{"id":618,"date":"2026-06-21T11:37:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T11:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=618"},"modified":"2026-06-21T11:37:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T11:37:15","slug":"how-matthew-rhys-stays-hungry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=618","title":{"rendered":"How Matthew Rhys Stays Hungry"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Welsh charmer Matthew Rhys, a RADA<\/em>-trained actor who first broke out as a likable gay lawyer on the ABC family drama \u201cBrothers and Sisters,\u201d 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 \u201cThe Americans.\u201d Over six seasons, \u201cThe Americans\u201d\u2014a deep meditation on marriage and intimacy as well as global politics\u2014evolved into TV\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Read more A Lonely Adolescent Summer, Set to \u201cBad Moon Rising\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

In 2020, Rhys pulled on a beaten-up fedora to play another gloomy, sensitive man, the detective turned lawyer Perry Mason, on HBO\u2019s 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 \u201cThe Beast in Me,\u201d and then, the hapless, hopeful Mayor Tom Loftis on \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay,\u201d a single father who\u2019s determined to re-brand his cursed New England island as the new Bar Harbor.<\/p>\n

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When I first met Rhys, while I was reporting a Profile of Russell, he was midway through filming \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d off the coast of Massachusetts\u2014and, over drinks, he perseverated about whether the show\u2019s 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, \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d\u2014written by Katie Dippold, of \u201cParks and Recreation,\u201d and directed by Hiro Murai, of \u201cAtlanta\u201d\u2014is by far this season\u2019s standout d\u00e9but, 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\u2019s touching portrayal of a a decent, damaged man who is haunted\u2014literally\u2014by the knowledge that his island is afflicted with, among other things, killer clowns, a succubus-like \u201chag\u201d and a venerable legacy of cannibalism and witch-hunts. (\u201cA source of great pride! We caught \u2019em, we burned \u2019em,\u201d the town historian brags.) In this week\u2019s terrific finale, big secrets are revealed\u2014a few of which are very mildly spoiled in this interview, so I recommend that you binge the show, stat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Rhys and I chatted over Zoom while he was in Florence, Italy, on a \u201cbit of a family outing\u201d with Russell and their son. We discussed his Sad Sam eyes, his Welsh acting hero Richard Burton, and the subtle power of gobbling a whole chicken onscreen. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n

Since we saw one another, back when I was writing about Keri, you\u2019ve had an incredible run\u2014first \u201cThe Beast in Me,\u201d then \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

This could be it!<\/p>\n

I was reading old interviews, and, in one, somebody asked, about your 2008 Dylan Thomas movie, \u201cIs this your big breakthrough?\u201d And you said, People keep telling me that about various projects, I can\u2019t think like that.<\/strong><\/p>\n

No, I can\u2019t. And Tom Hanks always\u2014and, I\u2019m sorry, that\u2019s a flagrant name drop\u2014but he always says, his big motto is \u201cThis, too, shall pass.\u201d Regardless of the success or the failure, it\u2019s always applicable.<\/p>\n

When we last met, you were pretty worried about how people would perceive the tone of \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay,\u201d that unusual mixture of comedy and horror.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, I\u2019m relieved\u2014I think relief is the highest form of happiness, isn\u2019t it? And I wasn\u2019t alone, you know. I know Katie [Dippold, the showrunner] and Hiro [Murai, who directed five episodes] felt, like, This is a tough tone to pitch, a tough one to land. So I\u2019m just relieved that people get it. Hiro and Katie were, like, Let\u2019s not play it as a comedy or a horror story. Let\u2019s just make it into a real world and play for real. And, you know\u2014we\u2019ll try and imbue the rest of it with music!<\/p>\n

Katie said her Zoom with you convinced her to cast you.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, I\u2019ve always wanted to go to Katie and ask, What was it that convinced you? Because I just felt like it was a chat. I wasn\u2019t cracking jokes or being particularly scared. It\u2019s just my normal disposition. We talked about Tom, and she said, I want people to have real backstories so that it feels richer. And having seen \u201cAtlanta,\u201d I knew what capable hands Hiro\u2019s are. He is incredibly deft at doing that thing of, you know, living in quite polar extremes, but in a very real place\u2014so you knew the helmsman was very sound.<\/p>\n

Which scenes were you concerned about?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh, God, there\u2019s a lot. You know, my first scene with Stephen Root [who plays Wyck, a local with deep knowledge of the island\u2019s lore] was when he sang the sea chantey. I mean, I love Stephen Root. I was lucky enough to do \u201cPerry Mason\u201d with him. And so all I could remember was, like, him as this Southern-gentleman lawyer\u2014and then in walks Robert Shaw in \u201cJaws.\u201d And Hiro said, \u201cO.K., let\u2019s rehearse one scene, just sing him the chantey.\u201d And no one had told me what that chantey scene was like, so Root was going [he lustily imitates the loud, ooh-ing, caterwauling howl of the chantey<\/em>]. So I was, like, what the fuck<\/em> is going on? Like, is this Root playing with me, or is this the real thing?<\/p>\n

I remember asking Hiro, Am I disgusted? Am I frustrated? What is it with him in this moment? Do I care? And he\u2019s, like, No\u2014and then he started building the complexity of Loftis\u2019s relationship to the island. It\u2019s, like, \u201cRemember that your father\u2019s from the island. You came here as a kid for the summers\u2014you heard these stories, so your relationship to all this is very complicated. You can\u2019t quite dismiss it easily, because you\u2019re in danger of losing everyone you know\u2014you have to curry favor with the locals to succeed. You have to indulge them. And there are elements of the island that are true, so you kind of will yourself to make it work, putting blinkers on.\u201d So I remember at that moment thinking, This is going to be more complicated than I anticipated.<\/p>\n

And then, you know, Episode 5, being on mushrooms. I was constantly going, Is this right? Is this too much? And the slapstick with the painting, that was a big one. Meeting Hamish [Linklater, who plays the centuries-old, undead founder of Widow\u2019s Bay] for the first time: how ludicrous<\/em> is this moment? And it was the same: \u201cNo, just play it for real, play it real.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Have you taken mushrooms?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No, I don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n

I like the little caveat\u2014Well, not mushrooms<\/em>. I always wonder how people play high. What\u2019s the method for that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

For that one, I literally watched people on LSD on YouTube and kind of mimicked\u2014I try not to do that, but I mimicked things\u2014little things that made me laugh, the way they would turn their heads. So, yeah, YouTube is the great salvation of active research these days. Gone are the days when you\u2019d go somewhere with a tape recorder\u2014a cassette recorder, as I used to say!<\/p>\n

What did you use a cassette recorder for?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I remember when I left drama school, at twenty-one, there was no way you could get a very specific accent. I remember going into this place in Derbyshire on the train, with a tape recorder, and staying in hostels and recording locals, kind of trying to get as many hours of the dialect down as possible before being punched in the face.<\/p>\n

By people you were recording?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, you\u2019d have to lie and say you were press covering a local story. What I realized is if you say you\u2019re an actor and \u201cCould I hear your dialect?,\u201d people freeze up. And if they\u2019re very aware of the dialect, then you\u2019ve lost it.<\/p>\n

What was the philosophy of your drama school,<\/strong> RADA<\/em>? I know it\u2019s this \u00e9lite place.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, we had a New York acting teacher who was taught by Uta Hagen. So it was Stella Adler\u2014the whole Brando line, right? We were raised heavily with that kind of methodology.<\/p>\n

What does that mean specifically?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think occasionally it\u2019s misinterpreted as the Method, but to me it\u2019s not. It\u2019s a<\/em> method. But it actually means you don\u2019t have to pretend you are that person at all. And what you\u2019re doing is breaking down the script, very\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0. Oh, God, what\u2019s the word I\u2019m looking for? It\u2019ll come back to me. This is very annoying.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s O.K. \u201cAnalyze,\u201d \u201cdeconstruct\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, in a very analytical way, it\u2019s broken down into beats, sections. You figure out what your super-objective is, your scenic objectives, scenic obstacles. So you\u2019re building all these layers that give the bones a lot of meat, and then if there\u2019s a big emotional moment, you start building in your sense memories, your triggers. It stops you from floundering; you don\u2019t necessarily need it. Sometimes I don\u2019t need it, and that\u2019s fine!<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve said that your approach to acting has changed. That you no longer go full Brando.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, yes, I\u2019m about to compare myself to Brando!<\/p>\n

Go for it! Do a Brando imitation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s more that in my twenties I was kind of obsessed by it because I thought, This is the work,<\/em> and The work is your armor,<\/em> and If you do the work then you\u2019ll be fine, you\u2019re bulletproof<\/em>. And I just think it becomes second nature, the breaking down\u2014you start doing it instinctively in your head. And then, you know, all the notes start to go away, the copious note-taking. You just read the script and give yourself over to the magic circumstances. Or, as John Candy said in that beautiful documentary, I just pretend.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Tell me about the development of Niles Jarvis in \u201cThe Beast in Me\u201d and Tom Loftis in \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay.\u201d They\u2019re such different characters.<\/strong><\/p>\n

You know, sometimes now, I\u2019ve become cheap\u2014a cheap shot. In that, when I read Niles Jarvis, I said, I\u2019m just gonna steal stuff from Anthony Hopkins in \u201cSilence of the Lambs.\u201d I\u2019m going to be a little still<\/em>, intimidating in my open stillness. A whole generation hasn\u2019t seen \u201cSilence of the Lambs,\u201d I can get away with this shit! So I blatantly just stole\u2014I was, like, Oh, that\u2019ll translate well. A lot of it was on the page anyway. It\u2019s certainly not based on this, but it has a kind of residue of \u201cThe Jinx\u201d to me.<\/p>\n

My concern was it would become arch very quickly. You know, he\u2019s disarming in his honesty\u2014 but if you put too much on that, it could become arch. So I was doing that filter in my head, going \u201cSteady, steady in the ranks.\u201d [He\u2019s distracted by a telescope behind me<\/em>.]<\/p>\n

What do you look at with that telescope?<\/p>\n

Oh, that\u2019s my son\u2019s. This is just the one place we can do Zooms.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I mean, it\u2019s pretty good\u2014the art work and the telescope.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s homemade\u2014my husband and the kids took tennis balls and dipped them in paint and dropped them out the window. Are your kids into art?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You know, at the risk of sounding pretentious, we\u2019re in Florence, so I\u2019m desperately, desperately<\/em>, trying\u2014and I suppose my son smells it, the desperation on me! So he\u2019s, like, \u201cNo, I don\u2019t want to go. I don\u2019t want to look at stupid art.\u201d And when I finally drag him to something, he\u2019s, like, \u201cThis isn\u2019t art! I could do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oh, no, he\u2019s an elderly curmudgeon.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I took him to see a Rothko exhibition and he was, like, \u201cThis isn\u2019t art at all. I don\u2019t know why he\u2019s famous or why we\u2019re here.\u201d<\/p>\n

What does he like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wrestling!<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sorry he\u2019s missing the U.F.C. tournament.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, I didn\u2019t even talk to him about that.<\/p>\n

How old is he now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ten.<\/p>\n

Do you guys follow the Knicks?<\/strong><\/p>\n

He does! And he explains to me the rules of basketball\u2014so he was, I suppose, angry that he wasn\u2019t in New York when that happened, so he could have stayed up late and watched it in real time.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s different from when you grew up in Wales.<\/strong><\/p>\n

To me, when I read \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay,\u201d I was, like, This is<\/em> Wales. Like, sixty-five per cent of the country is coastline. An enormous amount of the population live in small coastal towns. My mother was from there\u2014we lived in one for a while. She\u2019s from a seafaring family, where you throw a stone and there\u2019s a myth or a legend.<\/p>\n

What kind of legends?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh, God, well, as kids we were raised with these ancient tales called the Mabinogion. And there\u2019s four branches of the Mabinogi, and they\u2019re wildly dense myths about different parts of Wales. There was a princess who turned into flowers, and you know, the only way her husband could be killed was if he had one foot on a trough and the other on a goat, and he was killed by a special silver spear.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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One side of your family is farmers, and the other is\u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

Correct, correct. One side is farmers, one side is seafarers.<\/p>\n

You brought your son to your family\u2019s farm, right?<\/strong><\/p>\n

He loved<\/em> it. He loved it, and it just felt wild to him because he gets to ride a motorbike and herd cattle and feed them. It feels lawless because you get to ride around seemingly doing whatever you want with these amazing, amazing vistas! And I hope it gave him this sense of, This is where I come from<\/em>, if you know what I mean. These are my roots, these are where Granddad was raised.<\/p>\n

Do you still speak Welsh to him?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I do, I do. Very much so. He\u2019s still trying to keep that. Although as the conversations become more convoluted or complicated, he does say, Can you say that in English now? Which still breaks my heart.<\/p>\n

Do you wish you lived in Wales?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You know, I have these nostalgic moments, usually when I\u2019m in my cups, that I\u2019m, like, What if we return to the old country, now that we\u2019ve left Europe? No, I don\u2019t, but\u2014yes and no. I suffer very badly from a heavy pair of rose-tinted glasses, or, you know, \u201cgrass is always greener.\u201d<\/p>\n

I know there\u2019s this Welsh expression about mourning for the past, or\u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hiraeth<\/em>. It\u2019s mourning for something that can never be again.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s beautiful. Why do you think you play so many sad men?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know if you\u2019ve read this, but I met a plastic surgeon in L.A. once, and he went, Oh, are you Irish? I said no. Scottish? I said no. And then he goes, Where are you from? I said Welsh, he went, Oh, the other<\/em> Celt\u2014and, yeah! [He touches his eyes<\/em>.] It\u2019s the Celtic lids. I have the Sad Sam eyes, you know. We joke that it rains so much in Wales, you\u2019re always going like this. [He frowns dramatically.<\/em>] Or you\u2019re so downtrodden by the English, you\u2019re also going, Oh, please give us a break. My resting face is downtrodden.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d read that story but I didn\u2019t realize it was a plastic surgeon!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, and then he offered to help me out so I looked less Celtic!<\/p>\n

What did you say to him?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI’m good, thanks.\u201d I said, \u201cWhen it starts affecting my eyesight, if I feel like I\u2019m in a tunnel constantly, or I feel I\u2019m in the eaves of a roof, I might call you. At the moment, I can see pretty well.\u201d<\/p>\n

I find that an insane thing for him to say. Like, what, you walk around L.A. negging actors?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I mean, I felt like he was half joking, but half not. Do you know what I mean? Like, if I said, O.K., yeah, let me come in, he\u2019d be, like, Crap, this is not going to be good.<\/p>\n

Yeah, don\u2019t do that! So tell me about Tom Loftis. How did you develop that character? Maybe it\u2019s less of a reach than Niles Jarvis.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Yeah, it felt like people I knew. It reminds me of my friend\u2019s dad, so I have him in mind when I\u2019m walking. He\u2019s kind of an amalgamation of a few people I know.<\/p>\n

Name these people specifically and describe what they\u2019re like. What is your friend\u2019s dad like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh, he\u2019s lovely, and I love him! I really love him dearly, but he\u2019s always slightly exasperated\u2014like, Oh, God, what\u2019s wrong now? So I can\u2019t name him. But do you know what I mean? In a slight hurry, and you\u2019re always just, like, What are you in a hurry for? There\u2019s nothing to do! Like my father, he\u2019s a school principal.<\/p>\n

I loved the finale, and particularly the beautiful conversation with Ruth, which, to me, really grounded the show in something grander, more philosophical. It felt surprisingly profound in terms of bringing in these larger themes: \u201cWell, life itself is a horror show.\u201d Tell me a little bit about the filming of that scene\u2014and your facial expression when you learn the truth about your son.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Read more The Difference Between the Knicks and the White House Cage Fight<\/a><\/p>\n

First of all, when I read it, I was, like, Wow, I was not expecting that at all. And, like you, I loved it. This puts the show in an incredible place\u2014and, hopefully, tees up Season 2 magnificently. K Callan [who plays Ruth] is a force of nature; she had far more stamina than I did, because we took a long time. We took days<\/em> over that scene. We tweaked it quite significantly, as well. It\u2019s funny, because I always try to sit in the moment\u2014but at the more horrific moments of the piece, I become aware, like, Is my face too much? Like, with the clown attacking, you know\u2014<\/p>\n

Is it possible to overreact to a clown barreling into a crawl space? But you worried about overdoing it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And then I remember having this moment with K, I was, like, Am I just doing horror<\/em>? Am I still doing \u201chorror reactions\u201d? Funnily enough, it\u2019s the first time I was on more familiar territory, just straight drama\u2014and heavy, too. I remember seeing Hiro at the end, and I was, like, I thought I signed up for a comedy! That\u2019s more emotion than I\u2019ve run through since \u201cThe Americans.\u201d That was a lot<\/em>.<\/p>\n

When you say you ran through emotions\u2014this sounds like a dumb question, but do you feel<\/em> these emotions as you play them?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I do, I do try! And I was very cognizant of it, because you want this final scene to land in a very real place\u2014and if there\u2019s any falseness to the culmination, you won\u2019t get that gear change. So, yes, I did my homework on this scene and set up my emotional triggers, to try to trigger real things that have happened.<\/p>\n

What things are you talking about, and how did you cue them up?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard. You do these prep sessions where you find the right sense memory. All the hard stuff from the past.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Childhood stuff?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A little, a little\u2014it can be the more potent stuff, but whatever works. And sometimes it\u2019s weird, since memory can be a little\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0. ethereal. Sometimes you catch it very clearly and other times you think, Oh, this will work, and then you go, That\u2019s not working at all<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Like, you use a different memory?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll try and link it to a memory similar to what\u2019s happening in the scene. You lie down and you take yourself back. And then you go through every moment as presently, in as much detail as possible, up to that moment you think is going to be the sense-memory trigger\u2014what can upset you if you think about it. Sometimes, if you do it a couple of times, you\u2019re, like, That\u2019s not firing for some reason. And you go, Let me try something else that\u2019s a similar emotion. It\u2019s about something else, but that\u2019ll work.<\/p>\n

Emotions of shock?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, or grief. And you might use an old breakup instead of something grief-based, but it just works.<\/p>\n

I read an early interview where you described your worst fears as rats and failure. Are those still your worst fears?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I still hate rats, yeah.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know, and I don\u2019t know where it comes from, either. An irrational fear\u2014but when I see them in New York, at night, it has a very jarring effect.<\/p>\n

How about failure?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, I think that goes\u2014I was about to say it goes hand in hand with acting, but I know several people from different professions have the same fear. I just remember my parents going, Well, if the acting doesn\u2019t work out, what are you gonna do? And I went, I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

How old were you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eighteen\u2014before I went to drama school. They gave me low odds. And then they were, like, Oh shit, you\u2019ve got in.<\/p>\n

What did they want you to do instead?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, in fairness to them, it\u2019s not that they never wanted me to\u2014I just think they had great concern about the insecurity of the profession! They\u2019re great champions of the arts. They really are. They pushed us as kids to do a lot, culturally, growing up, and they\u2019re musicians themselves\u2014but that was always a hobby.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve described Wales as a place where everybody performs all the time.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, there\u2019s this ancient pre-Christian festival twice a year called the Eisteddfod. One is specifically for the youth, and one is youth and adults. And every year, you compete in singing, poetry, recital, dance\u2014there\u2019s poetry writing in a very ancient meter. All the kids are kicked onto a stage at some point in their childhood.<\/p>\n

What made you turn that into a profession?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I did a school performance as Elvis when I was seventeen. The production was good, the reaction was good, and I was just, like\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0. I wonder if I could<\/em>. I just remember being onstage, loving it, feeling very comfortable\u2014and that\u2019s when I applied for drama school.<\/p>\n

Tell me a little bit about your relationship with the major Welsh stars\u2014Richard Burton, and, in a different way, Dylan Thomas. You\u2019ve played them both.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Yeah, it\u2019s funny\u2014Michael Sheen had taken over the National Theatre, and he was, like, You\u2019ve got to come and do something. I was, like, I\u2019ve got no time! And he was, like, Well, come and do a fund-raiser, do a one-man show. And last year was the centenary celebrations of Richard Burton. So I went and did this show called \u201cPlaying Burton,\u201d and then the final performance was in Richard Burton\u2019s chapel, in front of his family\u2014which was kind of terrifying. But Burton meant a lot to me growing up. I started watching his films at an early age. I was thirteen, fourteen\u2014I remember seeing \u201cLook Back in Anger\u201d and going, Oh, my God<\/em>. And then my dad saying, Well, he was Welsh. And I was, like, Wait, what<\/em>?<\/p>\n

And I started reading about him. I read Melvyn Bragg\u2019s \u201cRich,\u201d and I was blown away because he seemed so un-Welsh. He was like a professional Welshman! He couldn\u2019t have been more proud of being Welsh. And yet his self-confidence was a kind of hubris. There are Welsh people who are almost violently, aggressively confident. Probably overcompensating, I\u2019m sure. But he was\u2014you know, Welsh people don\u2019t outbid Ari Onassis for diamonds! I was, like, who was<\/em> this person? He was a true movie star, and to me, it kind of said, You Welsh people are allowed<\/em>. He was, like, I\u2019m gonna go to Hollywood. I\u2019ll conquer it on my own terms. And he did.<\/p>\n

Then, obviously, you had Anthony Hopkins. His acting abilities are beyond. Ironically, Hopkins grew up around the corner from Burton, in a small town, Port Talbot. And then we all kind of followed suit. Michael Sheen went; we all went. We\u2019re like, O.K., we\u2019re allowed, we can go. It gave me a kind of secret confidence that I\u2019ve always thanked him for.<\/p>\n

Most Americans don\u2019t know a lot about Wales. What do people misunderstand?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019re the smallest Celtic country. Scotland and Ireland have always had incredibly robust heritage, storytelling, and literature. We were, like, the little engine that almost couldn\u2019t. It does a number of things. It gives you small-country syndrome. It gives a massive chip on your shoulder. But, also, the second you start thinking you\u2019re, as they say, above your station, God help you. Because you always appreciate those who succeed with modesty and a kind of humbleness, I think.<\/p>\n

I was watching your old movies in preparation for this. I couldn\u2019t find the Julie Taymor movie \u201cTitus,\u201d which was frustrating.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, that was a huge moment for me, getting to work with Hopkins. And to watch him do that performance in Rome, and to still see his insecurities, that was kind of sobering.<\/p>\n

How so? He talked about feeling insecure about it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, because he hadn\u2019t done Shakespeare in, oh, a decade or more. And if you\u2019ve read his book, he talks very openly about his turbulent relationship with theatre\u2014specifically the English theatre, the National Theatre\u2014and how acrimonious it was when he left. You know, there\u2019s some things that just put a hook in you and never leave you. And sometimes a role will present itself that can bring those up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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If you could only do either theatre, film, or TV, what would you do?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh, that\u2019s a very hard question. I mean, I haven\u2019t been onstage in about sixteen years. Last year, that was, like\u2014 I\u2019ve never felt terror like it. To do a one-man show as your first act after sixteen years was the dumbest thing I\u2019ve ever done. But I realized how much I love it. I absolutely loved<\/em> being on stage.<\/p>\n

But I do love television. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I was raised on film, but what I love about television is the true luxury of time\u2014this sweeping real estate of being able to develop a character over a season and, God forbid, seasons! \u201cThe Americans\u201d was something I’ll never experience again. And to have that over six seasons, the challenges within it and the variety within it\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0. The writing!<\/em><\/p>\n

Have you seen what\u2019s happening online? There\u2019s a Twitter craze going on where people pull up clips from \u201cThe Americans,\u201d I think because of the popularity of \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay.\u201d So there\u2019s an analysis of the tiniest elements of the show\u2014it\u2019s very gratifying.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I might have a peek on Twitter, chime in.<\/p>\n

Whenever I hear you talk about it, it does sound like you want to do theatre.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I definitely do. I\u2019d love to do \u201cPlaying Burton\u201d again. And there\u2019s this Welsh version of \u201cBraveheart\u201d that I have been struggling to get made for about fifteen years. It\u2019s the story of the last Welsh prince called Owain Glynd\u0175r, or Owen Glendower as he\u2019s known in the Shakespeare play.<\/p>\n

Do you feel like a New Yorker?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I do, I do. Weirdly. Yes, I do. And when, I don\u2019t know if you\u2019ve seen that meme\u2014and forgive me, popular culture isn\u2019t my forte.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s J. Lo.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, that\u2019s her\u2014where you\u2019re not a New Yorker if you\u2019re not born here? And I was, like, O.K., but I\u2019ve been here eighteen years now. And when the Knicks won, the celebrations made me feel like a New Yorker. There\u2019s this one incredible guy going \u201cmy mayor is Muslim\u201d\u2014who is he?<\/p>\n

It was a random guy\u2014but, also, connected to a brand. So some people got pissed off about that, but it was still great. \u201cMy mayor Muslim, my bagel Jewish, my Christian Dior, Knicks in four.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

What brand was it?<\/p>\n

A sports drink or something? I\u2019m sorry, I ruined the meme for you.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t matter because regardless, it is true to his prophecy. And I felt an inherent pride in that, that we do live in this beautifully diverse city.<\/p>\n

Do you still audition?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, I do, I just went\u2014the year before last.<\/p>\n

How do you feel about the audition process?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s horrible. It’s still<\/em> horrible. I knew it was good\u2014and I was really glad I did it because it humbled me again. I didn\u2019t get a job, I felt shitty and it made me hungry and angry again and I said, Fuck you<\/em>, I will work eight times as hard now for the next job. It\u2019s good to be humiliated. Not in\u2014I\u2019m sorry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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No, I know what you mean!<\/strong><\/p>\n

It lit a fire again. Like, with a lot of actors, it\u2019s \u201coffer only.\u201d But, if you want something, audition for it. The director\u2019s not sure you can do it? Prove to him that you can! I couldn\u2019t. But next time I will.<\/p>\n

I know that you met with the Broccolis about James Bond, a long while back. Are there big roles you missed?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, the one I auditioned for\u2014my agents would probably kill me for saying this\u2014it was the Bob Dylan movie. Not for Chalamet\u2019s role; for Ed Norton\u2019s. So when I found out Ed Norton got it, I was, like, Oh, O.K., fine\u2014that felt much better.<\/p>\n

I can completely see you playing that.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh, thanks. Yeah, it still hurts.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d read that you have this Welsh slogan: \u201cJust keep hitting, and the rock will break\u201d? Is that what you\u2019re talking about?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cDyfal donc a dyr y garreg<\/em>,\u201d yeah. That\u2019s the one I used to say to my son when he gets frustrated. You just gotta keep chipping away at the rock.<\/p>\n

Where does that come from?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a very old Welsh proverb. The other one is \u201cYou were born with two ears and one mouth, so listen twice as much as you speak.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tell me about eating that chicken in \u201cThe Beast in Me.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ah, I loved it. I tell you who I think eats incredibly well onscreen, is Brad Pitt. Because no one really eats onscreen anymore. And it\u2019s a bug of mine. So, I\u2019m always, like, if you eat, you have to commit one hundred per cent. So yeah, I just starved myself all day and they cooked these beautiful roast chickens. I was, like, This isn\u2019t a problem for me! I\u2019ll go as many times as you want! So, yeah, I enjoyed it. What I enjoy is an opportunity to try and say something visually, in a subtler way. It was a stage direction.<\/p>\n

Just \u201ceats a whole chicken\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was an active word that you wouldn\u2019t associate eating a chicken with. Not \u201cravenously\u201d\u2014more eloquent.<\/p>\n

And what did it get across?<\/strong><\/p>\n

That he\u2019s unafraid to eat that way in front of her. He\u2019s, like, \u201cI don’t fucking care you\u2019re watching me eat this in the way I am\u2014I\u2019m unapologetic.\u201d And there\u2019s something a little animal to it.\u00a0\u2666<\/p>\n

Read more Why the Odyssey Keeps Defeating Filmmakers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Emily Nussbaum talks with the star of \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d about the series\u2019 emotional season finale, his formative love for Richard Burton, and the subtle power of scarfing a whole chicken onscreen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-new-yorker-interview"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Matthew Rhys Stays Hungry - City Relocation News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=618\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Matthew Rhys Stays Hungry - 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