{"id":539756,"date":"2026-07-08T19:42:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T19:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/539756\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T19:42:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T19:42:11","slug":"emmy-nominee-matthew-rhys-challenges-studios-take-the-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/539756\/","title":{"rendered":"Emmy nominee Matthew Rhys challenges studios: ‘Take the risk’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Maybe there is something in the fog. Matthew Rhys<\/a> landed two Emmy nominations<\/a> in different categories for darkly comedic and darkly chilling turns this TV season.<\/p>\n

Rhys is nominated for lead actor in a comedy series for his deft performance as Tom Loftis, a single dad and the mayor of a cursed New England island who is trying to balance the town\u2019s supernatural threats with his efforts to boost tourism, in Apple\u2019s TV\u2019s breakout horror-comedy series \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay.\u201d<\/a> The word-of-mouth buzz around the series, which premiered in April, intensified each week leading up to its finale last month and prompted chatter around its prospects as a major Emmys contender. The series arrived late in the season, so only its first seven episodes qualify for the 2026 awards cycle, but that was enough for Rhys is nab a nod. <\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t the only performance from Rhys that voters boosted. He is also nominated for lead actor in a limited or anthology series for his role as the sociopath Nile Jarvis, a famed and formidable real estate developer who once was the prime suspect in the killing of his wife, in Netflix\u2019s \u201cThe Beast in Me.\u201d Nile finds himself in a cat-and-mouse dynamic with his new neighbor (Claire Danes), an author in search of her next book subject who is suspicious of his innocence.<\/p>\n

Prior to this year\u2019s nominations, Rhys received five Emmy nominations over his career, including for his lead roles in \u201cThe Americans\u201d and \u201cPerry Mason,\u201d as well as a guest actor nod in \u201cGirls.\u201d He won in 2018 for his role as KGB spy Philip Jennings in \u201cThe Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Times spoke with Rhys about his nomination; these are edited excerpts.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Matthew Rhys as Mayor Tom Loftis in Apple TV\u2019s \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Apple)<\/p>\n

Congratulations on your exciting morning \u2014 it\u2019s a big day in the Rhys-Russell household [Keri Russell, Rhys\u2019 partner, is nominated for lead actress in a drama for her role in \u201cThe Diplomat\u201d]. Let\u2019s start with the most important question: What\u2019s in the fog, Matthew?<\/p>\n

[laughs] I love how it took me a moment. I was like, \u201cWait, what?\u201d Oh, yes, the fog! What\u2019s in the fog is an incredible Season 2.<\/p>\n

Place me in the moment when you got the news.<\/p>\n

I was in Brooklyn Bridge Marina at the time. I just got off a boat, and I thought, \u201cOh, God, it\u2019s 11:40.\u201d So I thought quite possibly [they] got to our categories. I checked my phone and there were the many texts. That was the exciting moment because if you haven\u2019t been nominated, there\u2019s no text.<\/p>\n

Did one text stand out from the others?<\/p>\n

The real pinch-me moment \u2014 this is going to sound like a real name drop \u2014 but it really got me emotional because I thought, if I\u2019d have told my 18-year-old self that Gary Oldman would text me to congratulate me, I wouldn\u2019t have believed it. That\u2019s when it got me in an emotional way because he\u2019s such a true hero.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay,\u201d which recently wrapped its first season. There\u2019s something so thrilling about how it broke through the way that it did. What has struck you about how viewers responded to this horror comedy?<\/p>\n

There was a great degree of nervousness about how this would land, whether indeed it would land at all, and the fact that it has, and kind of the depth and the complex nature that\u2019s landed or resonated with people in different ways, is what I\u2019ve loved. Some people go, \u201cOh my God, it\u2019s so funny\u201d; some people say, \u201cOh my God, it\u2019s terrifying\u201d \u2014 some people say both. And some people pick up on the weirdest things, and then some people pick up on the most obvious, great things. But it\u2019s the length and breadth and the variety of its resonances that has really made me very happy, and really made me doff my cap to [creator] Katie Dippold<\/a>, for what she did.<\/p>\n

What should networks and studios take away from the success of \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d if they are really paying attention?<\/p>\n

Take the risk. And challenge audiences. Everyone\u2019s more than ready for it and thirsty for it in a real way. I really hope this does something in the Hollywood psyche, where they go, \u201cLet\u2019s put away the remakes and let\u2019s just get after new challenging, original material.\u201d<\/p>\n

What guidance did you get from Katie about who Tom was and how to play him?<\/p>\n

She\u2019s dizzyingly collaborative, so she said, \u201cTom is yours.\u201d It was more me going, \u201cBut what about this for Tom?\u201d She would help, but she really said, \u201cTom is yours to create now. Everything I\u2019ve done is on the page.\u201d And it was. That\u2019s the beauty of her writing. If you\u2019re true to it, and you don\u2019t get in the way of it, it sings. <\/p>\n

The way Tom reacts to situations and people is such a master class in facial expressions. Did you recognize that would be your tool for your performance early on?<\/p>\n

We had a kind of sliding scale \u2014 Hiro [Murai, executive producer and director], myself and Katie \u2014 because it was a departure for me. I\u2019d go, \u201cI don\u2019t know where this lives or where reality lives.\u201d And as much as anyone can say, \u201cPlay for real\u201d \u2014 playing it for real can mean many things. It can mean a very minimal reaction, and it can mean a great reaction, and so there were times when I was like, \u201cI\u2019m gonna hit the sliding scale, and you let me know where it should be landing, or where, in your opinion, it\u2019s landing in a real way.\u201d Sometimes they were like, \u201cMaybe a little less,\u201d and then they were like \u201cMaybe a little more.\u201d That element of collaboration was was wonderful, too. <\/p>\n

The moment on the boat is a GIF I send often. The jolt. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s funny, we have a great and incredible stunt coordinator Paul [Marini]. He said, \u201cYou have to lead where the momentum of the energy would be; it\u2019d be your hips. So let your hips lead, and then let your body follow.\u201d And I was like, \u201cOh, that\u2019s smart.\u201d Then if you do that, then it has a degree of comic effect to it. But my pelvis hasn\u2019t quite recovered.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Matthew Rhys as Nile Jarvis opposite Claire Danes as Aggie Wiggs in Netflix\u2019s \u201cThe Beast in Me.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Netflix)<\/p>\n

Sort of like your dance moment in \u201cThe Beast in Me\u201d \u2014 lead with the hips. This is your thing, Matthew.<\/p>\n

Anytime, in the stage direction, it says \u201cdances,\u201d I\u2019m like [mimics vomit sound]. That strikes ice in my veins because I\u2019m always like, \u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s your horror comedy,<\/p>\n

That is my true horror comedy because my dancing can be horrific and comical when it is to be neither.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s talk about \u201cThe Beast in Me.\u201d Nile Jarvis was also quite the departure from you. What was your entry point to understanding him and figuring out how chilling to make him?<\/p>\n

It was a lot of YouTube watching, where you just type in \u201cpsychopaths\u201d and stuff comes up. I read Jon Ronson\u2019s \u201cThe Psychopath Test\u201d and \u201cThe Journalist and the Murderer\u201d [by Janet Malcolm]. The writing was so strong in \u201cThe Beast in Me,\u201d so much of Nile was preemptively done for me. As [director] Antonio Campos said, \u201cThe trick might be not to do too much because enough has been said.\u201d Everyone has this predisposed idea of who he is and, therefore, the idea we came up with was to do not as little as possible, but to be minimal with it because he\u2019s aware of what everyone thinks of him and there\u2019s a degree of enjoyment and relishing in that. <\/p>\n

Have you been able to sensibly eat a roast chicken since?<\/p>\n

No, not sensibly. It\u2019s become Pavlovian for me now. When I eat roast chicken, I devour it in a slightly psychotic way. I love that scene. It\u2019s an astute piece of writing to say so much about someone without words.<\/p>\n

What would you be best suited to achieve: rebranding the town of Widow\u2019s Bay as a tourist destination or charming your neighbors into signing paperwork for the construction of a running path through the backwoods of their properties?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not saying I could charm the neighbors, but I would attempt to charm the neighbors. Playing Tom was exhausting in a way that playing Nile wasn\u2019t. I always spent the end of the day on \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d going, \u201cMy God, I\u2019m exhausted\u201d \u2014 because you\u2019re just vibrating on a higher level with Tom. It\u2019s always like, \u201cListen, please!\u201d The pitch is always higher; you\u2019re always like, \u201cYou\u2019ve got to listen to me!\u201d Or if you\u2019re terrified, you\u2019re just hyperventilating.<\/p>\n

I know the news of these nominations is still fresh and I don\u2019t want to tell you how to approach the big night, but I just have to say, this could be the moment you take a page from Philip Jennings of \u201cThe Americans\u201d and come with a wig and getup so when they pan to you during both categories, you can make them feel distinct. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s exactly what I\u2019m going to do. I\u2019m going to Jennings it. I\u2019m going to PJ it. When it pans to me in the second category, I\u2019m gonna be gonna look completely different. I\u2019m going to be dressed as Elizabeth [Jennings].<\/p>\n

Well, congratulations. How do you think you and Keri are going to celebrate? <\/p>\n

Keri, in true \u201cAmericans\u201d style, is having me meet her in a clandestine spot that I don\u2019t know anything about, so who knows what. I don\u2019t know what the afternoon is going to unfold, but it\u2019s a big surprise. She might end up killing me, who knows. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Maybe there is something in the fog. Matthew Rhys landed two Emmy nominations in different categories for darkly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":539757,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[2410,936,17546,148088,229287,321,229284,93,61,60,229286,5399,14619,749,7330,25499,229288,208286,229285],"class_list":["post-539756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-americans","tag-apple","tag-bay","tag-beast","tag-breakout-horror-comedy-series","tag-celebrities","tag-emmy-acting-nomination","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-lead-actor","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-matthew-rhys","tag-role","tag-search","tag-series","tag-supernatural-threat","tag-tv-season","tag-widow"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=539756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/539757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}