Culture

Matthew Rhys makes Emmy history with record-breaking double win

15 Sep 2026 3 minute read

Matthew Rhys stars in Widow’s Bay (Credit: Apple TV)

Nation.Cymru Staff

Welshman Matthew Rhys has made history as the first actor to win two Emmys in the same year for lead actor performances.

Rhys first took the stage at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards for his role in The Beast in Me, a critically acclaimed Netflix miniseries in which he plays the main character’s mysterious real estate mogul neighbour.

Accepting the Emmy, Rhys let out an “Oh, good grief,” before joking that he would stab anyone who tried to taunt him in the eyes with his new award. The golden statuette features a woman with pointed wings holding an atom.

“This is a real shock, not least because of the calibre and company of the actors in this category,” Rhys said of his fellow nominees, Riz Ahmed, Jason Bateman, Charlie Hunnam and Oscar Isaac.

He thanked the show’s writers for bringing out “the beast in all of us”, before thanking his co-star Claire Danes, an “intimidating scene partner” to whom he was “very grateful”.

As well as the win for Best Lead Actor in a Limited Series, the 51-year-old was also up for the Best Lead Actor in a Comedy for the supernatural comedy Apple TV series Widow’s Bay, which he duly won later in the night.

The Emmy’s crowd got to their feet to give Rhys a deserved standing ovation, which he waved off, with his wife Keri Russell cheering from the crowd.

In his second speech, Rhys thanked the show’s “genius” creator Katie Dippold and director Hiro Murai, the show’s crew, his family and “the great and good people of Wales, who were as much a nurturer as anyone else”.

“We are a small but mighty nation,” Rhys said. “This is incredible. Diolch yn fawr iawn, thank you very much!”

As well as his history-making double lead actor win, the awards completed another record for Rhys as, with his 2018 Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama, he is now the first actor to win in the three lead actor categories.

Backstage Rhys added: “The celebrations will be long, varied and, I hope, at times wild. It’s incredible, it certainly hasn’t sunk in. I’m stumbling for words because I don’t have them at the moment. I really can’t quite believe it.

“I’m just glad… I’m from a small country, and I’m glad we get moments to put our flag in the map and say, ‘we punch higher than our weight sometimes in Wales’.”

Rhys’s wins were not the only ones scooped up by Widow’s Bay, which took 14 of the 19 awards it was nominated for at the Emmys.

Both Katie Dippold and Hiro Murai won for best writing and best directing respectively, and Rhys’s co-stars Kate O’Flynn and Stephen Root won for their supporting roles.

Widow’s Bay, which remains one of Apple TV’s most streamed series, and was renewed for a second series on 11 June 2026.

Matt Cherniss, head of programming at Apple TV, commented: “From the moment audiences arrived in Widow’s Bay, they’ve been hooked on every eerie mystery, unexpected laugh and cursed secret that Katie, Hiro, Matthew and the entire team have created.

“It’s become one of those shows everyone’s talking about, and we’re thrilled to see audiences continue to embrace it. We can’t wait to return for another season.”

Llongyfarchiadau Matthew!

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