Michael Sheen On The 'Accuracy And Invention' Of Real-Life Roles
He is someone who is so, so very familiar to a British audience. The problem you have when you're playing someone who is so familiar to an audience is that the first thing their expectation brings is, "Oh, is he going to look like him? Is he going to sound like him?" That kind of thing. So you do have to meet that, you can't ignore that. ... The point is to try and take that out of the equation as soon as possible so that the audience can just focus on what's going on underneath — because otherwise people might think it's a brilliant impersonation but they're not following the story.
... The engine of [Frost's] character for me was the combination of that on the surface he seemed like his reputation was of being a sort of playboy, he had this kind of glamorous life, and that he was quite superficial ... and that he was very much a sort of a people pleaser ... but underneath he was very driven, very ambitious, very hardworking man. In some ways, you could say ruthless as well. And it's the interplay of those two sides of him that is so interesting to explore.
On his role as Wesley Snipes on 30 Rock
It has happened to me a couple of times where I've been a huge fan of something and then get the opportunity to be in it. ... [It was] also quite intimidating to walk into something where — talk about ensembles! — they're a crack ensemble and so smart, and so in the groove of what they're doing. ... But what was great is that Tina [Fey] starts to kind of write for you as you start working with her — which was a little disturbing as my character got more and more bizarre, weird and outlandish the more she actually knew me.