WalesOnline deputy content hub director Steffan Rhys has shared a personal story about Hollywood star Matthew Rhys, describing how the actor's response to a simple request revealed his true character.
Rhys, born and raised in Cardiff and educated at Ysgol Gyfun Glan Tâf, has just made history at the Emmy Awards, becoming the first person to win two lead acting prizes in one night for his roles in supernatural comedy Widow's Bay and psychological thriller The Beast In Me. He previously won a best actor Emmy for the spy thriller The Americans.
A humble star despite global fame
Despite his A-list status, interviews with Rhys consistently show him as humble and modest. In a recent WalesOnline interview, he blushed at being called "Wales' greatest living actor" and pointed instead to Sir Anthony Hopkins and Michael Sheen. In a New York Times interview, he admitted struggling with self-confidence, saying: "I've just never felt that confidence, that self-assuredness that I always wished I had."
The journalist who interviewed him noted: "You would think two Emmy nominations for leading roles in the same year would make the actor Matthew Rhys feel very secure in himself and his career. But as I learned in our conversation, you would be wrong."
The favour that left a lasting impression
Rhys dedicated his recent Emmy awards "to the great and good people of Wales" and exited the stage with "Diolch yn fawr iawn" (Welsh for "thank you very much").
Steffan Rhys first interviewed the actor in Swansea for the release of The Edge of Love (2008), in which he played Dylan Thomas. But it was a second encounter in 2019 that left a deep impression.
As Wales prepared for the Rugby World Cup semi-final against South Africa, WalesOnline wanted to create something inspiring. They chose the poem Now and Then by Welsh poet and playwright Owen Sheers, which captures the collective experience of watching your nation compete. Steffan Rhys sent a message to Matthew Rhys asking if he would record it, explaining: "I don't know if you remember me but I interviewed you when The Edge of Love was released."
An unexpected generosity
He did not expect a reply, given Rhys was then an established star living in the USA with 75 episodes of The Americans and 109 episodes of Brothers and Sisters behind him. But the response came quickly: "Steffan!" as if greeting a dear old friend, not a journalist he had met fleetingly 11 years earlier. He immediately agreed and sent over the recording shortly afterwards.
Steffan Rhys then suggested one part wasn't quite right and asked if he might do it again. Rhys politely replied he was "just busy filming at the moment" but would do it later if he could. The HBO remake of Perry Mason, in which he starred, came out shortly afterwards.
His generosity is something Steffan Rhys remembers clearly and fondly, noting it would be hard to think of another star at this level who would kindly take time out of a frantic filming schedule to help when he really didn't have to.
