Interview: Michael Sheen on Far from the Madding Crowd and Masters of Sex

More recently, Sheen has been making waves on television playing Dr. William Masters, renowned sex expert on Showtime’s Masters of Sex, but Far from the Madding Crowd returns him to the big screen, playing an unconventional character in one of those British costume dramas that Americans tend to adore.

ComingSoon.net got on the phone with Sheen last week to talk about the movie and we got to learn a lot more about his process for playing characters like Boldwood than we would have imagined as the actor talked about how improvisation played into bringing the character to life.

(Note: A small portion of this interview appeared last week in AM New York.)

ComingSoon.net: I would think for most British actors, when they get out of drama school, the opportunity to do a movie like this where you can wear fancy costumes would be exciting, but at this point in your career, I would think you’d be beyond that point of doing costume dramas. So what interested you in jumping into this one and playing Boldwood?

Michael Sheen: Well, I mean, it’s sort of like saying, “Why would you be interested in doing a modern drama?” I mean, it doesn’t matter where the drama is set, whether it’s in a period from the past or a contemporary thing, it’s about the particular elements within that project. So, I loved the story of it. I thought the story was very interesting and it felt very contemporary in a sort of odd way. I was really intrigued by what a director like Thomas Vinterberg would be able to bring to it, particularly because it did seem to have a lot of contemporary resonance to it, and I thought, “Well, here is a man who is not an obvious choice to do a period British drama of a classic Thomas Hardy novel,” and a man who was a part of Dogme 95 and done films like “Festen” and “The Hunt” recently.” I thought, “Well, this is a really fascinating prospect, to do a film like this with someone like him, and someone who’s not from the British culture, someone from a Danish culture.” I thought it was in the same way as Ang Lee was able to bring sort of an outside perspective to an Austen novel (with “Sense and Sensibility”), and there was the potential for that with Thomas as well. But then having such a complex female character at the heart of it, and knowing that Carey Mulligan would be playing that, again, that made it really an exciting prospect, and someone like Matthias as well to play Gabriel Oak. So it was a fascinating combination of elements, that made it really stand out, I think, as a story, and as a film to be involved in. 

Sheen: Well, I’d never read the novel before, so I came to it fresh when I knew I was going to be doing it. I think I’d seen the Schlesinger film while I was much younger, but I didn’t really remember much about it apart from the kind of most obvious sort of iconography of it. So I didn’t have that in my head too much. I decided I wouldn’t watch it again until everything was all sort of over and done with, so it was mainly the script and the novel. Then the conversations that we started to have, myself and Thomas, and with the other actors. I can’t now remember what was in the novel and what was in the script and what I came up with. It’s a combination of all of them now. It’s a bit of a blur. 

CS: I know the great Peter Finch played your character in that earlier movie and basically Boldwood is part of a love rectangle with three men pursuing Carey Mulligan’s Bathsheba. I’m trying not to spoil it, but Boldwood doesn’t seem likely to get the girl, so it’s not the most glamorous character to play.

Sheen: No, I mean, what drew me to the character was the fact that he has this sort of awful, tragic trajectory through the story, and I found that really fascinating, a man who is described at the beginning of the film as a man of great dignity. To see a man lose his dignity and be aware that he’s losing it and have no control over it, to see a man unraveling like that. I thought that was a really interesting journey to portray, as long as you have the material that supports it, and that’s the thing, because he’s not the main character, obviously. To be able to go on that kind of a journey, you have to feel like the scenes that will be in the film support that journey. Those were sort of the things that were kind of pivotal for that for me, so one of them being the scene where Boldwood comes and speaks to Gabriel after the night of the storm, and he comes to check on Bathsheba and you see a man who really is unraveling at that point. That was a kind of pivotal thing for me, and the sort of scene that makes you want to play a character.

CS: Boldwood kind of comes in and out of the movie. He shows up maybe 20 minutes into the movie, then he disappears and comes back because it’s really about Bathsheba. So did you remain on set the whole time of filming or did you just come in for the time necessary to shoot your scenes?

Sheen: No, I was there for the whole time. We were shooting it down in Dorset in what’s known as “Hardy land” so I wasn’t on set every day, but I was there every day, which was really great, because it allows you to feel like you’re really a part of the world of the film the whole time, rather than coming in and out, especially with a film like this, which is in such a particular place and time, rather than coming in and out of the modern world as much. Obviously it’s there, but not for the whole time, and so that really helped. 

CS: And what’s Thomas like as a director? There’s been a few really good British period pieces by Scandinavian filmmakers now, and it’s interesting to have that viewpoint of British culture from a completely foreign set of eyes.

Sheen: Yeah, exactly. I had an absolutely fantastic time working with Thomas, even before we started shooting. The initial conversations that we had just over the phone and on Skype and that kind of thing long before we started filming. I always came away from speaking to Thomas with some new idea or really inspired. Then, before we started shooting, we had a week of rehearsal, where we just improvised. Thomas got me to improvise with the other actors, and improvise around the scenes that are in the film, but also, I got to kind of go back and improvise scenes from the characters’ past, from his childhood, working through his teenage years to when he’s a young man, and to really explore formative experiences of his that I thought potentially had a real impact on the story. So just bringing that kind of dynamic and that perspective to the project had a huge influence on me. I think even though he says he’s broken all the rules practically that were set up for Dogme on this film, nevertheless there was a real focus on wanting to get beyond the kind of costume drama aspect of it and get to the real story and the real relationships and the real dynamic. I think looking at films of his, a consistent theme in a lot of his work is about the dynamics of a community, when someone within that community breaks the rules, or is perceived to break the rules, and how the community reacts to that. That’s clearly an aspect of this story as well, and I can see a consistent theme there. I think everything that he brought to it was, for me, so enjoyable to work with. I really mean it (when I say) it’s one of the best working experiences I’ve had. 

Sheen: Yeah, well, I mean, Mike Leigh’s process, he puts a lot more time into it. It’s a lot more thought through. This was a taste of that, and it certainly helped me enormously in terms of what I ended up doing in the film and my relationship to the character. It made a big difference. It’s a process that I’ve done a lot in theater, but never in film before. I really, really got a lot into it. 

CS: As an actor for a role like this, do you really feel like you need to have that kind of back story to get into it? I feel like you’re an actor who’s done enough that you could just walk into a role, you learn your lines and you can do it. How much more does that bring?

Sheen: It brings an enormous amount. I mean, otherwise, in terms of thinking about the backstory of your character and experiences that they’ve had that inform what you do, it’s an intellectual exercise, otherwise. You know, you’re only limited by your imagination, but when you get to do the improvisation, you can be really surprised by what you discover. You can have an idea about what has informed and influenced the character. But, once you’re improvising, it’s really extraordinary sometimes, the surprises that come out of that. Matthias and I improvised a scene being the first time they ever meet, Boldwood and Gabriel. A lot of things came out of that, that I would never have guessed would have been there, but that informs things that we did in the film. So you really get the opportunity to be surprised by what you discover, because you’re not consciously in control of it. When you’re thinking about your character and thinking about having ideas for it, you’re sort of much more in control. It’s your conscious mind that’s in charge, but when you’re improvising, you’re not consciously in control. You’re not editing or censoring or deciding what you think will be the right idea. What happens happens, and it happens out of necessity in the moment because you’re forced into making choices and making decisions, and it can often be surprising. 

CS: That’s amazing and I think it’s something that as a non-actor, it’s hard for us to understand, that when you play a role, you’re really becoming that person for the period of time in which you’re filming.

Sheen: I think for a character like Boldwood, where like you said, he sort of comes in and out of the story and there’s a lot that you don’t see, but every time you see him, I really wanted to chart the journey that he has into madness, I suppose, into loss of control, and to do what he ultimately does in the story. In order to do that, it was really important for me to have really explored everything that’s going on for him, so that when I do appear in the film, it makes its mark 

CS: We haven’t spoken in a couple of years, because you’ve been busy with “Masters of Sex,” so what’s it been liking shifting your focus to television? I have not seen the show myself and I feel awful about it, but everyone I know who watches it really loves the show.

Sheen: Yeah, it’s been fascinating because, like we’ve been talking about the improvisation and how it informs what I did in the film, ultimately, working on a sort of long form, multi-episodic storytelling medium like I am with “Masters,” I get to really feed back what I’m discovering about the character as I’m playing him back into the show. So, I have a lot of input into what the storylines for my character are, and what the story arcs are, and what will happen in episodes. That comes as a result of those discoveries, which again, can often be surprising. But when it comes to film or plays, even, there’s a limit to how much you can feed that back in. Actors, often when they’re working on something, will kind of make jokes about, “Oh, well, if there was a sequel to this, this could happen or that could happen,” and you kind of know it can’t. But with the TV series, it can. That’s very much part of the process, or it certainly is on our show, anyway, that it’s very collaborative. So, I’ve found that really, really exciting and really interesting, to be able to explore character in that way. It’s something I’ve always been fascinated by, and the real complexities of the psychology of characters and their inner life. So, I really get to be able to explore that in a way that I haven’t been able to before. 

Sheen: Well, for the two seasons that we’ve done so far, everything that they’ve been working on, their studies–obviously because of how controversial it is–it’s being kept very underground. Now, in the third season, the whole sort of current that we’re exploring in this season is what happens when that work becomes on the surface, when they suddenly become well known and how it affects their life, their relationship, now that they’re public figures and the work is being celebrated? So that’s the main difference with this season. 

CS: It’s interesting to have a TV show being made about these sex experts and seeing how their studies can be stretched over two and now three seasons. How long can a show like this go on for? Do they have enough material to keep it going for a while, do you think?

Sheen: Well, I mean, if you look at the premise of a lot of TV series, how much would you expect you can get out of an advertising executive? You know, it’s not about what it’s about, it’s about the dynamics within. I mean, zombie apocalypse, I mean, it’s a big concept idea, but can you really flesh it out? Well, I guess you can. (Laughs) You know, it’s not about what it’s about. 

CS: Well, in that case, they have a comic book that’s been going on for 160 issues now that they could always go back to if they need to.

Sheen: Yeah, because when I talk to people about a show like “The Walking Dead” or whatever, they’ll say, “Well, it’s not about the zombies. It’s about what’s going on between the characters and the dynamics and the relationship.” I think that’s true of any series, really. Ultimately, what people connect to is not the big picture version of what the show is about, it’s about what’s going on between the characters, and how people relate to that and connect to that. So, there’s infinite variety in this story, as there is in any story, it’s about what people bring to it. 

CS: You’re in New York and your co-star in this movie is on Broadway, while your long-time collaborator Peter Morgan also has a show. Do you get a chance to see some of these things while you’re here?

Sheen: Not on this trip, because I have to go back and carry on with “Masters of Sex,” but the last time I was here I saw Bradley Cooper doing “Elephant Man,” Alessandro and Patty, and that was terrific. So I always try and see as much as I can when I’m over, but unfortunately, these trips I’ve cut very short, because I have to get back to LA and carry on with “Masters of Sex.” 

CS: Are you at all interested in seeing “The Audience”?

Sheen: Oh yes, and I’ve seen “The Audience,” yes. The last time I was here as well, because obviously, Helen being in it and it being written by Peter, and one of my closest friends, Rufus, is in it playing David Cameron and playing Tony Blair, in fact. So, yeah, so I thoroughly enjoyed seeing that. 

CS: I have to say that if they’re ever going to do a sequel or prequel to “The Queen,” they could literally take that play and make a movie out of it and it’d be great, I think.

Sheen: Well, it’s not a movie of “The Queen.” It’s not. It’s a completely different story, but it’s a very clever idea, of all the Prime Ministers that she’s worked with over the years. So, it’s a fascinating idea, really a brilliant idea by Peter.

Far from the Madding Crowd is now playing in select cities and will expand even wider on Friday, May 8. You can check out our previous interview with Carey Mulligan here.