Michael Sheen of David Frost in 2008's "Frost/Nixon", a film dramatisation of The Nixon Interviews of 1977. Despite appearing in the original stage production in a part written for him by Peter Morgan, Sheen was surprised to have been cast in the film: "Peter said he'd only be prepared to give the rights to someone who would cast me as Frost, which was very nice, but when the studios get their hands on something... Right up until we started filming I was prepared to be disappointed". Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" asserted that Sheen embodied his character in a "compelling, intense"
Michael Sheen drugs with [a then 95-year-old] Sir John Mills." In other 2003 film work, Sheen portrayed the werewolf leader Lucian in "Underworld" and made a brief appearance in the sci-fi film "Timeline". Sheen also returned to the stage in 2003 to play the title role in "Caligula" at the Donmar Warehouse, directed by Michael Grandage. It was the first of just three stage appearances during the 2000s; his young daughter was now based in Los Angeles which made more frequent stage runs in Britain impractical. "The Independent"'s critic declared it "one of the most thrilling and searching performances I have ever