Matthew Rhys

Early life and education

Matthew Rhys Evans was born in Cardiff, Wales, on 8 November 1974. His first language is Welsh. 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.

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. During Rhys's time at RADA, he appeared in the BBC police series Backup and in House of America. He returned to Cardiff to act in his own language in the Welsh film Bydd yn Wrol (Be Brave), for which he won Best Actor at the BAFTA Cymru (Welsh BAFTAs).

Career

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 comedy film 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.

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. Next he starred in Peaches, the film of the play written and directed by Nick Grosso. 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. Rhys travelled to Ireland to star in the 18th-century swashbuckling adventure The Abduction Club. 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. He appeared in the independent feature Love and Other Disasters, in Virgin Territory, and as poet Dylan Thomas in the love quadrangle biographical film The Edge of Love. 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.

In January 2012, Rhys appeared in a BBC Two two-part drama adaptation of Charles Dickens's last, unfinished novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. 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's 1959 double role of John Barratt / Jacques DeGué in a new adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's The Scapegoat. 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. In 2013, Rhys starred in the television adaptation of the P. D. James novel Death Comes to Pemberley as Jane Austen hero Fitzwilliam Darcy.

He starred opposite Keri Russell in the FX series The Americans, a 1980s Cold War spy drama about Russian KGB sleeper agents. The show debuted in January 2013, and aired its sixth and final season in 2018. Rhys received a Primetime Emmy Award for his acting in the sixth season.

In 2025, Rhys starred as the lead, Nile Jarvis, in Netflix's eight-part miniseries The Beast in Me. From 16 to 28 November 2025, he returned to the Welsh stage to play Richard Burton in the one-man play Playing Burton, celebrating the 100th anniversary of Burton's birth and raising funds for the inaugural season of Michael Sheen's new Welsh National Theatre. He received positive reviews from critics for his performance as Burton.

Business ventures

Patagonia productions

Rhys set up his own production company, Patagonia, in 2011. It has two projects in development. One of them involves an adaptation of a book titled Operation Julie, written by Lyn Ebenezer, about the biggest LSD busts in Wales's history; Rhys bought the film rights in December 2010. In 2023, Rhys spoke on a podcast about how he has been working on a potential film about Owain Glyndŵr's life and his rebellion, begun in 1400, against the Kingdom of England.

Pubs

With the help of fellow Welsh actor Rhys Ifans, Rhys supported fundraising for the Vale of Aeron pub in Ystrad Aeron. Rhys also invested in another pub in Pennal, a town in Gwynedd, North Wales, where his father grew up and Rhys would spend summers and Easters visiting. In 2019, the Glan Yr Afon (also Riverside) was put on the market without any buyers, but through a campaign supported by Rhys, there was a shares offering for the public which raised £450,000 to save the pub. The local community completed the purchase in December 2022.

Charter yacht

In New York City, Rhys owns and rents out a charter boat named Rarebit. The Wheeler boat was constructed circa 1934; Rhys bought it from eBay in 2017. He rebuilt the boat himself with the advice of shipwrights.

Personal life

Rhys has been in a relationship with his The Americans co-star Keri Russell since 2014. They had their first child, a son, in 2016. In interviews conducted in 2021, they referred to each other as husband and wife, though Rhys stated in an interview in March 2025 that they "literally haven't got round to marriage yet".

He is a supporter of Plaid Cymru and has spoken out in favour of Welsh independence. Rhys stated in November 2018 that he spoke to his son "only in Welsh", adding that he wants his son to understand the language.

On 15 July 2008, Aberystwyth University honoured Rhys as a fellow. 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 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.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations

Bibliography

• Patagonia: Crossing the Plain (2010) – a photographic account of his month-long journey on horseback while filming a documentary on Patagonia, and the Welsh settlers who made it their home having journeyed from Wales in the late 19th century.

Footnotes

References

References

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2. (8 November 2018). "Thank you for the messages...diolch am y negeseuon. 'My Birthday began with the water birds.....'".
3. "Matthew Rhys". [[AllMovie]].
4. "Being Dylan {{!}} Matthew Rhys". Visit Wales.
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7. (7 October 2007). "Matthew Rhys – ABC News Interview December 5, 2006".
8. Kellaway, Kate. (30 April 2000). "The new prince of Wales". [[The Guardian]].
9. Bradshaw, Peter. (12 October 2001). "Peaches". The Guardian.
10. "PEACHES (2000)". rottentomatoes.com.
11. Gilbert, Gerard. (8 September 2012). "Matthew Rhys:'We'd troll off to LA and try to nick jobs off the Americans". [[The Independent]].
12. Elley, Derek. (18 July 2002). "The Abduction Club". [[Variety (magazine).
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20. Ausiello, Michael. (16 March 2012). "''Brothers & Sisters'' alumn Matthew Rhys cast opposite Keri Russell in FX's ''The Americans''". TVLine.com.
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25. Maxwell, Dominic. (17 November 2025). "Playing Burton review — Matthew Rhys is sensational as Richard Burton".
26. Mansfield, Mark. (2 November 2025). "Theatre review: Playing Burton at the Reardon Smith, Cardiff".
27. [[:cy:Lyn Ebenezer. Lyn Ebenezer – Cymru]]
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29. Kelly, Jon. (12 July 2011). "Operation Julie: How an LSD raid began the war on drugs". BBC News.
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31. (4 November 2022). "'Glyndŵr would be proud,' Hollywood star Matthew Rhys backs Welsh community pub hopes".
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61. (14 May 2025). "Hallow Road review – Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys race to rescue daughter in cracking thriller". The Guardian.
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63. (14 January 2019). "Matthew Rhys To Star In Title Role Of HBO's ''Perry Mason'' Limited Series From Team Downey".
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68. Murphy, J. Kim. (17 July 2025). "''Invincible'' Gets Early Season 5 Renewal at Prime Video, Matthew Rhys Joins Season 4 Voice Cast".
69. Andreeva, Nellie. (26 November 2024). "John Krasinski & Matthew Rhys To Headline ''Silent River'' Prime Video Series As ''Jack Ryan'' Star Re-Ups Amazon MGM Studios Deal".
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74. (21 April 2023). "Matthew Rhys: the day I blew my audition for James Bond".
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76. (10 April 2000). "The Graduate – Turner's Mrs. Robinson Turns Heads in London's West End".
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79. "Macbeth 2004".
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