Michael Sheen on writing off £1m of people’s debts: ‘Just stopping the bad guys is not enough’

In an exclusive new interview, actor Michael Sheen has talked with Big Issue about his new documentary. Michael Sheen’s One Million Pound Giveaway, which airs on Channel 4 on Monday 10 March, sees the star of Quiz, The Deal, The Damned United and Good Omens use £100,000 of his own money to wipe out £1m of debt owed by people in his own community.

Sheen’s mission, which he called his debt heist, took two years of planning and plotting and involved setting up a financial services company to buy up debt on the secondary market. This was all with the aim, he told us, of drawing attention to the unfairness of the credit system, push for political change, and highlight solutions that could offer real relief for so many lower-income people.

“I have found that it carries a lot more weight, you get more done, and a lot more cooperation and collaboration if it is clear you have real skin in the game,” he told Big Issue.

“And 900 people having some debts written off is a big deal for them – and certainly was a big deal for me. But it is a drop in the ocean, really. We want to put the focus on change that could help millions of people’s lives – so I was working towards positive change for as many as possible.”

Sheen has been working towards this for many years. Back in 2018, he launched the End High Cost Credit Alliance – which initially set its sight on the likes of payday lender Wonga and rent-to-own rip-off retailer BrightHouse. But he knows there is much more to do.

“Wonga has gone. So people think it must be better. But one of the things I want to make clear is that just stopping the bad guys is not enough if you don’t support better alternatives. Because people will still need access to credit.”

In the documentary, Sheen talks to people in and around his hometown of Port Talbot who have got into difficulty with debt. All of them talk of the extortionate interest rates and difficulty finding affordable credit, despite working full-time in key jobs in the community.

• Michael Sheen: ‘I’ve essentially turned myself into a social enterprise, a not-for-profit actor’
• How the crisis of affordable credit is endangering the UK’s most vulnerable
• Bank of Dave: Meet the man bringing the fight to loan sharks and helping those who need it most

With household debt forecast to reach £2.4bn in 2025, Sheen’s mission has a real urgency. He also heads to Westminster hoping for an audience with the chancellor, Rachel Reeves and meets some parliamentarians keen to make progress on financial inclusion and persuade the government to introduce a new Fair Banking Act.

“To hear about the rise of loan sharks again, and people being taken up the mountain and threatened with violence – it seemed extraordinary that we were heading back into that stuff,” he told Big Issue.

“The Fair Banking Act could make a real difference.”

Michael Sheen’s Secret One Million Pound Giveaway is on Channel 4 on Monday (10 March). Read the full interview with Michael Sheen in the Big Issue magazine, also released on Monday.

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