Matthew Rhys makes history with two lead acting Emmy wins — SkimNews
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Matthew Rhys became the first person to win two lead acting Emmys in one night — best lead actor in a limited series for The Beast In Me and best lead actor in a comedy for Widow's Bay — describing the double honour to BBC Wales as a "complete out of the body experience."
- The 51-year-old Rhys was rejected by the British Army after nearly two years without work following his 2000 West End debut opposite Kathleen Turner in The Graduate, receiving a letter that said "thank you for your interest, good luck in your career."
- Rhys formed what he called the "LA Tafia" in 2006 with fellow Welsh actors Michael Sheen and Ioan Gruffudd — all three attended Ysgol Glantaf Welsh-medium school in Cardiff and spoke Welsh together at a British pub in Los Angeles.
- Rhys met partner Keri Russell at a 2002 kickball game in Los Angeles but only became a couple in 2014 after co-starring in The Americans (2013–2018); they have a son Sam (born 2016) whom Rhys speaks Welsh to at home in New York, and Rhys is stepdad to Russell's children River and Willa.
- Rhys owns a 1939 wooden cruiser boat named Rarebit — after the Welsh cheese dish — the same class of boat Ernest Hemingway once owned, and admitted on the US show Today he didn't realise "the disaster of buying an old wooden boat" before the purchase.
- Rhys has been revealed as the Welsh-language voice of Han Solo for a new Welsh adaptation of Star Wars ahead of its 50th anniversary in 2027, but was too intimidated at the Emmys to mention it to Harrison Ford: "I just hope he doesn't come after me," he joked.
- Rhys is filming a BBC drama called Dragon Slayers about former Sunday Times editor Sir Harry Evans and is growing his beard bushy to produce period-appropriate sideburns for the role.
Why it matters: No performer has ever taken two lead acting prizes at a single Emmy ceremony, and the 51-year-old Welsh-speaking winner once couldn't even get into the British Army. The double win doubles as a cultural showcase — Rhys dedicated one award to Wales, is voicing Han Solo in Welsh for Star Wars' 50th anniversary, and is currently filming a BBC period drama.
Ask SkimNews
