Michael Sheen - Michael Sheen's Bowie-Inspired Character

Michael Sheen based his latest Disney role on David Bowie's character Ziggy Stardust.

The Welsh actor revealed he sought inspiration from the alien-come-rock star persona created by the rocker in the 70s, to make his modern, club-owning character Castor in 'Tron: Legacy' unique.

He said: "I was going for a sort of albino Ziggy Stardust. A one-man walking Andy Warhol Factory."

The upcoming movie is a sequel to the 1982 film 'Tron', and will be about a computer game which forces players into war like Roman soldiers. It will also star the original film's leading man Jeff Bridges.

Michael and Joe worked hard to make his program character stand out from others - and included music by Daft Punk in the soundtrack to fit in with the modern theme of the 3D sci-fi film.

Michael explained to the Guardian at this year's Comic-Con festival in San Diego: "Joe wanted the character to look completely different to everyone else in the Tron world. So whereas everyone is in black, he's in white: white hair, no eyebrows. It's a good choice, I think. Castor is a character who reflects and assimilates everything around him, then adapts to survive. I liked the idea of him as a shape-shifter who keeps reinventing himself, and the obvious reference there has to be Bowie.

"Joe said he needed my character to bring a whole different kind of energy to this film, and that I had to be the biggest showman ever. Then I'm given that amazing nightclub set with hundreds of extras, that dazzling white costume, contact lenses and six-inch heels, and a cane that lights up, and I've got Daft Punk as my house-band. well, it was like a red rag to a bull."

'Tron: Legacy' is due for release in December this year.