Emmy noms morning on July 8 could be a very big day (again) for Matthew Rhys. The Emmy winner for The Americans is in the hunt again with two very different roles: his lead as sociopath Nile Jarvis in the Netflix limited series The Beast in Me and the mayor desperate for tourism in a haunted town in Apple TV’s comedy horror series Widow’s Bay. Both are critically acclaimed and could make him a double nominee for this year’s Emmy contest.
Rhys joins me for this edition of my Deadline video series The Actor’s Side to talk about why he jumped at the opportunity to play both roles as well as looking back at what he thinks are highlights of his highly successful career as one of the most famous actors to emerge from Wales. He even got to play perhaps the most famous Welsh actor, Richard Burton, on stage in Wales and offers a bit of a scoop about the exciting future of that show as well. On television he has had the Midas touch with six seasons and that Emmy for The Americans, another Emmy nomination for Perry Mason — a show he tells me ended way sooner than he expected — another nomination for Girls and a history-making role as gay lawyer Kevin Walker on the ABC series Brothers & Sisters and that iconic kiss between two men. He even guest-starred in the final Columbo telefilm.
We also talk about some of his big-screen roles, notably for Steven Spielberg as he memorably played Daniel Ellsberg in The Post, and Rhys tells me about his research all the way up to spending time with Ellsberg. He says that while he was making that film, he probably geeked out too much about his favorite movie, Jaws. In fact, he sees parallels between that movie and his small-town series Widow’s Bay. We talk about that as well as his very brief but keyrole right at the start of the infamous movie Cocaine Bear, and why he (jokingly?) thinks there could be a prequel starring his character, the guy who dumped the cocaine before crashing and dying. Elizabeth Banks, are you listening?
To watch our conversation and the get the “actor’s side” of things from Matthew Rhys, just click the link above.
Join me every Tuesday and Thursday this season for a new The Actor’s Side and every Monday and Friday for a new edition of Behind the Lens.
