How Matthew Rhys Stays Hungry
Key takeaways
- It changed his life in other ways, too: he fell in love with his co-star Keri Russell, with whom he now has a ten-year-old son.
- In 2020, Rhys pulled on a beaten-up fedora to play another gloomy, sensitive man, the detective turned lawyer Perry Mason, on HBO’s beautifully crafted update of the noir-ish classic.
- When we spoke again last week, a day after the series was picked up for a second season, it was clear the gamble had paid off.
Photograph by Evelyn Freja Save this story Save this story Save this story Save this story The Welsh charmer Matthew Rhys, a RADA-trained actor who first broke out as a likable gay lawyer on the ABC family drama “Brothers and Sisters,” confirmed his status as one of the great leading men on television in 2013, when he landed the role of a gloomy, sensitive Russian spy on the FX series “The Americans.” Over six seasons, “The Americans”—a deep meditation on marriage and intimacy as well as global politics—evolved into TV’s most ambitious, wig-packed, and realistically sexy drama, scoring Rhys an Emmy for Best Actor. It changed his life in other ways, too: he fell in love with his co-star Keri Russell, with whom he now has a ten-year-old son.
In 2020, Rhys pulled on a beaten-up fedora to play another gloomy, sensitive man, the detective turned lawyer Perry Mason, on HBO’s beautifully crafted update of the noir-ish classic. Over the past year, in a startling one-two punch, Rhys broke out all over again, in a contrasting duet of roles: first, he played the white-toothed, sociopathic real-estate magnate Niles Jarvis in “The Beast in Me,” and then, the hapless, hopeful Mayor Tom Loftis on “Widow’s Bay,” a single father who’s determined to re-brand his cursed New England island as the new Bar Harbor.
When I first met Rhys, while I was reporting a Profile of Russell, he was midway through filming “Widow’s Bay” off the coast of Massachusetts—and, over drinks, he perseverated about whether the show’s rare, risky mix of horror and comedy would click with audiences. When we spoke again last week, a day after the series was picked up for a second season, it was clear the gamble had paid off. In an age of snoozy, formulaic throwbacks, “Widow’s Bay”—written by Katie Dippold, of “Parks and Recreation,” and directed by Hiro Murai, of “Atlanta”—is by far this season’s standout début, a confident blend of genres that trusts viewers to absorb its blend of spook-show jolts, black humor, granular propwork and humane drama. The series is anchored by Rhys’s touching portrayal of a a decent, damaged man who is haunted—literally—by the knowledge that his island is afflicted with, among other things, killer clowns, a succubus-like “hag” and a venerable legacy of cannibalism and witch-hunts. (“A source of great pride! We caught ’em, we burned ’em,” the town historian brags.) In this week’s terrific finale, big secrets are revealed—a few of which are very mildly spoiled in this interview, so I recommend that you binge the show, stat.