Michael Sheen has said he thinks being an actor will be “a disadvantage” while he is on Celebrity Traitors. The 57-year-old is among the stars set to appear on screens for the second series of the BBC reality game spin-off series.
Fronted by Claudia Winkleman, the beloved game is set in a Scottish castle in the Highlands, and follows the celebrity contestants – the majority of whom are known as faithfuls – as they try to seek out the murderous traitors among them, who kill off players in the middle of the night. The show will see stars compete to win a cash prize of up to £100,000 for a charity of their choice.
Why acting is a disadvantage
Speaking about how his public persona may affect how others perceive and treat him on the show, Sheen said: “Well, I do think it’s a disadvantage to be an actor because people immediately go, ‘Oh well, he pretends for a living.’
“I don’t think that is the case, because the whole point of acting is that you have to trick yourself into believing that what you’re doing is true. If you are consciously aware that you’re pretending or you’re saying things that aren’t true, then it’s bad acting. It’s just bad.
“Just for me being an actor, I think that’s a disadvantage because people are already suspicious of that. Beyond being an actor, just my persona, I don’t really know what people think about me. So, I don’t know if it’ll help or not.”
Why Sheen joined the show
Sheen said he wanted to participate because he is a “big fan” of the show and wanted to be in the castle after previously filming in the area. The Welsh actor portrayed the disgraced Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in the Prime Video series, A Very Royal Scandal, opposite Ruth Wilson about journalist Emily Maitlis’ infamous interview with the former royal.
He said: “I knew the area a bit, and it is stunningly beautiful. It’s a lovely place to be and the game is just fascinating.
“I think for a show to be so popular and to grab the cultural imagination so much, it has to have the ability to go beyond what its genre is. It somehow speaks to something a bit deeper, maybe. People get so absorbed in it.”
Sheen is best known for starring in 2008’s Frost/Nixon as well as portraying former UK prime minister Tony Blair in 2003 film The Deal. He also appeared in the Twilight saga franchise as the power-hungry vampire leader Aro.
Fellow actor's fears
He will be joined by fellow actor Richard E Grant, who also felt his career might make him more of a target. He said: “I think it’ll make people more suspicious because they assume that you’re a natural-born liar. ‘Oh, you’re an actor, so I can’t believe anything that you say’.
“I’ve played so many villains that I assume people will think that I’m a bad egg.” Grant, known for Saltburn and Withnail And I, said he would love to be chosen as one of the Traitors because “you have no control in real life over anything”. “Any chance for that would be welcome. And a little bit of mischief is always welcome,” he added.
Other stars set to join the castle include TV presenter Maya Jama, comedian Miranda Hart and The Last Of Us’ Bella Ramsey. The first series of The Celebrity Traitors aired on the BBC last autumn, with its nail-biting finale hitting a peak of 15.4 million viewers, according to the broadcaster. The spin-off series brought in an average audience of 14.9 million people during its run, the biggest TV audience of 2025. The Celebrity Traitors starts on October 1 at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
