Sheen credits YouTube for Clough research

Michael Sheen has admitted that YouTube was a vital resource in his research for the role of Brian Clough.

Speaking about portraying the outspoken football manager at The Damned United's UK press conference, Sheen recalled stumbling upon footage of Clough being interviewed by David Frost, who he recently played in Frost/Nixon.

He said: "The very first thing I ever did, I'd just finished filming Frost/Nixon, and I went on YouTube and put in Brian Clough. The very first thing that came up was Clough being interviewed by Frost and I disappeared right up my own backside!"

He added that the footage of Frost and Clough almost made it into the film, but was cut at the last minute.

"Having told David Frost, 'By the way, David, you're in the film!' and then watching it and going, 'Oh s**t, you're not anymore!' When David comes to watch it, he's expecting to see himself," said Sheen.

The 40-year-old Welsh actor revealed that exploring Clough's past was easy as "there's a lot of footage and a lot of stuff written about him because he was so media friendly and media savvy. I could've sat in front of the TV and watched footage of Clough [forever]".

"He'd have been a YouTube giant," commented screenwriter Peter Morgan. "YouTube was made for Brian Clough."