[music and singing] Sun. Here it comes.

[singing] [music] Here it comes.

[music] I feel that [singing] ice is slowly melting. Little darling,

[music] it [singing] seems like since it's clear. Here comes [singing and music] the

star. Here comes the sun. [singing] I [music] say it's all right. [cheering] [applause]

Beautiful.

Wow, that was great. Gorgeous.

Sing that all day. Now for our closing statement. If you please. So, Michael Sheen, how did that go

for you? I loved it. You know, because usually interviews are so boring. You get asked the same

questions over and over again. This you don't know what you're going to be asked. It's like being on

the ultimate version of the one show. I've loved it. Thank you so much, everyone. Thank you,

Michael Shane. It was very lovely to meet you. Oh, it was lovely to meet you, Harry,

and all of you. Thank you so much. Thank you, Marcus. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Harry.

[music]

Oh, lovely to meet you, Paul. Oh, that was so beautiful. It was really,

really lovely. Thank you. How are you going to travel back from here? Yeah,

just walking. Are you going to walk? Just walk, I think. Walk over the bridge,

I think. Probably walk over the bridge. Yes. To the theater. To the theater. Yes,

cuz it's just along the way. What's your name, guys? What's your Michael? [music]

[music]