You might not remember the name of one of the UK's finest actors, but you've certainly seen him—as Tony Blair in The Queen, as David Frost in Frost/Nixon, and even as a vampire (Aro) in the Twilight films. Now Michael Sheen, 42, takes on one of his most emotionally demanding roles as a devastated husband and father in Beautiful Boy, opening in limited release this week.

Sheen and Maria Bello as Bill and Kate

Sheen and Maria Bello as Bill and Kate

In the film, Sheen and Maria Bello play Bill and Kate, an unhappily married couple that are likely on the brink of divorce when they receive shattering news about their only child, a college freshman: The young man was the gunman in a mass shooting at school, killing many others before turning the gun on himself. How does a married couple cope with such news, news that could rip apart even the healthiest of relationships? But what would it do to a marriage that was already on the rocks? In this fictional drama—which was partly based on the 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech, where director Shawn Ku's parents had met and married—you might be surprised. The story ends on quite a hopeful note … but not before the characters wade through much pain, grief, confusion, and anger along the way.

CT spoke with Sheen about the film, about parenting (he and ex-girlfriend Kate Beckinsale have a 12-year-old daughter), and a recent, modernized version of a Passion Play that Sheen—who has said that he's not a Christian—wrote, directed, and played the lead role (a Christ figure) in his hometown of Port Talbot, Wales. The play was carried out in real time over the three days of the Easter weekend.

Why did you want to do Beautiful Boy?

I read the script and I and I felt compelled by the story and engaged by the characters, and it was about a subject that is obviously inherently dramatic. But it was from the viewpoint of someone that we really haven't heard from before—sort of unexplored territory. I was also intrigued by the idea of two people who begin the story feeling like they are at the end of the road with each other, rather than this being a story of a happy couple who then have a tragic event happen. This couple was already at the point where they're separating. I thought that was very moving without being sentimental, and kind of surprising in the way it dealt with the subject matter—very respectful and human. I also thought that the piece was ultimately hopeful. Even though the more headline-y aspect of this film is about the school shooting, I felt like the real heart of this film is whether it's possible for two people who have built up such a wall between them to find hope in their relationship. These two people go on this extraordinary, difficult and dark journey, but they eventually find their way back to each other. I thought that was really beautiful and hopeful.

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Thank goodness, because otherwise it would've been one of the most depressing movies I've seen. But the fact that it ends on a hopeful note redeems the whole story.

Well, it's a film that's not afraid to get its hands dirty. This is the real stuff of life, I think; this is what we actually deal with. Thankfully, most of us aren't dealing with the death and loss of our child, or facing someone that love having done such an evil, destructive act. But we are dealing with everyday relationships that we create our own obstacles to; we're all in situations that we struggle through. And we're all hoping to find some kind of light at the end of the tunnel. I think this film really does depict the journey that we take. It's an extreme journey in this film, but it's the same journey that we're all taking, all the time.

The film says it is possible, if you are prepared to look at what is really going on in your heart and in your mind, that we can find hope. My character, Bill, has created this myth in his mind that he's no longer in love with his wife, that he's only stayed in this relationship for the sake of their child, and he has therefore grown to resent that child. And he's isolated himself more and more because of this myth, when in fact the truth is that he's just had difficulty expressing his feelings because he's not very good at communicating. So he has kind of disconnected from his feelings and from everyone around him. And yet through the tragedy of this story, there is the opportunity to get rid of that wall, to bring up everything that's been pushed down, everything that's come between them as a couple.

There is hope for this devastated couple

There is hope for this devastated couple

And it all comes to a head in a scene near the end.

Yes, where everything comes out. And as painful and awful as that scene is, suddenly everything that was in the way has been removed and there is the possibility for them to actually come back together again. Thankfully, not all of us have to go through the experiences that these characters go through, but the journey is the journey that we all take. But if we all could hit that point of honesty in our relationships without having to go through something so horrible, I think all of our relationships would be better.

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As the father of a 20-year-old son, I couldn't help but put myself in Bill's shoes as I watched the film. As a dad, did you do the same thing as you played the role?

Of course, absolutely. On the one hand, our children are absolutely a living and breathing part of us. And yet at the same time, they are out there in the world and we have no control over them. There is a part of us that desperately wants to control them, because they're dependent upon us up to a certain point. And then at some point, we have to let them go—and off they go into a life of their own, and they are out there walking around like little ticking time bombs. Who knows what they are going to do? That's a difficult negotiation that we do with them and with ourselves, a big challenge for all of us.

But when working on something like this, you've got to be very careful, as an actor, about imagining your child doing these things. It's a dangerous area to get into, because that only works for a certain time and then you slightly get numbed to it. And that's not a pleasant place to be, where you are conjuring up images and scenarios to do with your own child that you are suddenly not feeling anything anymore, because you have overused it. So, rather that consciously conjuring up these images, you throw yourself into the scene and trust that the work that you are doing is sufficiently connected to actually bring up whatever you need to bring up emotionally in the scene.

As parents we're always asking each other, "Are we doing the right things? Have we been too hard on them? Too lenient?" Do you and Kate Beckinsale have those conversations about your daughter?

Of course. Like any responsible parent, you worry about what you're handing on to your child, both in a positive way and in a negative way. There are certain cycles of behavior that go through families generation after generation, and the best you can do is try and be aware of that and try and take responsibility for yourself. Hopefully that allows your child to not necessarily have to repeat certain things. But at the same time, there is danger in trying really hard to avoid making the same mistakes as the generation before you. By trying to not let your child go through those same things, you [unwittingly] force them to go through the same thing: The more you run away from your fate, the more you run into your fate. So you've got to be careful. But good communication is ultimately the goal.

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There were nods to faith in Beautiful Boy. Kate's brother and their family are obviously churchgoers, but it didn't seem like your family was. Still, faith came up a couple of times. How much of a role do you think faith played in Bill and Kate's relationship in dealing with things?

It's an interesting question. I don't think they were people who would consider themselves to be conventionally religious. But I think what they ultimately discover is the courage to take a leap of faith—they needed to believe in something bigger than themselves in order to do what they needed to do. I think that the isolation, certainly for Bill's character, is a result of not opening himself up to anything beyond the parameters of his own head. In my life, I've found that a belief in something bigger than oneself is a freeing thing and allows you to connect with other people. I think that is something that these characters discover as the story goes on—maybe in a slightly less conventional way, but I think there's a definite element of faith in the film.

Speaking of less conventional—you just did a three-day live performance of The Passion in Wales. That sounds like it was quite an undertaking.

It was an extraordinary project, completely unique. I will probably never do anything as vague or as unusual as that again. It took two years for me to develop and create, and it was an extraordinary experience, something much bigger then ourselves. It was an experience for a large group of people to feel connected to each other and to also feel like they were participating in something that was both mysterious and ritualistic and tapping into very powerful forces that you don't often easily have access

Sheen in character in 'The Passion'

Sheen in character in 'The Passion'

By literally stepping into Jesus' shoes, do you feel like you learned more about him or the Christian faith in the process? What did that do to you personally?

What I was looking to do was to explore the areas that the Christian story of Easter explores. I was trying to tell the story in a modern context, to explore the values that Jesus seemed to epitomize with his ministry and his relationship to those who are outside the norm of society—the marginalized and the overlooked. It was an incredibly powerful experience to see the miraculous in the everyday. I think it was sort of life-changing for everyone who was involved.

After my character was crucified, I was taken down off the cross. There was the descent and the Pietà, and then as my character's mother unwrapped the shroud that my body had been wrapped in, the body wasn't there and flowers spilled out across the floor. Then the character that was based on John the Baptist came out, hooded with his staff, and said, "It is finished." Then he took his hood off, and it was me. And then my character said, "It has begun"—which was how the whole piece began 40 days previously with a message that went out into the town that said, "It has begun." So the entire story was all about life, death, and rebirth. The whole point of it was rebirth of the town, for the town to be reborn in its own eyes. The idea of resurrection and rebirth was at the absolute heart of the entire piece. Without that, the piece doesn't make sense.

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And in some ways, that's the story of Beautiful Boy—life, death, and rebirth.

Absolutely, I think it's the universal ritual and cycle.

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