Wales ‘punches far above its weight’ in producing world-leading actors
Following Matthew Rhys’ historic win at the 2026 Primetime Emmy Awards, a culture writer has asked why a nation of just over three million people “continues to punch far above its weight in the acting world”.
Freelance culture reporter Chris Bennion returned to the Telegraph, where he was Head of TV & Radio, on Sunday 4 October to explore ‘Why Wales might just be the greatest acting nation on Earth’.
Bennion, who was raised in north Wales, lists various Welsh actors who are “not just considered to be fine actors but exemplars of their profession”, including Richard Burton, Anthony Hopkins, Michael Sheen, Jonathan Pryce, Siân Phillips, Rhys Ifans, Luke Evans, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Ray Milland, Hugh Griffith, Taron Egerton, Stanley Baker, Ioan Gruffudd and, of course, Matthew Rhys.
Following Rhys’s explanation that many Welsh children are “kind of kicked on to a stage”, Bennion cites the importance of eisteddfodau, noting that, despite attending an English-language school, “I was left in no doubt by my teachers of the Eisteddfod’s importance”.
“By the time I had reached secondary school,” Bennion explains, “I had performed onstage half a dozen times and won a national poetry competition – all via my tiny rural primary school. England may have youth theatres and am-dram, but nothing that can compare to this.”
Rhys is among several Welsh performers who took part in eisteddfodau, including Iwan Rheon, Bryn Terfel, and Richard Burton, who snatched first place from his brother Graham at an eisteddfod in the 1930s.
Bennion posits that “The eisteddfodau act as an unofficial scouting system for Welsh theatrical talent, exposing Welsh youngsters to a brutal sink-or-swim test.”
The writer also suggests that while Wales’ bardic tradition and Burton’s childhood exposure to chapel preachers helped shape him as a performer, Burton himself went on to inspire “today’s crop of Welsh leading men”.
“He didn’t just walk the path; he blazed it,” Matthew Rhys said, while Michael Sheen noted that he had grown up building sandcastles on Aberavon Beach where “Burton and Taylor descended from the heavens”.
Burton, for whom the National Eisteddfod’s Richard Burton Award is named, also displayed great pride in his Welsh identity, and Bennion writes: “There is a sense among Welsh actors that when they perform on a national or global stage, they are ‘playing’ for Wales, just as the rugby players do when they pull on a red jersey.”
He adds: “For English actors there is a hesitation or a queasiness about linking their art to their nationality. You wouldn’t hear Benedict Cumberbatch clutching an award and claiming it for ‘mighty England’ for fear of raising spectres of Empire and the far-Right…”
“When Welsh actors hold their awards, it is a victory for Wales and a continuation of a centuries-old tradition that defines a nation.”
In conversation with Francesca Goodridge, Sherman Theatre’s Artistic Director, Bennion also notes the influence of community groups and emphasis on schemes to introduce young people to the arts.
Goodridge tells Bennion that, as well as Michael Sheen’s dedication to his craft, he has also made 300-mile round trips from Port Talbot to north Wales to work at Theatr Clwyd and provide opportunities for Welsh talent.
The writer notes: “This is a familiar sentiment when you speak to people about Sheen or Rhys, or about Welsh actors in general. A sense of professionalism, diligence and humility.”
Bennion concludes with Richard Burton’s quote: “Being no better and no worse than other nations, I do know that we are different and that we want to remain so.”
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