Grab a riot shield and pack a getaway bag: Michael Sheen’s dystopian TV show The Way is almost upon us.
Airing next week on BBC One and directed by Sheen – his debut – it tells the story of the Driscoll family, who become embroiled in civil unrest in Port Talbot and have to flee Wales when things spiral out of control.
As one might expect, it’s absolutely jam-packed with Welsh talent: here’s who to look out for (and where you’ve seen them before).
Geoff Driscoll, played by Steffan Rhodri
Geoff is the father of the Driscoll family and an employee at the Port Talbot steelworks. Estranged from his family, he ends up having to flee Wales with them after civil unrest breaks out.
“Emotionally, he goes on a huge transformative journey, from being haunted by the ghost of his father, and feeling like he is not an adequate father himself, through to an understanding and a breaking away and freeing himself from the shackles of his father's memory,” Rhodri has said about the role.
Born in Swansea, Rhodri started his career on Welsh-language TV show Pobol y Cwm on S4C. He’s been called “Wales’ most prolific actor”, and has an extensive back catalogue of films, stage productions and TV shows to his name – but he’s probably most famous for appearing as Dave Coaches in the much-loved BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey. Eagle-eyed Harry Potter fans can also spot him making an appearance as Reg Cattermole in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Dee Driscoll, played by Mali Harries
Dee is Geoff’s soon to be ex-wife and mother to Thea and Owen. We meet her “at a point in her life where she's wanting something different, wanting something new, but then the family are forced to flee together,” Harries has said. “She walks quickly, she speaks quickly, she's really fiery, she's not afraid to tell people what she thinks of them and of herself.”
Born in Cardiff, Harries was educated at a Welsh-language school before starting her acting career in 1989. She’s best known for her work with S4C, but has appeared in BBC show Y Gwyll/ Hinterland, and Un Bore Mercher/ Keeping Faith, both of which aired on the BBC.
Owen Driscoll, played by Callum Scott Howells
Owen is the younger Driscoll sibling, who is struggling with a mental health condition. He’s recovering from a drug addiction, lacking purpose and has fallen out with most of his family.
Born in Pontypridd in 1999, Howells appeared in numerous reality TV shows as a child (even performing in the boys’ choir Only Boys Aloud in front of Harry and Meghan in 2018) before breaking through into the mainstream. His performance as the tragic Colin Morris-Jones in Russell T Davies’ show It’s A Sin won him widespread acclaim; he followed this up with a superb turn as a young single dad in Gary Owen’s Romeo and Julie at the National Theatre, and as the Emcee in the West End production of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club.
Thea Driscoll, played by Sophie Melville
Thea, who lives in Port Talbot with her family and young son, is a police officer who finds herself on the opposite side of the barricades to the rest of the Driscolls when unrest breaks out. Melville describes her as “a badass – she's a sergeant, she gets to do really cool things and she's on the run and arresting people.”
Born in Swansea in 1991, Melville attended the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and got her break when she was cast in the one-woman play Iphigenia in Splott by Gary Owen, which she played in 2015 in Cardiff’s Sherman Theatre; she was subsequently nominated for an Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress when it moved to London in 2016. 2021 marked her first major TV role, playing Mandy Thomas in BBC One drama The Pact. She’s currently on stage at the Royal Court as Miss Lillian in Charlie Josephine’s “queer Western”, Cowbois.
Anna, played by Maja Laskowska
Anna is a Polish immigrant who has moved to Swansea to study at university; Owen meets her on a dating app.
“Anna finds it really difficult to form any human relationships,” Laskowska says. “But then she meets Owen and something shifts, and through that she starts to question where do I belong? What is a country? What is a family?”
Like Anna, Laskowska is Polish. She attended King’s College London, and has performed with the National Youth Theatre. Her film debut was in 2018’s Melody, alongside Maisie Richardson-Sellers.
Glynn, played by Mark Lewis Jones
Glynn, a Port Talbot local and steelworker, becomes intimately embroiled with the riots that unfold in the town when he helps orchestrate a strike at the steelworks.
Lewis Jones himself hails from further north, near Wrexham, where he was born in 1961. Having studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, he made his name in the BBC drama 55 Degrees North as Detective Inspector Russell Bing, and has appeared in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (as a character he played with a “posh Welsh” accent) and as Letho of Gulet in The Witcher seasons 2 and 3.
In addition to appearing in numerous Welsh-speaking roles for S4C, he most recently appeared in BBC One drama Men Up.
Denny Driscoll, played by Michael Sheen
Denny is Geoff’s father: a former Port Talbot miner who was part of the famous strikes in the 1980s. Over the course of the series, he returns to Geoff as a ghost, tormenting him for his supposed failures.
Michael Sheen, of course, is one of Port Talbot’s most famous sons (along with Anthony Hopkins and Richard Burton). Born in 1969 in Newport, he was raised in the steel town in a theatrical family. Sheen was a keen footballer in his youth and was initially scouted for Arsenal, though his family were unwilling to move to London. He attended RADA, graduating in 1991, and started his career on the stage.
Sheen has since gone onto star in numerous Hollywood blockbusters, most famously as former Prime Minister Tony Blair in three separate films (The Deal, The Queen, and The Special Relationship), for which he was nominated for an Emmy and BAFTA Award. Most recently, he appeared as angel Aziraphale in Prime Video’s Good Omens, opposite David Tennant.
The Welsh Catcher, played by Luke Evans
Not much is known about this character yet, but the name speaks for itself: as Wales is locked down and the Driscoll family find themselves fleeing over the border, Evans’ job is likely to catch them and their compatriots.
Like Sheen, Evans is a household name. Born in Pontypool in 1979, he was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness (though left the faith at the age of 16) and started his career on stage, appearing in plays including La Cava, Taboo, Rent and as Vincent in the play Small Change (for which he was nominated for an Evening Standard Award). He was most recently seen in the West End in Marcelo Dos Santos’s comedy Backstairs Billy.
Despite only having his first film audition at the age of 30, Evans has gone onto star in several blockbusters, including as the archer Bard in the Hobbit trilogy, as Aramis in The Three Musketeers and as Gaston in Disney's 2007 live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast.
Dan, played by Aneurin Barnard
Dan is Thea’s husband, whom we first meet on facetime. Though he’s Welsh, he lives in Germany, where he works.
Born in Bridgend in 1987, Barnard’s first language is Welsh. He started his career young; his first appearance on screen at 16 was in HTV Wales series Jacob’s Ladder, swiftly followed by playing Davey in Hunky Dory, opposite Minnie Driver.
In addition to Davey, his most notable roles include playing Bobby Willis in Cilla, King Richard III in The White Queen, Gibson in Dunkirk and Boris Pavlikovsky in The Goldfinch. In 2018 he played James Steerforth in Armando Ianucci’s The Personal History of David Copperfield opposite Dev Patel, and recently appeared in the BBC drama Men Up, about the first clinical trials for the drug that became Viagra.
