Matthew Rhys Evans (/riːs/ REESS; born 8 November 1974[3][4]) is a Welsh actor.
Matthew Rhys | |
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Born | Matthew Rhys Evans (1974-11-08) 8 November 1974 (age 48) Cardiff, Wales |
Education | Royal Academy of Dramatic Art |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1997–present |
Spouse | Keri Russell (m. c. 2021)[1][2] |
Children | 1 |
He is known for playing Kevin Walker in Brothers & Sisters (2006–2011) and Philip Jennings in The Americans (2013–2018), for which he received two Golden Globe Award nominations and a Primetime Emmy Award. In film, he appeared as Dylan Thomas in the film The Edge of Love (2008) and as Daniel Ellsberg in the film The Post (2017) and starred in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019). In 2020, he starred in the lead role on the HBO period series Perry Mason, for which he received his third Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor – Television Series Drama. Rhys is also well-known for providing the voice of Emperor Belos, the main antagonist of Disney's The Owl House.
Rhys was born in Cardiff, Wales, on 8 November 1974[3] (some sources say 4 November).[4] His first language is Welsh.[5] He grew up in Cardiff and attended Welsh-medium schools, Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Melin Gruffydd (in Whitchurch, Cardiff) and Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf (in Llandaff North, Cardiff). In 1993, he was awarded the Patricia Rothermere Scholarship.[6]
At age 17, after playing Elvis Presley in a school musical, he applied to and was accepted at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London.[7]
During Rhys's time at RADA, Rhys appeared in the BBC police series Backup as well as in House of America. He returned to Cardiff to act in his own language in the Welsh film Bydd yn Wrol (Be Brave),[8] for which he won Best Actor at the BAFTA Cymru (Welsh BAFTAs).
In January 1998, Rhys went to New Zealand to star in Greenstone, a colonial costume drama for television. He then landed a role in Titus, Julie Taymor's adaptation of Titus Andronicus, starring Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange. Next he played Ray in Peter Hewitt's film comedy, Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? After returning to Wales, he did two consecutive films with Jonathan Pryce: The Testimony of Taliesin Jones, a film about a dysfunctional single-parent family in which he played the elder son, and Sara Sugarman's comedy Very Annie Mary, in which he played the role of Nob. Rhys would later reunite with Very Annie Mary star Rachel Griffiths on Brothers & Sisters.[9]
In 2000, Rhys played the lead role in Metropolis, a drama series for Granada TV about the lives of six twenty-somethings living in London.[7] Next he starred in Peaches, the film of the play written and directed by Nick Grosso.[10][11] Rhys starred as Benjamin in the 2000 world premiere of the stage adaptation of The Graduate, alongside Kathleen Turner at the Gielgud Theatre in London's West End.[12]
Rhys travelled to Ireland to star in the 18th-century swashbuckling adventure, The Abduction Club.[13] He played the lead role of Darren Daniels in Tabloid, and then returned to New Zealand to shoot the epic drama The Lost World for the BBC. His other film credits include the independent horror film Deathwatch in Prague and Fakers, a comic crime caper.
In 2003, he played Justin Price in the final episode of the long-running television series Columbo.[14]
He appeared opposite Brittany Murphy in the independent feature Love and Other Disasters, in Virgin Territory opposite Hayden Christensen, Tim Roth and Mischa Barton, and playing poet Dylan Thomas in the love quadrangle biographical film The Edge of Love.[15]
He moved to Santa Monica after being cast in ABC's show Brothers & Sisters, as gay lawyer Kevin Walker. The show had a five-season run, coming to an end in 2011.[12]
In January 2012, Rhys appeared in a BBC Two two-part drama adaptation of Charles Dickens' last novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, left unfinished at his death in 1870.[16] The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) aired it in the United States as one feature-length episode on 15 April 2012.
In 2012, Rhys reprised Sir Alec Guinness' 1959 double role of John Barratt / Jacques DeGué in a new adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's The Scapegoat.[17] That same year, Rhys was cast as "Jimmy" in the Roundabout Theatre Company's Off-Broadway revival of John Osborne's play, Look Back in Anger, at the Laura Pels Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre. The production played a limited engagement through 8 April 2012.[18] In 2013, Rhys starred in the television adaptation of the P. D. James novel Death Comes to Pemberley as Jane Austen hero Fitzwilliam Darcy.[citation needed]
He starred opposite Keri Russell in the FX series The Americans, a 1980s Cold War spy drama about Russian KGB sleeper agents (Rhys and Russell, who portray married KGB agents with two children, among other agents and handlers). Rhys and Russell are real-life partners off-screen as well. The sixth season airing in 2018 was the final season of The Americans.[19] The show debuted in January 2013.[20]
On 15 July 2008, Rhys was honoured by Aberystwyth University as a Fellow.[21] On 8 August 2008, he was honoured at the Welsh National Eisteddfod by being accepted as a member to the druidic order of the Gorsedd of the Bards,[22] for his contributions to the Welsh language and Wales. His bardic name in the Gorsedd is Matthew Tâf. In August 2009, Rhys took to the stage with the National Youth Orchestra of Wales as part of the National Eisteddfod.[23]
Rhys has been in a relationship with his The Americans co-star Keri Russell since 2014.[24][25] They had their first child, a son, in 2016.[26][27] In interviews conducted in 2021, Rhys and Russell referred to each other as husband and wife indicating they married in secret some time ago.[28][29]
He is a supporter of Plaid Cymru[30] and also supports Welsh independence.[31][better source needed]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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1996 | Bydd yn Wrol | N/A | |
1997 | House of America | Boyo | |
1999 | Heart | Sean McCardle | |
1999 | Titus | Demetrius | |
1999 | Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? | Ray Smith | |
2000 | Sorted | Carl | |
2000 | The Testimony of Taliesin Jones | Jonathan | |
2001 | Peaches | Frank | |
2001 | Tabloid | Darren Daniels | |
2001 | Very Annie Mary | Nob | |
2002 | The Abduction Club | James Strang | |
2002 | Deathwatch | Doc Fairweather | |
2002 | Shooters | Eddie | |
2003 | Y Mabinogi | Lleu Llaw Gyffes | |
2004 | Fakers | Nick Edwards | |
2006 | Love and Other Disasters | Peter Simon | |
2007 | Virgin Territory | Count Dzerzhinsky | |
2008 | The Edge of Love | Dylan Thomas | |
2009 | The Think Tank | Marc | Short film |
2010 | Luster | Joseph Miller | |
2010 | Patagonia | Mateo | |
2011 | Everything Carries Me To You | Damien | Short film |
2012 | The Scapegoat | John Standing / Johnny Spence | |
2015 | Burnt | Montgomery Reece | |
2015 | Come What May | Percy | |
2017 | The Post | Daniel Ellsberg | |
2018 | Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle | John Lockwood | |
2019 | A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood | Lloyd Vogel | |
2019 | The Report | New York Times reporter | |
2021 | Seal Team | Grimes | Voice role |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | Backup | PC Steve 'Hiccup' Higson | 6 episodes |
1999 | Greenstone | Sam Markham | Unknown episodes |
2000 | A History of Britain | N/A | Unknown episodes |
2000 | Metropolis | Matthew Bishop | 5 episodes |
2001 | The Lost World | Edward Malone | 2 episodes |
2003 | Columbo | Justin Price | Episode: "Columbo Likes the Nightlife" |
2003 | Partners and Crime | N/A | Television film |
2003 | POW | Alfie Harris | Episode #1.5 |
2006 | Beau Brummell: This Charming Man | Lord Byron | Television film |
2006–2011 | Brothers & Sisters | Kevin Walker | Main role |
2008 | A Child's Christmas | The Old Man (voice) | Television short |
2011 | LA Phil Live | Hamlet | Episode: "Dudamel Conducts Tchiakovsky" |
2012 | The Mystery of Edwin Drood | John Jasper | 2 episodes |
2013 | Death Comes to Pemberley | Fitzwilliam Darcy | 3 episodes |
2013–2018 | The Americans | Philip Jennings | Main role |
2014 | Under Milk Wood | New York Voice | Television film |
2015 | Archer | Lloyd Llewellyn (voice) | Episode: "Achub y Morfilod"; credited for episode's story |
2015 | The Bastard Executioner | Gruffudd y Blaidd / the Wolf | 4 episodes |
2016–2020 | The Wine Show | Himself (co-host) | Main role |
2017 | Girls | Chuck Palmer | Episode: "American Bitch" |
2017 | Snowdonia 1890 | Narrator | Main role |
2018 | Death and Nightingales | Billy | 3 episodes |
2018 | Down the Caravan | Dai | Television film |
2019 | BoJack Horseman | Justin Kenyon (voice) | Episode: "A Quick One, While He's Away" |
2019 | Carpool Karaoke: The Series | Himself (co-host) | Season 2, episode 17 |
2019 | Infinity Train | Aloysius / Alrick (voices) | 2 episodes |
2020–present | Perry Mason | Perry Mason | Main role; also executive producer |
2020–present | The Owl House | Emperor Belos (voice) | Recurring role |
2022 | Tuca & Bertie | Figgy (voice) | |
2023 | Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai | Riley Greene (voice) | 10 episodes[33] |
TBA | Extrapolations | Junior | Upcoming series |
Year | Play | Role | Writer/director | Venue/company |
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1997 | Cardiff East | Tommy | Peter Gill | Royal National Theatre |
1997 | Grace Note | Nick | Samuel Adamson / Dominic Dromgoole | The Old Vic |
1997 | One More Wasted Year | Pierre | Christophe Pellet / Mary Peate | Royal Court Theatre |
1997 | Stranger's House (Fremdes Haus) | Yanne | Dea Loher / Mary Peate | Royal Court Theatre |
2000 | The Graduate | Benjamin Braddock | Charles Webb / Terry Johnson | Gielgud Theatre |
2002 | The Associate | Tiny | Simon Bent | Royal National Theatre |
2003 | Under Milk Wood | Mog Edwards | Dylan Thomas / Michael Bogdanov | New Theatre (Cardiff) |
2004 | King Lear | Edmund | William Shakespeare / Bill Alexander | Royal Shakespeare Company |
2004 | Macbeth | Macduff | William Shakespeare / Bill Alexander | The Young Vic |
2004 | Romeo and Juliet | Romeo | William Shakespeare / Peter Gill | Royal Shakespeare Company |
2012 | Look Back in Anger | Jimmy | John Osborne / Sam Gold | Roundabout Theatre Company |
Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
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2013 | Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Actor in a Drama Series | The Americans | Nominated | |
TCA Awards | Individual Achievement in Drama | The Americans | Nominated | ||
2014 | Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Actor in a Drama Series | The Americans | Nominated | |
TCA Awards | Individual Achievement in Drama | The Americans | Nominated | ||
2015 | Critics' Choice Television Award | Best Actor in a Drama Series | The Americans | Nominated | |
TCA Awards | Individual Achievement in Drama | The Americans | Nominated | ||
2016 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series | The Americans | Nominated | |
2017 | Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Actor in a Drama Series | The Americans | Nominated | |
Golden Globe Awards | Best Actor – Television Series Drama | The Americans | Nominated | ||
Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series | Girls | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series | The Americans | Nominated | |||
Satellite Awards | Best Actor – Television Series Drama | The Americans | Nominated | ||
2018 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series | The Americans | Won | |
TCA Awards | Individual Achievement in Drama | The Americans | Nominated | ||
2019 | Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Actor in a Drama Series | The Americans | Won | |
Golden Globe Awards | Best Actor – Television Series Drama | The Americans | Nominated | ||
Satellite Awards | Best Actor – Television Series Drama | The Americans | Nominated | [40] | |
Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | The Americans | Nominated | ||
2021 | Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Actor in a Drama Series | Perry Mason | Nominated | |
Golden Globe Awards | Best Actor – Television Series Drama | Perry Mason | Nominated | ||
Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series | Perry Mason | Nominated | ||
Satellite Awards | Best Actor – Television Series Drama | Perry Mason | Nominated |
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National libraries | |
Other |
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