(Photo: Getty Images)

Happy birthday Michael Sheen! The fabulous Welsh actor turns 54 on Sunday (February 5), so we're celebrating by making him our British Icon of the Week. Here are 10 of the things we find admirable and impressive about this all-around great guy.

1. He is a master of the transformative performance.

When Sheen is cast as a real-life figure, you just know he's going to nail it. Among the familiar faces he has portrayed, brilliantly, are former Prime Minister Tony Blair (The Queen), British comedy icon Kenneth Williams (Fantabulosa!), and television legend David Frost (Frost/Nixon). We also love his uncanny performance as Chris Tarrant, the original British host of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, in the AMC miniseries Quiz.

2. He is a fantastic raconteur.

During his 2022 visit to The Graham Norton Show, Sheen recalled the time he became so aggravated by a disruptive theater-goer that he took matters into his own hands – quite literally. This man really knows how to spin a yarn.

3. And an equally fine orator.

For a taster, check out Sheen's reading of a speech from Under Milk Wood, the famous radio drama by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. It's seriously powerful stuff.

4. He is an immensely proud Welshman.

As this cute video interview demonstrates – Sheen saying "ta-ra!" will now live rent-free in our heads.

5. He has become the unofficial motivational coach of the Welsh soccer team.

After Sheen delivered a rousing monologue for the team on British quiz show A League of Their Own, he was invited to meet the players ahead of their trip to last year's World Cup. You can watch the galvanizing moment below, and read Sheen's full speech here.

6. He has a lovely friendship with David Tennant.

The pair really bonded while shooting Good Omens in 2018, then sent themselves up in the quarantine comedy series Staged, in which they play fictionalized versions of themselves. “I think [Good Omens] allowed us to know each other enough to take the piss out of each other," Tennant told The Times in 2020.

7. He doesn't mind being the butt of the joke.

When Sheen and his The Good Fight castmate Cush Jumbo appeared together on The Graham Norton Show, Jumbo revealed that Sheen was somewhat baffled by a salty American colloquial term he found in a script. Never change, Michael!

8. He is truly generous.

In a 2021 interview with The Big Issue, Sheen revealed that he poured a lot of his own money into organizing the 2019 Homeless World Cup. "I’ll be paying for it for a long time," he said of the soccer tournament for homeless folks. "But when I came out the other side I realized I could do this kind of thing and, if I can keep earning money, it’s not going to ruin me. There was something quite liberating about going, alright, I’ll put large amounts of money into this or that, because I’ll be able to earn it back again. I’ve essentially turned myself into a social enterprise, a not-for-profit actor.”

9. He is very much a man of principle.

Sheen was appointed an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2009 for services to drama. However, he decided to quietly hand back the accolade in 2017 after delving into Welsh history for a lecture he had been asked to deliver. Sheen explained that during his research, he learned that Edward I, King of England, first bestowed the title "Prince of Wales" on an English prince in 1301, partly as a way of quelling a Welsh rebellion. Ever since, the title has been granted to the heir apparent to the British throne.

"I wanted to do the lecture so I gave my OBE back," Sheen said at the time. "I didn't mean any disrespect, but I just realized I'd be a hypocrite if I said the things I was going to say in the lecture about the nature of the relationship between Wales and the British state."

10. And finally, he has a surprising musical talent.

During another appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Sheen revealed that he can beatbox the Dallas theme music, then proceeded to do so. It's really quite something...

Do you have a favorite Michael Sheen role or moment?