It's a good day to be Matthew Rhys. At the 2026 Emmy Awards, the Welsh actor pulled off something no actor had managed before: winning two lead acting awards in the same year, taking home Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Widow's Bay and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for The Beast in Me.
Add those to the Emmy he won for The Americans back in 2018, and Rhys has now been rewarded for being funny, dramatic and deeply unsettling – sometimes with remarkably little separating the three. So, in honour of a particularly good night for one of television and cinema's most reliably watchable actors, we're looking back at the Matthew Rhys performances worth watching (or revisiting), from Philip Jennings' many wigs to Perry Mason's permanently rumpled suits.
1. Widow's Bay (2026)
As the relentlessly optimistic mayor of a New England island that may or may not be cursed, Rhys gets to properly flex his comedy muscles. Clearly it worked – the role just won him his first Lead Actor Emmy for comedy. Hopefully with a prospective second season in the works, there'll be more to come...
2. The Beast in Me (2025)
Rhys is brilliantly unnerving as real-estate mogul Nile Jarvis, a man who may have murdered his wife but is charismatic enough to make everyone question themselves anyway. The performance also earned Rhys his second Emmy of the night.
3. The Americans (2013–2018)
The wigs alone deserve their own retrospective. But as Soviet spy Philip Jennings, Rhys could move from suburban dad to terrifying KGB operative with remarkable ease – while making Philip's increasingly complicated feelings about both lives completely believable.
4. Perry Mason (2020–2023)
Rhys' Perry Mason is a far cry from the immaculate courtroom lawyer of the original series. He's broke, dishevelled and perpetually looks like he hasn't slept properly in several years. In other words, excellent casting.
5. A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood (2019)
Opposite Tom Hanks' almost impossibly lovely Mister Rogers, Rhys plays the cynical journalist determined not to be won over by him.
6. Brothers & Sisters (2006–2011)
Five seasons of Walker family dinners gave Rhys plenty of opportunities to perfect the exhausted facial expression. As Kevin, he's dry, prickly and often extremely funny.
7. The Post (2017)
In a film containing Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks and approximately half of Hollywood, Rhys still makes an impression as Daniel Ellsberg, the military analyst responsible for leaking the Pentagon Papers.
8. Girls – "American Bitch" (2017)
Rhys only needed one episode of Girls to earn an Emmy nomination. Playing celebrated author Chuck Palmer opposite Lena Dunham's Hannah, he gradually turns a seemingly straightforward conversation into something far more sinister. Arguably, it's one of the best and most-remembered episodes from all five seasons.
9. The Wine Show (2016–2020)
The premise: Matthew Rhys and Matthew Goode travel around beautiful locations drinking very good wine. There is technically more to The Wine Show than that, but we're not sure there needs to be.
10. Death Comes to Pemberley (2013)
Rhys as Mr Darcy feels almost suspiciously well cast. This Pride and Prejudice murder-mystery sequel lets him do all the brooding and restrained staring required of the role, with the added inconvenience of a body turning up at Pemberley.
11. The Edge of Love (2008)
Playing Dylan Thomas alongside Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller and Cillian Murphy (dream UK and Irish cast by the way), Rhys gets to be charismatic and windswept amongst the Welsh scenery.
12. Burnt (2015)
Bradley Cooper may be the tortured chef at the centre of Burnt, but Rhys makes an excellent culinary nemesis as rival restaurateur Reece.
13. Patagonia (2010)
Rhys gets to return to his native Wales in this quiet road movie connecting Wales with the Welsh community of Patagonia. He plays Mateo, an Argentinian-Welsh tour guide, and it's a lovely reminder of how different he sounds when he's not doing that frighteningly convincing American accent.
