Latest news with #NationalTheatreWales
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Michael Sheen Writes Off Over $1M Worth of Debt for 900 People Using His Own Money
Michael Sheen has written off £1 million ($1.29 million) of debt for 900 people using £100,000 ($129,000) of his own money. The Welsh star, famed for roles in Good Omens, Twilight and more recently, A Very Royal Scandal, has started a debt acquisition company to help the group in his native south Wales. The business venture is documented in an upcoming Channel 4 documentary Michael Sheen's Secret Million Pound Giveaway, set to air in the U.K. next week. More from The Hollywood Reporter Neil Gaiman Says WhatsApp Messages Prove Former Nanny's Claims of Rape Are a "Sham": "She's a Fantasist" TKO Officially Enters Boxing Business in Deal With Saudi Arabia TNT Sports Snags FIFA Club World Cup Rights in Deal With DAZN Sheen's show aims to reveal how banks and finance companies are profiting from the country's most vulnerable. 'The shocking thing is that people have started having to use credit cards, overdrafts to pay for basics, to pay for necessities, rather than luxuries or anything like that, so the debt that I was able to buy included credit card debt, overdrafts, car finance, that kind of stuff,' he said. 'You need some help to get through these times. And people are getting into spirals of debt. Once you're underwater it's very hard to get out again. That's why I wanted to do this — to draw attention to the fact that this is going on, and there is a way to change it, there are alternatives, and we need to push to try and make a difference for people.' The actor was initially cautious about spending the money, he told BBC's The One Show on Wednesday, saying he does not have £100,000 to 'throw around' and therefore wanting the project to be 'effective.' It was only when he met a woman in a Port Talbot cafe who told him about 'steelworkers in tears' that Sheen decided to see the debt acquisition company through. Sheen's efforts, directed at the Port Talbot region, come five months after the closure of a blast furnace in Wales, marking the end of traditional steelmaking in the region and prompting in the widespread loss of jobs. Sheen has become a champion of Wales in recent months, self-financing a new national theater to fill the gap left by the 2024 shutdown of National Theatre Wales, forced to close after a 1.6 million pound ($1.96 million) funding cut. The actor said the closure of National Theatre Wales was 'incredibly sad, but not a surprise' and that it motivated him to find a solution. '[I realized] if we don't find a way to reimagine the way forward, it may be a long time — if ever — that we have the opportunity to have a national theater in Wales again.' He added at the time: 'I want it to be something that represents the rich culture that we are and always have been in this country,' he continued, explaining that the company is seeking private and public funding but self-financing initially allows the business to stand 'on its own two feet.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter The Cast of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' Then and Now 'Yellowstone' and the Sprawling Dutton Family Tree, Explained A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Michael Sheen writes off £1m of debt for 900 people
Hollywood actor Michael Sheen has written off £1m-worth of people's debts, using £100,000 of his own money. Sheen started a debt acquisition company to help 900 people in south Wales. It has been documented in a new Channel 4 show called Michael Sheen's Secret Million Pound Giveaway, due to air next week - five months after the closure of Port Talbot's last blast furnace, which marked the end of traditional steelmaking in south Wales. The show aims to reveal how some banks and finance companies profit from society's most vulnerable. Sheen said he did not have £100,000 to "throw around" and therefore wanted the project to be "effective". Despite initial doubts, an encounter with a woman in a Port Talbot cafe who shared the story of "steelworkers in tears" losing their jobs, convinced him to keep going. Sheen to fund new national theatre for Wales Final curtain goes down on National Theatre Wales It comes two months after Sheen announced he was funding a new theatre company to fill the gap left by the folding of National Theatre Wales. In 2021, Sheen declared himself a "not-for-profit" actor, pledging to use all the money he earns for good causes. The 56-year-old, who has starred in films such as Frost/Nixon and The Damned United, also sold his houses to make sure the 2019 Homeless World Cup went ahead in Cardiff. Appearing on the One Show on Tuesday, the actor explained how exactly the system of debts work. It sees people's debts get put into a bundle, with a debt-buying company then able to buy those bundles at a lower price. Despite the money being owed by people remaining the same, the companies that own the debt can then sell them for less and less money. Sheen said he was able to set up a debt acquisition company with £100,000 of his own money to buy £1m worth of debt because it had come down in value. Although the system was "bizarre" and he initially had "no idea" how it worked, Sheen said "it seemed like a good thing to do". The company was not set up in Sheen's name and he had to be at "arm's length from it". He did not know the identity of people's debts he paid off, he only knew where they lived and the kind of debt it was. Sheen added: "I would never know who they are - I still don't know who they are." During the making of the documentary, the process became far more complicated than he anticipated. "I thought I would only work on this for a few weeks or a month or something, and it turned into two years, because we had to do it secretly," he said. Sheen added that setting up the company took so long that at a one point he felt like he wasn't going to be able to keep doing it. His mindset changed after filming in a cafe in his hometown of Port Talbot as the local steelworks prepared to close. "The woman who worked at the cafe we were filming in told me the story of the men sitting on every table in tears, who were losing their jobs," he said. "And I just thought - then, it really hits home, I just thought anything I can do [to help]". The hour-long documentary will air on Channel 4 on Monday 10 March - five months after the last remaining blast furnace was closed in Port Talbot - which brought an end to the traditional method of steelmaking in south Wales. As a result, Tata Steel announced that 2,800 jobs were going to be cut which created uncertainty and stress for many families. Currently, Sheen confirmed that he has helped 900 people with their debts across south Wales. He added that due to the "stigma" around discussing money, some people might not even realise their debts have been paid off, and therefore he urged people to check their accounts. How Hollywood star Sheen helped uncover a dark secret Sheen in element as NHS founder say theatre critics Sheen steelworks drama bizarrely close to reality
The Independent
28-02-2025
- Business
- The Independent
People need ‘time to enjoy' saints' days, says Plaid Cymru's Westminster leader
People need 'the time to enjoy' St David's Day in Wales and St Piran's Day in Cornwall, Plaid Cymru's Westminster leader has said amid calls for bank holidays. In a debate to mark St David's Day, which takes place on Saturday, Liz Saville-Roberts told the Commons that not having a bank holiday for the event 'doesn't stop us from coming together to celebrate' Wales. But she said people throughout the UK should celebrate national saints 'with vigour and enthusiasm'. Neither St David's Day on March 1 nor St Piran's Day on March 5 are bank holidays. St George's Day, celebrated in England on April 23, is also not a bank holiday. But people in Northern Ireland and Scotland receive bank holidays to mark patron saints' feast days – St Patrick's Day on March 17 and St Andrew's Day on November 30. Ms Saville Roberts, who wore a daffodil pinned to her top, said: 'It's a time of course to take pride in our culture, our communities, our language, each a rugged testament to our resilience as a nation. 'We are a nation of creativity and innovation. 'We all here know that Wales has the talent, the resources, the potential to be more than brilliant. 'But it's time to be more ambitious, it's time to up our game. 'While we may not yet have a St David's Day bank holiday, that doesn't stop us from coming together to celebrate what makes our country so special.' Ben Maguire, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Cornwall, intervened in her speech and asked: 'Would (Ms Saville Roberts) support my calls to make St Piran's Day – the national day of Cornwall – a bank holiday which is taking place on March 5?' Ms Saville Roberts, who is the MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd in North Wales, replied: 'Yes, we should be celebrating our regional saints and our national saints with vigour and enthusiasm, and make sure that people get every opportunity and the time to enjoy them.' She also called on MPs to 'acknowledge the challenges we face' and said the National Theatre Wales company had 'shut up shop', after its closure last December. 'Our arts and culture, so integral to our national identity, they are at present hanging in the balance,' Ms Saville Roberts said, adding that the NHS west of the border had been 'chronically mismanaged'. David Chadwick, the Liberal Democrats' Wales spokesman and the MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, later endorsed calls for a bank holiday. He told MPs: 'Let us move boldly forward, together advocating for St David's Day to be recognised as a national holiday.' Labour MP for Cardiff West Alex Barros-Curtis had said the budget for Wales shows 'the power of partnership between two governments working together in the interests of the Welsh people'. He said: 'So why, therefore, Plaid Cymru will be joining the Conservatives to vote against this investment at the budget next week is beyond me.' Ms Saville Roberts intervened to say: 'He knows as well as I, in real terms, that this is not an increase, and also it is front-loaded for the Welsh budget. 'We know there is grief coming down the track with budgets in future, so it's hardly appropriate to be singing the praises of this budget, knowing what's on its way.' Mr Barros-Curtis replied: 'That is still inexcusable to me why Plaid Cymru would vote against an extra £1.5 billion in the budget next week and join the Tories in doing so, it seems an unfathomable reason for that.' In her contribution, Llinos Medi, Plaid Cymru MP for Ynys Mon, said: 'For decades, we have failed to address the fundamental problems that face Wales. 'We have never had an ambitious strategic economic plan. The case for a new radical and made-in-Wales approach to economic development is clear for all to see.' Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens described 'UK and Welsh governments working together and delivering for the people of Wales on economic growth, on clean energy, on water regulation, on health, and on plans for future rail improvement'. She told MPs that the Government had secured £80 million of support for the steel community in Port Talbot and supported the Welsh Government with £25 million to secure disused coal tips. 'The past six months have already seen billions of pounds of investment committed and hundreds of jobs created,' Ms Stevens added.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
People need ‘time to enjoy' saint's days, says Plaid Cymru's Westminster leader
People need 'the time to enjoy' St David's Day in Wales and St Piran's Day in Cornwall, Plaid Cymru's Westminster leader has said amid calls for bank holidays. In a debate to mark St David's Day, which takes place on Saturday, Liz Saville-Roberts told the Commons that not having a bank holiday for the event 'doesn't stop us from coming together to celebrate' Wales. But she said people throughout the UK should celebrate national saints 'with vigour and enthusiasm'. Neither St David's Day on March 1 nor St Piran's Day on March 5 are bank holidays. St George's Day, celebrated in England on April 23, is also not a bank holiday. But people in Northern Ireland and Scotland receive bank holidays to mark patron saints' feast days – St Patrick's Day on March 17 and St Andrew's Day on November 30. Ms Saville-Roberts, who wore a daffodil pinned to her top, said: 'It's a time of course to take pride in our culture, our communities, our language, each a rugged testament to our resilience as a nation. 'We are a nation of creativity and innovation. 'We all here know that Wales has the talent, the resources, the potential to be more than brilliant. 'But it's time to be more ambitious, it's time to up our game. 'While we may not yet have a St David's Day bank holiday, that doesn't stop us from coming together to celebrate what makes our country so special.' Ben Maguire, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Cornwall, intervened in her speech and asked: 'Would (Ms Saville-Roberts) support my calls to make St Piran's Day – the national day of Cornwall – a bank holiday which is taking place on March 5?' Ms Saville Roberts, who is the MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd in North Wales, replied: 'Yes, we should be celebrating our regional saints and our national saints with vigour and enthusiasm, and make sure that people get every opportunity and the time to enjoy them.' She also called on MPs to 'acknowledge the challenges we face' and said the National Theatre Wales company had 'shut up shop', after its closure last December. 'Our arts and culture, so integral to our national identity, they are at present hanging in the balance,' Ms Saville-Roberts said, adding that the NHS west of the border had been 'chronically mismanaged'.
