Biographie

Son of Irene, a secretary, and Meyrick Sheen, a former British Steel Corporation personnel manager turned professional Jack Nicholson look-a-like, he has a sister, Joanne Sheen. He was brought up in Port Talbot, the Welsh town that famously produced Richard Burton and Anthony Hopkins.

Primary residence is in London, England. He has a daughter, Lily Mo Sheen by former long time girlfriend Kate Beckinsale. Lily lives with her mother in Los Angeles, where Sheen maintains an apartment so he can spend time with her.

Lived with fellow Welsh actor and friend Matthew Rhys for some time in Los Angeles. They had previously shared a flat, along with Ioan Gruffudd, when living in London.

Was in a relationship with actress Rachel McAdams from July 2010 until 2013.

Has played both a werewolf (in Underworld series) and a vampire (in Twilight Saga).

It's interesting that in searching for monsters to play you often end up playing leaders.

[on playing "Castor" in Tron: L'héritage (2010)] I wanted him to be like a sort of popular-culture jukebox program and, then underneath it all, there's something completely psychotic going on.

Having played a lot of characters that are dangerously close to caricature, there's something I've always found, and that is: everything you do has to be connected to the source of what the character really is.

My job takes me away from my daughter Lily a lot, so when I am with her the time is precious. When I'm filming I try to speak to her every day and let her know that I'm thinking of her and hopefully stay a presence in her life. I want Lily to have a parent who is enjoying and is passionate about their work but at the same time I don't want it to be something that takes me away from her too much.

I do think there's a kind of a dark energy in Port Talbot. It's dominated by the steelworks, where there's this fire that's pumping out energy every day, and I think that is a good symbol for a kind of restless, fiery energy.