Michael Sheen clears £1 million worth of debts for 900 people with own money

Michael Sheen has wiped out the debts of 900 individuals, worth a staggering £1m. The 56-year-old paid the six-figure sum from his own money to establish a debt acquisition firm aimed at aiding residents in South Wales.

Sheen, originally hailing from Newport, Wales, made a commitment to his followers four years ago, declaring himself a “not-for-profit” actor and pledging to allocate his earnings towards charitable causes.

The Twilight star’s venture will be showcased in an upcoming documentary titled ‘Michael Sheen’s Secret Million Pound Giveaway’, set to air next week.

The reports that the programme will highlight how certain banks and financial institutions capitalise on society’s most vulnerable. Sheen has cautioned that he doesn’t have £100,000 to “throw around”, but wanted to make sure his initiative was “effective”.

Speaking about his gesture on , Sheen said: “I didn’t have £100,000 to throw around so I wanted it to be effective but when I realised that I could do this, that I could £1million worth of people’s debt and just write it off, it seemed like a good thing to do.

“People’s debt gets put into bundles and then debt buying companies can buy those bundles and then they can sell it on to another debt buying company at a lower price. So the debt itself, even though the amount of people who owe is still the same, the people who own the debt can sell it for less and less money.’

He added: “So I was able to set up a company and for £100,000 of my own money, but £1million worth of debt because it had come down in value.”

The inspiration for this venture struck after a poignant encounter with a woman in a Port Talbot cafe, who recounted the sorrow of “steelworkers in tears” after they lost their jobs following the closure of Port Talbot’s last blast furnace.

This gesture is one among many benevolent acts by the Welsh actor. Back in January, Sheen was praised after funding a new national theatre company in Wales.

He is reportedly set to become the artistic director of the Welsh National Theatre, revealing that he likes “the idea of starting small and building up”.

He said: “I like the idea of starting small, simple, lean and building it up, working with what you’ve got. Don’t pay for swanky offices if you don’t need them, build it slowly with care and with passion and with vision and with ambition.

“We aim to represent the Welsh people so I would hope that public bodies would be prepared to work with us.

“I think probably history tells us that relying too much on any one source of funding makes you a bit vulnerable so I first and foremost would hope that this company can stand on its own two feet but we are open to working with whoever wants to get involved.”