Michael Sheen explains how he wrote off £1 million of people's debt in powerful documentary
The actor's upcoming Channel 4 documentary sheds light on debt spirals and debt-buying practices.
Michael Sheen's upcoming Channel 4 documentary, Michael Sheen’s Secret Million Pound Giveaway, is set to shed light on how finance companies are profiting from some of society's most vulnerable and why people are getting into spirals of debt in the first place.
The Good Omens actor appeared on The One Show on Tuesday (4th March), where he explained how he managed to write off £1 million of debt in the course of the documentary – with £100,000 of his own money.
"I didn't have £100,000 to throw around so I wanted it to be effective," he told hosts Alex Jones and Lauren Laverne. "But when I realised that I could do this, that I could get £1 million worth of people's debt and just write it off, it seemed like a good thing to do."
If you're wondering how such a thing is possible, Sheen offered a helpful explanation.
"People's debt gets sort of put into bundles, and then debt-buying companies can buy those bundles, and then they can sell it on to another debt-buying company at a lower price, so the debt itself, even though the amount that people owe is still the same, the people who own the debt can sell it for less and less money," he said.
In the upcoming documentary, Sheen sets up a company that purchases £1m worth of debt because it had come down in value.
Contrary to what hosts Jones and Laverne originally thought, the debt did include credit cards and overdrafts, with Sheen providing insight into why that was the case.
"The shocking thing is that people have started having to use credit cards, overdrafts to pay for basics, to pay for necessities, rather than luxuries or anything like that, so the debt that I was able to buy included credit card debt, overdrafts, car finance, that kind of stuff," he said.
"You need some help to get through these times. And people are getting into spirals of debt. Once you're underwater it's very hard to get out again.
"That's why I wanted to do this – to draw attention to the fact that this is going on, and there is a way to change it, there are alternatives, and we need to push to try and make a difference for people."
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Earlier this year, it was announced that Sheen is funding a new national theatre company in Wales in an effort to support arts projects following the closure of National Theatre Wales.
Michael Sheen’s Secret Million Pound Giveaway will air on Channel 4 on Monday 10th March at 9pm.
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