Sheen: Arts Becoming Harder For Working Class

Michael Sheen has told Sky News the culture of privilege in the arts is getting worse and it is becoming harder for actors from working class backgrounds to make it.

“It seems like we’re starting to move backwards again,” he said.

“We don’t want to go back to the point where it was only certain voices that got heard… only certain stories.”

As the acting industry prepares for its most prestigious event in the theatrical calendar – the Olivier Awards – behind the scenes there are concerns about a lack of diversity and increasing elitism in film, theatre and TV.

Sheen, who studied at RADA, believes the voices being heard and the stories being told are becoming less diverse.

…..

A recent study by the Sutton Trust revealed around half of Britain’s best actors have been privately educated, and a Warwick Commission study found that arts audiences are still overwhelming middle class and white.

Read and view her full report here