THE DAILY MAIL: MICHAEL SHEEN SET TO PLAY ARO

Posted April 11th, 2009 By: Team Switzerland 75 Comments »

In the midst of announcements on who will play some of the more minor characters in New Moon, many fans are wondering who will play the big fish himself, Aro. Well, the Daily mail is reporting that the role has been cast and the part has gone to actor Michael Sheen. Read below for more:

He has immortalised Tony Blair, David Frost and, most recently, legendary football manager Brian Clough on the big screen.

Now actor Michael Sheen is set to return to the realm of the firmly fictional after agreeing to play a vampire in the sequel to the blockbuster film Twilight.

Sheen, 40, who made his name with uncannily realistic portrayals of well-known figures in Oscar-winning films The Queen, Frost/Nixon and The Damned United, will get his biggest pay cheque yet, a reported Â£5million, to star in New Moon.

In New Moon, Sheen will play Aro, the leader of an Italian vampire clan called the Volturi.

Director Chris Weitz confirmed Sheenâ€™s casting to The Mail on Sunday and said he had â€˜aggressivelyâ€™ pursued the actor.

â€˜Michaelâ€™s role is so important because heâ€™s the head of all vampires,â€™ he said. â€˜Aro is, on the surface, a very gracious and friendly vampire, but beneath that he is a tremendous threat.â€™

SOURCE

(Thanks Elke)

I’ve actually never heard of Michael Sheen, but he has a pretty impressive resume – I think he would make a great Aro. The Daily Mail says the news was confirmed through Chris Weitz himself, but please keep in mind nothing is 100% confirmed until we hear it from Summit directly.

What do you think of this news? Are you familiar with Michael Sheen or any of his work?

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traci

oh he’s amazing! he was great in The Queen as Prime Minister Tony Blair. i can totally see him as Aro!!!! great casting!!!!!
Inga

Excellent casting! I was actually holding out hope that Bill Nighy (who played the head vampire in Underworld) would take on Aro but he shouldn’t be typecast…Michael Sheen is an excellent actor and he’ll do a great job, I have confidence in him.
Rebecca Veight from Greece

OMG Perfect, perfect, perfect casting! Michael Sheen is amazing he is so good at showing things brewing beneath the surface something Aro soooo needs! It is soo funny that he was Lucian and now hes Aro! I cannot wait to see what he will look like as a vampire!!YEAHHHH
Denise

NOT how I pictured Aro. Thought ALL vampires were supposed to be beautiful. Good luck making this guy look anything close. He is FUGLY. *sigh*….not so sure about Weitz’s choices. Guess we won’t know until New Moon comes out. Till then…let the anxiety continue!
RosalanieMcCullen16

i dont like him for the role. sorry
i wanted Ben Barnes.
no offence but hes a bit old and he really doesnt look like the Aro i pictured.
Losgann

Michael Sheen was great as Tony Blair. I’m sure he can play a great Aro. As far as fragile looking goes, look what the makeup team did to Gary Oldman in Bram Stoker’s Dracula! I can’t remember how old Aro was when he became a vampire (like Edward was 17), someone please remind me.

I will eagerly await Summit’s confimation on this one. Unfortunately the Daily Mail can be highly unapologetic for their lack of accuracy.
Angelica

I’m SO glad they got a ‘heavy’ actor! We need some skills for Aro… It makes me hopeful (and the hope is really pilling up here lately) that the Volturi will actually come off the terrifying clan that they are! Thank. Goodness.

Maybe the Cullens will beef it up and actually look scary from now on too… OH THE POSSIBILITIES!!!!!!! SO. EXCITED.

Drew- come on. “nice”? seriously? please. that’s an understatement.
shaya cullen

Finally!!!! we finally know whos gonna play aro! i had no idea who this micheal dude was…until my friend told me he was in the underworld. anywho i seriously hope he does aro justice. im a little dissapointed on who they chose. i wanted alec baldwin!!!!!!!!!!! he seemed more ‘appropriate’., but we cant get everything we want…so ill just have to wait and see. btw Lorabell, i HOPE ben barnes gets to be in this movie too! hes soooooooooooo hot!!!!!!! *sighs* but his movie ‘voyage of the dawn treder’ (sorry if i speLled that wrong)comes out next year, well thats what they said so for now lets just keep the dream alive! lol. NOVEMBER HERE WE COME!!!!!!!!
Sarah

wowww he doesnt look like what i thought lol
oh well he is a good actor so should be fine!
Kelly

I am so glad to finally know that Chris Weitz is casting the right people for the right characters. Michael Sheen is an excellent choice.
I absolutely loved him in Underworld. And I think it’s a nice twist that in this movie he plays a vampire when his role in Underworld was a werewolf who was in love with a vampire. I was getting a little disappointed thinking that there would be too many big names in New Moon which I feel would totally ruin it. But I am surprised to see that the choices being made look to be good ones. I cant wait to see the first movie trailer. Go New Moon!!!!!!!!!!
Courtney

I hope this is accurate! He is incredibly talented! I could not possibly think of someone better to take the role!!!!!!!!!!
Stephanie

I agree he is perfect. The only concern I have now it that the boy who is playing Cerius is to young to play along side him. That is what is going to bug me now.
persephone

This is a much better casting choice then the kid they got for Caius… too young! I’m encouraged to read that others pictured these three as much older. I did too. Bella described Aro’s skin with words like onionskin, brittle, powdery like chalk, crumble at the touch, ancient. She described his eyes as being clouded over with a milky film. Her description created an image in my mind of a very old man. Personally, whenever I read the parts with Aro, I had Gary Oldham from Bram Stoker’s Dracula in my mind. That would have been the best casting choice… so evil!

I think Chris Weitz is going to do a great job! I like that most of the cast are people that haven’t established themselves as a personality in Hollywood. These books are so personal to us, using already well established actors would ruin it for us. Thanks for giving new people a chance!
ErikaP

(I have been trying to send my comment and the server seems to crash. Hopefully this time it will go through, crossing fingers!)

Now that I put name to face and face to name, I know who he is! Very impressive resume! And being Lucian…he WILL fit the bill! “…cloudy eyes with a milky film, yet blood red like the others.”

There is 1..ONE actor who should play “Marcus” and it is: Derek Jacobi !
He played on Mystery! Cadfael from 1994 to 1998. Just checked movie database, he is “in-production” for a movie called “The Winter’s Tale”, maybe, just maybe Chris could ask (beg, plea Mr. Weitz) to have him portray as “Marcus”. He is perfect!

The young 20-something year old British actor who played alongside Johnny Depp in “Sweeney Todd”…Jamie Campbell Bower. I pictured the three Volturi vampires as 40+ yrs of age.

Who is going to play Alec, Demetri, and Felix?
mommymanor

I love Michael Sheen! What a great choice! He is so great in Underworld. YAy! I am so excited for this movie to come out!
Lily

Love this choice. He is an amazing actor unlike some of the others in the movie so i think he’ll bring some safistication to the movies.
bazzattack

so is it only Alec, demetri and felix now??
M.

Well, I didn’t pictured Aro like that, but I think he’s really good choice.
Lizz

does anyone else find it funny that he played in 3 other vampire movies as the enemy of them??? as a werewolf? lol i had to look up who he was at first, but i think it’s funny.

i think he’ll do a good job though… i liked him as Lucian.
Kasey

Uhm… EW! No! Not how i imagined Aro at all! I still think they should have cast Ben Barnes! This guy looks too old to me. Of course, Aro was supposed to be and ancient, but he wasn’t supposed to LOOK old! I thought he would be handsom, even breath taking! SOOO dissapointed. He was one of ym favorite characters!
lulu

oh my gosh!?! that was really unexpected! i didn’t think that experienced of an actor would do this series. i’m really shocked but so thrilled! i can’t believe he’s 40, he could totally pass as really young. interesting–kind of exactly how i imagine aro. so cool! nice job chris!
Team RCatz

Talk about versatility. Sheen is amazing. I can’t believe Weitz got him. Can this be confirmed as factual?
Tia

Love Michael Sheen, I really do, but I thought they had someone young playing Caius, I mean dirt you like in their 20′s (Capon maybe) I dunno, I just think you have to be consistent. Sheen is an excellent person for Aro ( I LOVED him as Lucian) but, if you’re going with that age and look (and yes I know special effects will take care of the rest) then all the actors need to be in the age frame or close to it. So if you’re going to keep Sheen then someone on the same caliber needs to be used for Marcus and replace Capon for Caius.
gaelle

new moon is cooking up real well!

canÂ´t wait!
Caitlin

Ok my sister loves Twilight, she watches it almost everyday. But I can go ahead and say, New Moon, Ima watch alot since Michael Sheen is in there. I wouldn’t want to miss anything!!!