Michael Sheen has given rare insight into his relationship with Anna Lundberg after being quizzed about their 25-year age difference on BBC’s The Assembly.
The Welsh actor, 55, appeared on Friday in the special, which ran in conjunction with Autism Awareness Week (April 2-8).
35 neurodivergent people asked him a series of questions, but some were more personal than others.
A young woman asked the Good Omens star: ‘How does it feel to be dating someone who is only five years older than your daughter?’, referring to his daughter Lily, 24, whom he had during his relationship with the ex Kate Beckinsale.
Michael has been in a relationship since 2019 with Swedish actress Anna, 30, with whom he appeared on Staged, and the couple have two children together.
Michael Sheen appeared on BBC’s The Assembly, which ran in conjunction with Autism Awareness Week (April 2-8).
The Welsh actor, 55, gave rare insight into his relationship with Anna Lundberg, who is just five years older than one of his children (pictured in 2019).
One asked: ‘How does it feel to be dating someone who is only five years older than your daughter?’, referring to his daughter Lily, 24, who he had with ex Kate Beckinsale.
He replied: ‘I think because of the age difference, I think we were both quite surprised when we got together.
‘I don’t think any of us were looking for that. It’s not like I’ve dated many people much younger than me, but you know who you know. “We were very aware of the differences that that might make and how they might respond to it,” he added.
‘Not that it was the easiest thing to do. We were both aware that it would be difficult and challenging. In the end, we felt it was worth it because of what we felt for each other.
‘We now have two beautiful children together. I am very happy about the age difference. I know I’m an older father. It worries me. It makes me sad to think about the time I won’t have with them.
‘But I think if you find someone who brings you happiness and you make them happy. “You have to try it, I think, and I’m very happy that you did because now we have this wonderful family.”
The Welsh actor dated Kate, 50, meeting in 1995 during a touring production of The Seagull and four years later, in 1999, the actress gave birth to their daughter, Lily.
They broke up after seven years together, but remained close friends.
After finding love with Anna in 2019, he welcomed three-year-old daughter Lyra and welcomed his second child, a daughter, in May 2022.
Announcing the exciting news, Michael shared a sweet photo of her newborn baby holding her finger on X, formerly known as Twitter. The proud dad captioned the post: ‘And just like that….there was another monkey jumping on the bed.’
35 neurodivergent people asked him a series of questions, but some were more personal than others.
After finding love with Anna in 2019, he welcomed three-year-old daughter Lyra and welcomed his second child, a daughter, in May 2022.
She originally shared the news on her Twitter account when she posted a photo of Anna’s burgeoning baby bump.
The couple has been dating since May 2019 and welcomed Lyra four months later.
Last year, Michael and Anna spoke about working together for the first time on the second series of the BBC comedy series Staged and addressed juggling fatherhood with their new stage, set at their home in South Wales during the coronavirus lockdown.
The couple admitted that “alcohol was involved” in the scenes they filmed with David Tennant and his wife Georgia as the couples bonded and filmed most of their show at night, when their babies were sleeping.
In the show, which used video conferencing technology, actors Michael and David play fictional versions of themselves as they attempt to rehearse Luigi Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author virtually in the middle of the pandemic.
The Deal star admitted she struggled filming content with her partner as they rotated their mother and father duties.
The actor said radio times: ‘They usually happen at night because babies are asleep and there is also usually alcohol involved. So they’re a little… looser.
“I don’t think I would have been able to deal with you if you were the version you are on the show,” Anna joked.