Hello? You all right? Over there?
Hello, hello. You all right?
I'm Charlotte. Hello, Charlotte.
Lovely to meet you.
My name's Caroline, pleased to meet
you. Hello, Caroline.
What's your name? Paul. Paul.
Lovely to meet you, Paul.
Yeah? Yeah. How are you?
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.
OK.
Do you do wall-climbing?
I've not done much rock climbing,
no.
OK.
We're going to start officially now,
if that's OK.
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 joining us today.
Our rules are...
No subject is out of bounds.
No question is off the table.
And all might happen.
Please tell us who you are.
APPLAUSE
That was...
That was brilliant and terrifying.
I can't believe he actually said
that!
My name is Michael Sheen.
I'm an actor.
I come from Wales
and it's an
absolute pleasure to be here today.
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, lovely to meet you.
My first question is,
was John Taylor from Duran Duran
your first-ever crush? Yes!
Ooooh!
He absolutely was, yes.
I thought he was the most beautiful
person I'd ever seen, man or woman.
What?!
His hair...
His hair was like a miracle.
And I used to try
and make my hair like him.
But I... What I didn't realise
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,
cos this year is the 20th
anniversary of Strictly.
Is it really?
Yeah, started the year
I was born, 2004. Wow!
Started before I was born.
Yeah. It's a... It's an amazing
show, isn't it? It is fantastic.
I would be such a terrible
dancer on it, though.
Why?
I don't, well, I don't...
Maybe I'm not brave enough to go on.
Are you scared?
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.
Right.
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 there, and I'm not
sure I want to show people me doing
something 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 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!
..cos 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.
OK.
Yeah.
OK, this question is a bit
intense, so...
OK.
How does it feel to be dating
someone who's only five years older
than your daughter?
Ohh!
Um...
Yeah, I think, because
of the age difference, um, I think
both of us were quite surprised
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,
but, you know,
you meet who you meet.
We were very aware of what,
you know, what that was, what
differences that would make and also
how people might respond to that.
So it's not like it was
the easiest thing to do.
You know, we were both aware that it
would be difficult and challenging.
Ultimately, we felt it was...
it was worth it because of how we
felt about each other.
And now we have two beautiful
children together, um, and...
Aww! I bet you're happy.
Are you both happy?
Yeah, really happy,
really, really happy.
Because of the age difference,
I'm aware that I'm a much older
father, and 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 brings you
happiness and you make them
happy, um, you've got to go,
you've got to go for that, I think.
Definitely.
And so that's what we decided to do.
And I'm so happy we did, cos
we have this wonderful family now.
Who's the rudest celebrity
that you've met?
Who's the rudest celebrity?
Have you heard of a man
called David Tennant?
Yes!
He was Doctor Who!
He was Doctor Who.
Doctor Rude!
LAUGHTER AND CHATTER
The rudest man.
Really? No, he's not really.
He's lovely. He's very nice.
You're 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.
OK.
And someone will occur to me
and then I'll let you know.
OK? Cool. Ben wanted to go next.
Excuse me, please.
All right.
Jennifer Lawrence was very cheeky.
She's very cheeky.
Sorry.
It's all right, it's all right.
Um...
How tall are you?
I would, well, I would like to say
5 foot 11.
LAUGHTER
I'm closer to 5 foot 10.
I'm 5 foot 11.
There you go, you've got, yep.
I would like to be your height.
All right, thank you, Mr Sheen.
Thank you.
By the way, my mum likes you.
She said she likes you.
Aww. Don't tell Anna.
Next up, Leo's got a question.
Hello, Leo.
Come on, Leo, don't worry,
we're all there for you.
SOFTLY: That's all right,
we've got plenty of time.
Do you want me to read it for you,
Leo, or do you want to do it?
MICHAEL, SOFTLY: We'll get there,
won't we? We can get there.
Good, good. You can do it.
Just nerves.
I know, love, it's all right.
Nerves are normal.
You take as much time as you want,
Leo. Just nerves.
Increase your courage!
Come on, Leo!
You've got this.
SOFTLY: Right.
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.
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.
And I find the way he writes just
really exciting and vivid and vital.
And I suppose quite Celtic,
so quite Welsh, I suppose. Hm.
And so 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.
Luka 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 learn,
"too late,
they grieved 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."
That was beautiful.
APPLAUSE
That was fantastic.
Thank you so much for doing that.
It is an opportunity
I never expected to do.
Well, that was wonderful,
really fantastic.
That was amazing.
Tikara?
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 weakness or something.
It's not weak to cry,
I cry all the time.
Exactly, yeah.
To be moved by something and to
be touched and to feel deeply about
something and to show that through
tears, I think,
is a beautiful thing.
Ali, you're up!
Good to see you, Michael Sheen.
Lovely to see you, too.
My name is Ali, as my introduction.
Hi, Ali.
Have you ever taken any
part of any TV quiz shows?
Yes.
I went on The Chase.
I've seen you...
I've seen you 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 72,500, right?
It might have been. Funnily enough,
I don't remember THAT...
I've seen it on YouTube as well.
Right.
To refresh my memory about it.
Oh, good. Well, I'm glad...
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
Yes, do you know anything about him?
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, I broke my toe.
You broke your toe? 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 in the gym, you know, like -
what do you call it? - a cross
trainer, and your feet are on there.
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 about it.
And then I went to the foot doctor
and I was sitting in this room
and he's 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."
No freaking way.
Tom Jones's sister!
In the other room! Wow.
So we had this conversation.
I didn't see her. 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, uh, you said Tom Jones.
Thank you, Michael Sheen,
appreciate your time. Thanks, Ali.
Right, Miss Paris. OK. Hello.
What's your favourite Disney film?
My favourite 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 my youngest
daughter, Mabli, she watches it
maybe twice a day at the moment.
Oh, my God! Twice a day? Yeah.
I love Moana, it makes me
cry every time I watch it.
It makes me feel inspired and, uh,
I love that film.
When I was younger...
I just want to quickly say
something, sorry to interrupt.
But nowadays I really think
that Disney have
fallen off with their films, man.
Do you think?
Yeah. Why? Like Wish.
Wish is bad. Don't watch that.
I haven't seen that one.
I recommend you don't watch it.
It's bad.
Things like Disney films,
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, we'll see.
You tell them straight, boy!
Can you cook?
I mean, I did win Bake Off.
Oh. Yeah.
You can either sit down or stand up
if you want, Nichola. I'll stand up.
Hi, Michael. Hello, Nichola.
Um...
Are you scared of bats?
Do you know, that's
a brilliant question.
I could talk literally
for hours about bats.
Strap yourselves in, folks.
So in, um...
In our house in Wales... Yeah.
..we have bats,
and if our window is open,
they might accidentally come in.
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 the house.
Oh, no!
And, I mean, I was,
we were all terrified! Oh, really?
And this was just before Lyra
was born.
We brought her
back from the hospital.
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 then they like to find things
like curtains or clothes so they
can go into the folds of, and they
hook their little feet on them and
then they are upside down
and they're 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 curtain,
and it had been in our bedroom
with the baby for ages.
I realise I'm talking
a lot about bats.
Paul.
Do you worry that AI will
take your job away?
Yes, I do.
I think AI is something that,
you know,
we only started hearing about not
that long ago, but it,
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.
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.
Yeah. Thanks, Paul.
Marcus, would you like to
ask your questions now, mate?
OK.
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 Dynasty?
I think it was called 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 beatbox-y type thing.
So I'll try to remember
how that goes.
HE BEATBOXES DYNASTY THEME
Everyone clap.
Yeah, so that's it.
You gave it your all,
but that was... I gave it my all.
LAUGHTER
Right, Anand? Michael Sheen.
Hello, Anand.
What's your favourite food?
Um, my favourite food?
Probably egg and chips.
Egg and chips!
You can't b*at it.
You can't b*at egg and chips.
Maybe with a bit of ham.
Do you travel by train or bus?
I travel by both train and bus,
but my favourite thing is train.
I love going on train journeys.
So train. Nice one, Anand, thank you
so much for that. Anand, well done.
Thanks, Anand.
Michael Sheen,
you're doing fabulous.
Thank you.
Right, Callum.
Hello. Hello.
Would you ever go onto Love Island?
Oh, my goodness.
Love Island.
That's about everyone...
Isn't everyone sort of half
naked all the time? Yeah.
And trying to get off with
each other, isn't that what that is?
I think my Love Island
days are over now. OK. Yeah.
Right, we're going to have a little
bit of a word from Girio,
and then I'm going to come to
Essin after that. Hello.
Hello.
What about Superman?
Superman, love Superman, yeah.
What about Spider-Man?
Spider-Man.
Big fan of Spider-Man, yeah.
What about Doctor Who?
Doctor Who, depends on which one.
LAUGHTER
Scooby-Doo?
IMPERSONATING: "Raggy!"
That's my Scooby-Doo.
That's my Scooby-Doo impersonation!
Scooby-Doo!
Do it again.
"Scooby-dooby-doo!"
"Raggy!"
That's funny.
Essin, you're up.
You were awarded, I can't remember,
it was an MBA or something,
and you had it for a while,
but then you gave it back.
Can I ask why?
Yeah, sure. So I was given an OBE,
which was a great honour.
A few years later,
I was asked 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 realised that
if I was to give this lecture
and to say the things that
I was discovering,
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 honour sy-... I mean,
if people want to do that,
that's fine. Yeah.
But I felt at that moment I couldn't
give this lecture and have the OBE.
So I gave the OBE back.
Because I thought it had something
to do with when the British
royal family came into Wales
and that old malarkey happened.
Mm-hm.
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 individuals,
I think, um, you know,
there are some rummuns in there.
Clearly there's a few of them
that are, you know.
I have a bit of a problem with
people who have so much wealth.
Yes.
When there are people
who are sleeping on the streets,
I find that a bit difficult.
And personally, with
the particular title of Prince
and Princess of Wales, there is
a history to that title,
which I think is problematic.
Which I was hinting at. Yeah.
I didn't know how you felt about it.
So I was trying to be diplomatic.
Well, 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.
On the spot!
That's interesting.
So I can pick anyone...
Yeah, swap them out.
..to be put into the Royal Family.
Oh, yeah.
Well, let's get rid of Andrew...
Let's get rid of him.
..and let's put Joe Lycett in there.
Oh, yeah. Oh, that's better.
That would be interesting.
I think he would be great, wouldn't
he, to be put in the Royal Family?
I would pay to see that.
That would be brilliant.
And then, um, maybe I'd put
David Attenborough in there.
I love everything about that.
But who would they replace?
Uh, I would maybe...
Sack all of them.
I mean, Camilla, Camilla, I...yeah.
Or you could put
Tom Jones in as Prince of Wales!
Why not 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.
It's good to meet you.
Ah, 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 the spot again.
Pfff. I'm on that spot.
I mean, there's been a lot of very
good Doctor Whos.
There has been.
The first Doctor Who I watched
was Jon Pertwee.
Jon Pertwee, he was the third
Doctor Who. Right.
Well, I thought he was brilliant.
And then Tom Baker.
He was the fourth Doctor Who.
Well, yeah.
I think maybe the Master would be
a good part.
I think you would be
the Good Master.
They'll have to bring David Tennant
back as Doctor Who again...
Yes, they should! ..and then I can
be the Master opposite him maybe.
What are you most afraid of,
fears or phobias?
Pfff... Ohhh... Wow.
Crikey.
My biggest fear is probably,
um, being alone.
To feel like you have to deal with
things that are very scary or
difficult and you've got
no-one to help you.
I think that's the thing that I'm
most afraid of myself
and it's what I worry
about the most for other people.
Which is your favourite season?
Cold or hot?
Oh, you see, you've put me
on that spot again, Harry.
Put you on the spot again!
I mean, I do really love
when it's a
cold day, a cold winter's day.
Maybe snow,
and everywhere looks so beautiful.
There's nothing better than that.
So probably winter.
I'm more of a summer person, me.
You seem like a summer person,
Harry, you do.
You've got a very sunny disposition.
Yes! Very good to meet you,
Michael Sheen.
Lovely to meet you too.
Jack.
I just want to say that it's like a
dream, genuinely, having you here.
Aw, thank you. I feel like I'm going
to wake up any second now in 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 Tennant?
LAUGHTER
Had to.
Well, I remember reading the script
and thinking,
"That's going to be a big deal."
Ah, and, uh, yeah, didn't really
talk about it, and just went for it.
I remember seeing that everyone was
quite moved by the scene, and all
the people who were working on it,
so we knew that it had gone
quite well.
And now we never talk about it.
If I had the opportunity to kiss
David Tennant,
I'd never live it down.
I'd tell everyone.
Well, maybe you will.
Maybe one day you will. Oh, I wish.
Amazing. Thank you.
This one is very important to me.
Right, OK.
The autistic community are often
rejected for employment. Uh-huh.
Have you ever been, as an actor,
rejected for roles?
And if so, do you have any
tips for us about this?
Well, first of all,
just being an actor means that
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, people have
been shut out from the industry.
They have.
And, I mean, in the past I have
played a character who had CP,
cerebral palsy.
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
cerebral palsy playing that part?"
you know. Yeah. 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
people like yourselves or whoever
it is to bring that experience.
And if the only reason that that is
being stopped is because,
"Well,
we just don't give jobs to people,
"oh, 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.
MUSIC: Here Comes The Sun
# Here comes the sun,
doo-doo-doo-doo
# Here comes the sun
# And I say, it's all right
# Little darling
# It's been a long, cold,
lonely winter
# Little darling
# It feels like years
since it's been here
# Here comes the sun,
doo-doo-doo-doo
# Here comes the sun
# And I say, it's all right
# Little darling
# The smile's returning
to their faces
# Little darling
# It feels like years
since it's been here... #
Everyone!
ALL: # Here comes the sun,
doo-doo-doo-doo
# Here comes the sun
# And I say, it's all right
# Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
# Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
# Little darling
# I feel that ice is slowly melting
# Little darling
# It seems like years
since it's been here
# Here comes the sun,
doo-doo-doo-doo
# Here comes the sun
# And I say, it's all right. #
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Beautiful.
Ah.
Wow.
That was great.
Gorgeous.
Could sing that all day.
Now for our closing statement.
Marcus, 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 one was... 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 Sheen,
it was very lovely to meet you.
It was lovely to meet you, Harry,
and all of you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Marcus, thank you.
Thank you, Harry.
Good to see you, Michael.
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... Just walk, I think.
..walk over the bridge?
I think probably walk over
the bridge, yes.
To the theatre?
To the theatre, yes,
cos it's just along the way.
What's your name again?
Hmm? What's your name? Michael.