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Matthew Rhys and Mari Lwyd. Credit: Urdd Derwyddon M\u00f4n<\/p>\n Matthew Rhys and Mari Lwyd. Credit: Urdd Derwyddon M\u00f4n<\/p>\n
Stephen Price<\/p>\n
Matthew Rhys has flown the flag for Wales during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, introducing American audiences to some of Wales\u2019 most beloved traditions.<\/p>\n
The Emmy award-winning actor, who was born in Cardiff, joined Fallon, whose talk show is one of the USA\u2019s most-watched programmes, to discuss his \u2018creepy\u2019 role in the series The Beast in Me and how he drew inspiration from The Silence of the Lambs for his role in the show.<\/p>\n
As well as giving Fallon an inside scoop on the Netflix drama, which is currently riding high in the streaming giant\u2019s top ten, he also took time to discuss some of the Welsh traditions he\u2019s introduced to his partner, Keri Russell, who he met while the two starred in hit TV show, The Americans.<\/p>\n
After discussing Keri, Fallon asks: \u201cIs there any Welsh traditions that you\u2019ve kind of brought into the family, the relationship?\u201d<\/p>\n
To which Matthew replies: \u201cSome might say too much!\u201d<\/p>\n
Referring to Saint David\u2019s Day, he continues: \u201cWell, March the first is the \u2018Welsh Saint Patty\u2019s Day\u2019, so I usually insist that we eat kind of lamb and leeks and things like that. We have a leek eating competition. We wear daffodils.<\/p>\n
With tongue in cheek, he adds: \u201cYou know, I insist that the children have coal in their Christmas stockings, which is a luxury item in Wales. Um, there\u2019s that one.\u201d<\/p>\n
On to one of Wales\u2019 most beloved traditions, he shared: \u201cBut the Welsh have a tradition, it\u2019s a very old tradition, of carving lovespoons for their loved ones or their betrothed. So I carved Keri a lovespoon for one of her big birthdays.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
After this, Jimmy asked Matthew if there were any traditions involving livestock, to which he answered: \u201cWell, sadly, you have to wait till one of the animals dies. But on New Year\u2019s Eve it\u2019s called in Welsh \u2018the Fari Lwyd\u2019 or \u2018the Grey Mary\u2019, where a horse\u2019s head is draped with a cloak.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then a group of people will wassail, they go wassailing from from house to house, singing outside and asking to be let in and kind of be given kind of, you know, wine and food, basically.<\/p>\n
Jimmy asks: \u201cSo people are walking around holding a horse\u2019s head?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the first of January, yes. A dead horse\u2019s head with a white cape. Usually there\u2019s ribbons and bells that go with it. And there are small groups of people. Look, you know, television and electricity were late getting to us, so this was a major form of entertainment. And you go up and you ring the doorbell. You ring the doorbell\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Welsh have a bold statement in that we sort of pretend that we invented rap, because it\u2019s basically what it is, the Druidic tradition of hammering staves and kind of doing, you know, rap battles basically. It\u2019s where it originated.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou would sing a verse, and then someone on the other side of the door would sing a verse back as to why they shouldn\u2019t let you in. Then you\u2019d sing another verse, like, you should let us in because this song is so great. Give us some, you know, some Christmas merriment\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cYou basically convince the person on the other side of the door to let you in and feed and drink.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/NationCymru-18.jpg\")
Claire Danes and Matthew Rhys in \u2018The Beast in Me\u2019. Image: Netflix<\/p>\n
After flying the flag for Welsh culture, Matthew Rhys told Jimmy more about his role in one of this year\u2019s most highly anticipated thrillers, The Beast In Me.<\/p>\n
The tense thriller sees Matthew Rhys and Claire Danes playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse in the new eight-episode drama from creator Gabe Rotter, who previously worked on The X-Files.<\/p>\n
Danes plays Aggie Wiggs, a grieving writer; Rhys plays Nile Jarvis, her new neighbor and possible murderer. But who is the monster? And who\u2019s the bad neighbour? That\u2019s another story.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The Beast in Me focuses on acclaimed author Aggie Wiggs (Danes), who has receded from public life since the tragic death of her young son, finding herself unable to write and a ghost of her former self.<\/p>\n
Danes\u2019 character finds an unlikely subject for a new book when the house next door is bought by Nile Jarvis (Rhys), a famed and formidable real estate mogul who was once the prime suspect in his wife\u2019s disappearance.<\/p>\n
At once horrified and fascinated by this man, Aggie finds herself compulsively hunting for the truth \u2013 chasing his demons while fleeing her own in a game of cat and mouse that might turn deadly.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/NationCymru-19.jpg\")
Matthew Rhys in \u2018The Beast in Me\u2019. Image: Netflix<\/p>\n
November is shaping up to be a busy month for Matthew Rhys, as he is set to take to the stage to play Richard Burton to raise funds for Welsh National Theatre.<\/p>\n
The Welsh actor is set to return to the London stage for the first time in 21 years to play Richard Burton at The Old Vic. The iconic venue has ties to the late star\u2019s early success and has been added as an extra date to the Welsh run of Playing Burton to meet popular demand.<\/p>\n
The performances will run in Welsh theatres from 16 to 28 November 2025, including Cardigan, Wrexham, Cardiff, Aberystwyth, Bangor, and Swansea, and culminate at Bethel Chapel Caf\u00e9 in Burton\u2019s birthplace of Pontrhydyfen.<\/p>\n
The acclaimed one-man play is being revived to mark the centenary since Richard Burton\u2019s birth, raising funds for Michael Sheen\u2019s new Welsh National Theatre<\/p>\n
The Beast in Me is currently streaming on Netflix<\/p>\n
Support our Nation today<\/p>\n
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\n the people of Wales.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Matthew Rhys and Mari Lwyd. Credit: Urdd Derwyddon M\u00f4n Stephen Price Matthew Rhys has flown the flag for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-267944","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-tv","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}