As for many of us, actor Matthew Rhys first popped up on my radar back in 2013 due to his co-starring role in The Americans (a TV show which, incidentally, has been enshrined in Pop Thruster’s best 100 TV shows ever).
Rhys has an undeniable presence and gravitas about him, which makes him an interesting actor even when he’s not speaking or moving (sidenote that Keri Russell, Rhys’ comrade-in-crime as Soviet spy sleeper cell agents in The Americans, shares similar qualities).
What also made his Philip Jennings so compelling is that he was far less the true believer versus Russell’s Elizabeth. He enjoyed the upside of capitalism and the American way of life circa the ‘80s, and increasingly went along with the entire spy game program out of devotion to Elizabeth or perhaps the inertia his life had accumulated.
So much of it was unsaid with Philip – Rhys sold it with his slightly haunted yet stoic manner.
Rhys quickly joined the group of actors that I deem worthy of watching in anything, and he hasn’t disappointed me since. His presence on a Season 6 episode of Girls, “American Bitch,” might be my single favorite of that series’ entire run. It’s something of a bottle episode that mainly features Lena Dunham’s Hannah Horvath and Rhys as writer Chuck Palmer.
Dunham is excellent as Hannah (a fact that often gets lost in the endless debates about Dunham and Girls) and Rhys puts on an acting clinic as an intelligent dude who is charming, manipulative, self-pitying, and possibly sinister.
Which brings us to Widow’s Bay, a star vehicle for Rhys and yet another outstanding recent show produced by Apple TV. Quoting from my recent piece heralding the many unique charms of the show:
What’s holding it all together is star Matthew Rhys as the town’s mayor, Tom Loftis. Rhys is fantastic in everything, and he’s spectacular here as a guy desperate to bring tourism to his sleepy little island (no cell phone reception!) while it’s increasingly obvious that, wait, no – everyone should abandon this island.
Rhys has a naturally stoic demeanor that is a delight to watch slowly disintegrate under the weight of mounting pressure. In Widow’s Bay, it’s often deployed to generate genuine hard laughs or fright from the audience (it’s that kind of show, trust me), whereas on The Americans, we see the weariness of holding together a secret, double life weighing on him even as those around him see only what he projects in the moment.
Not every TV show that Matthew Rhys appears in is completely successful.
I was thrilled when I learned that Rhys and Claire Danes were to co-star in a Netflix limited series called The Beast in Me. But overall, it turned out to be one of the many Netflix projects that turn out to be just kind of fine – shows seemingly designed to be consumed while you fold the laundry or glance at your phone idly, it seems.
However, Rhys and Danes are both really good in it, even if each character feels amalgamated from past shows both are well known for – a more sinister Philip Jennings from The Americans for Rhys and Danes’ textbook rattled smart woman under distress (see: Homeland).
Turning back to Widow’s Bay, while it’s a joy to watch how often Rhys’ stoic vibes are played for laughs, it only enhances how great of an actor he is overall. There’s also a core likability about him – which The Beast in Me didn’t make use of as it should have – that makes us root for his character. Without spoiling one sequence overly much, Loftis takes a very promising tourist on a date, and it becomes both harrowing and hilarious simply because we desperately want this fictional small town mayor to find a nice lady to settle down with.
One more quick note on Rhys’ stellar acting ability: the accent. Matthew Rhys hails from Wales, and he’s got a heavy Welsh accent to native speakers of American English. I point this out to convey that Rhys has one of the best American accents delivered by a non-U.S. native that I’ve ever heard. And it’s all the more remarkable that he pulls this off across roles that span multiple years and seasons – 75 episodes in the case of The Americans, for example.
If there’s any bit of tension whatsoever relating to Rhys’ television career at the moment, it’s that fans are on a knife’s edge waiting to see if Widow’s Bay will be renewed for a second season on Apple TV, or if it’s intended to be a limited series.
In the meantime, new episodes are being released each Wednesday, with the season scheduled to wrap up (in what will no doubt be hilarious frightening fashion) on June 17th.