Matthew Rhys has achieved something no actor had accomplished in the 78-year history of the Emmy Awards. The Welsh actor won two Emmy Awards for Best Lead Performance in the same night. At the start of the ceremony, he took home the award for his work in The Beast in Me, on Netflix. And later, he won the Best Lead Actor in a Comedy for The Curse of Widow’s Bay, on Apple TV. Combined with his 2018 drama award for The Americans, these two statuettes also make him the first to win in all three lead acting categories.
On stage, an emotional Matthew Rhys dedicated his second prize “to the wonderful and good people of Wales,” who have supported me as much as anyone. We are a small but powerful nation. This is incredible,” he said before adding: “Diolch yn fawr iawn,” which means “thank you very much” in Welsh.
A select club of actors and actresses, including Alan Alda, Sally Field, John Goodman, Elisabeth Moss and Ted Danson, had previously been nominated for two lead acting awards in the same year, but Rhys is the first to achieve a double win. Behind the scenes, he remarked: “I come from a small country, and I’m glad we have moments where, so to speak, we can put our flag on the map.”
After winning the award for The Beast in Me, Rhys stated that it had been a “authentic surprise” and told his co-star Claire Danes: “Thanks for letting me be part of this mystery machine and for bringing out the beast that’s within me; you are an intimidating scene partner, but I am very grateful for all of this.” He also thanked his family, friends and colleagues who have supported his career, including his parents, who “pushed me onto the stage from a very early age.”
The Long Road of Matthew Rhys
The actor was born in the British city of Cardiff, in Wales, the son of a school principal and a teacher. At seventeen, after playing the lead role of Elvis Presley in a school musical, he was admitted to the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. His early steps were on the stage, standing out in the acclaimed adaptation of Titus Andronicus, starring Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange.
Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell in The Americans.
After several roles in film and television and shoots ranging from New Zealand to Spain, Rhys’ breakout came in 2013, portraying a gay lawyer in the series Brothers and Sisters. But his big opportunity arrived when he stepped into the skin of a melancholic and sensitive Russian spy in The Americans. Across six seasons it became an ambitious television drama that earned Rhys an Emmy for Best Actor. It also changed his life in other ways: he fell in love with his co-star Keri Russell, with whom he has formed a family.
In 2020, Rhys donned a worn fedora to portray another melancholic and sensitive man, the detective-turned-lawyer Perry Mason, in HBO’s superb adaptation of this noir classic. And now he has topped his career with a brilliant duo of roles: first, he played the sociopathic real estate mogul Niles Jarvis in The Beast in Me. And then, as mayor Tom Loftis in The Curse of Widow’s Bay, a single father determined to reinvent his cursed New England island.
A Love Uncovered by the Police
Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys were perfectly happy keeping their romance secret while playing a married Soviet spy couple in the series The Americans. But their cover was blown early when, one night, a thief entered Russell’s Brooklyn home and stole some of her belongings in his backpack. The police detained the thief, after which the District Attorney’s Office sought to return the couple’s personal belongings.
“They told us they would love to return our things, hand them over on set, and take a photo for the District Attorney’s Office,” Rhys recalled during his appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers. The actress insisted strongly that they not come, but they did so anyway. And the crew quickly realized that what the police had mistaken for Russell’s bag actually belonged to the Welsh actor.
“And lo and behold, we were together,” Rhys joked. “Everyone found out in one fell swoop. We didn’t have to hire a publicist; it was great.” This happened in 2014, shortly before they welcomed their son Sam, who is now 10 years old. Russell also has a son, River, 19, and a daughter, Willa, 13, with her ex-husband, Shane Deary.
