HOLLYWOOD star Michael Sheen has kept the red flag flying high in his home town with a new documentary celebrating Newport’s chartist uprising.

Mr Sheen flew back to the US yesterday after a five-day shoot in historically significant locations south Wales.

His film will retrace the footsteps of the thousands of workers who clashed with troops with as they marched on Newport in an armed uprising.

Their historic stand — which saw the red flag raised for the first time in Britain — was part of the the fight to win votes and representation for the working classes.

Communist Party leader Rob Griffiths is among the modern radicals Mr Sheen has interviewed about the legacy of their actions.

And after speaking to the Welsh actor on Saturday, Mr Griffiths said: “He’s definitely on the left.”

Mr Giffiths presented Mr Sheen with a copy of the original People’s Charter, which set out six demands for working-class power, when they met outside the former Newport workhouse on Saturday.

“He’s originally from Newport and has a special interest all of this for a while,” Mr Griffiths told the Morning Star.

“He protested against the destruction of the chartist mural by the council last year.”

Mr Griffiths said he stressed the importance of building broad movements outside Parliament, such as the People’s Assembly, in his interview.

“People are disillusioned with the bribery and betrayals with professional politicians of today just as they were in the words of the People’s Charter in 1839, “ he said.

Mr Sheen’s journalist partner Sarah Silverman said earlier this year his “integrity stems from his upbringing in a working-class Welsh family.”

lukejames@peoples-press.com