On Monday night, Matthew Rhys made history. He is now officially the first actor ever to win Emmy awards for lead roles in all three categories: drama, comedy, and limited series. Even more extraordinary, he won two of those awards in a single night.
In the comedy category, Rhys won best lead for Widow’s Bay, the superb Apple comedy horror in which he stars as an indecisive mayor whose island suddenly becomes the site of a supernatural haunting. He also won best lead actor in a limited series or anthology for The Beast in Me, the Netflix drama about a property developer who may (or may not, no spoilers) have murdered his wife. Add this to his 2018 win for The Americans, and the trifecta is complete. In other words, the entire world belongs to Matthew Rhys, and we’re all just living in it.
View image in fullscreenHits every single note available to an actor … Matthew Rhys in Widow’s Bay. Photograph: Robert Clark/Robert Clark/Apple TV
Obviously, the remarkable thing here is the sheer range on display. In his two most recent shows, Rhys had to hit almost every single note available to an actor. The Beast in Me is possibly the most straightforward of these; it’s a pulpy thriller where he plays the antagonist, and he does so with relish. Widow’s Bay, on the other hand, seems like an incredibly difficult feat to pull off.
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If you’ve seen it, you’ll know what I mean. Viewed through one lens, the series is an out-and-out horror about the out-of-his-depth mayor of a small Martha’s Vineyard-esque island, whose tourist season is thrown into disarray when it becomes overrun by genuinely terrifying creatures. As such, Rhys has to nail all the familiar tropes of the genre: fear, uncertainty, heroism in the face of almost certain death.
But Widow’s Bay was also written by Katie Dippold, whose previous work has included Parks and Recreation. As such, folded into all this terror is a workplace comedy that isn’t afraid to be unashamedly goofy. If you watched the series week by week like I did, then you’ll know the exact moment Rhys won the Emmy. It happened during a reaction shot on a boat. In a moment of panic, the boat hits a giant wave and Rhys slides out of his seat. The face he pulls in that moment, even though it only lasts for a split second, is magisterial. His eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. His mouth widens as if he’s being possessed by the spirit of Wallace and Gromit. His neck goes slack. He’s surprised and resigned and perhaps a little bit giddy all at once. It is, without hyperbole, a perfect expression.
However, those of us who have been familiar with Rhys’s work for a while won’t be surprised by all this success. This is the 30th anniversary of his first screen credit, in the Welsh comedy film Bydd yn Wrol, and he has remained one of the industry’s most reliably great actors ever since. He played the lead in Peter Morgan’s ITV thriller Metropolis in 2000, and in the same year wowed audiences opposite Kathleen Turner in a stage run of The Graduate.
View image in fullscreenUtterly credible … Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell in The Americans. Photograph: Craig Blankenhorn/AP
But it was in 2003, with his role as the antagonist in the final Columbo outing Columbo Likes the Nightlife, that things really moved up a gear. Within a few years he had secured a lead role on an American network drama, ABC’s Brothers and Sisters, which he augmented with roles in small but worthy films such as The Edge of Love (where he played Dylan Thomas) and the Welsh-Argentine drama Patagonia.
His career went up another notch with the debut of The Americans, a hard-boiled drama about two Russian agents living undercover in suburban Washington DC. The Americans was the golden age of television in microcosm: knotty, novelistic, and steadfast in its refusal to spoon-feed viewers. Many of us who watched it said it was the best thing on television, and tThis was largely thanks to Rhys’s performance as Philip Jennings, a ruthless KGB agent who gradually starts to question the cause. His performance was matched by Keri Russell, his on-screen wife who would later become his real-life partner. The success of The Americans gave Rhys the freedom to do whatever he wanted, and he has embraced that fully. In film, he has worked with Steven Spielberg and starred in Cocaine Bear. On television, he has played the lead in a Perry Mason revival and taken roles in Girls, BoJack Horseman, and Family Guy. He has also hosted a TV show entirely about how much he enjoys drinking wine. This refusal to be typecast is Rhys’s greatest strength. He is that rare actor—perhaps matched only by Bryan Cranston—who can do anything and be completely convincing. Matthew Rhys can do it all, and long may it continue.
Frequently Asked Questions
Heres a set of FAQs about Matthew Rhyss Emmy record and career
1 Who is Matthew Rhys
A Welsh actor born in Cardiff in 1974 Hes known for TV roles like Brothers Sisters The Americans and Perry Mason plus films like The Post
2 What Emmy record did he break
He won the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2018 for The Americans the shows final season That win made him part of an exclusive club of actors who won the lead drama Emmy for a shows last season
3 Wait did he actually break a record or is that a joke
The whole world belongs to him line is internet humor The real record his Americans win was the shows only major Emmy after years of nominations and it capped one of the most acclaimed TV performances of the 2010s
4 What exactly did he win for
Playing Philip Jennings a Soviet spy posing as an American travel agent on FXs The Americans
5 How many Emmys has he won
One Primetime Emmy Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series 2018
6 How many times was he nominated
Four times for The Americans
7 Why do people say he broke Emmy records
Because The Americans was famously snubbed for years despite critical praise His 2018 win was seen as the Academy finally catching up a rare case of a genre show winning the top acting prize on its way out
8 Did the show win Best Drama too
No The Americans never won Outstanding Drama Series His acting win was the shows only major Primetime Emmy
9 What makes his performance so special
He plays a man living a double life Russian spy American husband FBIadjacent neighbor and switches accents loyalties and identities constantly Critics praised his subtlety and range
10 Is the whole world belongs to Matthew Rhys thing real
Its a fan joke
