Matthew Rhys


Matthew Rhys Evans is a Welsh actor. He gained recognition for playing Kevin Walker in the family drama series Brothers & Sisters and Philip Jennings in the spy drama series The Americans. For his performance in The Americans, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2018 and the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series in 2019. He was also nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards for his guest role in Girls and for playing the title role in the period series Perry Mason. In 2025, he appeared as Nile Jarvis in the crime thriller series The Beast in Me.
In film, Rhys appeared as Demetrius in Titus, Doc Fairweather in Deathwatch, Dylan Thomas in The Edge of Love, Daniel Ellsberg in The Post and Lloyd Vogel in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. He has also voiced several characters in animated series, including Aloysius in Infinity Train, Emperor Belos in The Owl House, and Riley Greene in Gremlins.

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 and Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf. 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 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, for which he won Best Actor at the BAFTA Cymru.

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.
File:A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood 05.jpg|thumb|upright|A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood premiere, Toronto Film Festival, 2019
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 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 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

YearTitleRoleNotes
1997BackupPC Steve "Hiccup" HigsonRecurring role
1999GreenstoneSam MarkhamUnknown episodes
2000A History of BritainUnknown episodes
2000MetropolisMatthew BishopMain role
2001The Lost WorldEdward Malone2 episodes
2003ColumboJustin PriceEpisode: "Columbo Likes the Nightlife"
2003Partners and CrimeTelevision film
2003POWAlfie HarrisEpisode #1.5
2006Beau Brummell: This Charming ManLord ByronTelevision film
2006–2011Brothers & SistersKevin WalkerMain role
2010Mr Hollywood—Producer; S4C-TV documentary
2011LA Phil LiveHamletEpisode: "Dudamel Conducts Tchiakovsky"
2012The Mystery of Edwin DroodJohn Jasper2 episodes
2013Death Comes to PemberleyFitzwilliam Darcy3 episodes
2013–2018The AmericansPhilip JenningsMain role
2014Under Milk WoodNew York VoiceTelevision film
2015ArcherLloyd Llewellyn Episode: "Achub y Morfilod"; credited for episode's story
2015The Bastard ExecutionerGruffudd y Blaidd / the WolfSpecial guest star
2016–2020The Wine ShowHimself Main role
2017GirlsChuck PalmerEpisode: "American Bitch"
2017Snowdonia 1890NarratorMain role
2018Death and NightingalesBilly3 episodes
2018Down the CaravanDaiTelevision film
2019BoJack HorsemanJustin Kenyon Episode: "A Quick One, While He's Away"
2019Carpool Karaoke: The SeriesHimself Season 2, episode 17
2019Infinity TrainAloysius, Alrick 2 episodes
2020–2023Perry MasonPerry MasonMain role; also executive producer
2020–2023The Owl HouseEmperor Belos Recurring role
2022Tuca & BertieFiggy 6 episodes
2023ExtrapolationsJuniorEpisode: "2037: A Raven Story"
2023GremlinsRiley Greene 10 episodes
2024-2025The Wingfeather SagaGammon Felda / the Florid Sword Recurring role
2025Towards ZeroInspector LeachThree-part miniseries
2025The American RevolutionThomas Paine Six-part docuseries
2025The Beast in MeNile Jarvis
2026InvincibleDinosaurus / David Anders
Filming
Presumed InnocentMain role