Matthew Rhys Evans (born on 4 November 1974), known professionally as Matthew Rhys, stars as Philip Jennings in The Americans.
Background
Matthew Rhys was born and raised in Cardiff, Wales, UK, where through its positive encouragement for children to participate in performance arts, he shaped his dream of becoming an actor. Rhys is an accomplished film, stage, and television actor, as well as director and writer. He is most noted in his portrayal of poet Dylan Thomas in The Edge of Love, alongside Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller, and as Kevin Walker on the U.S. hit drama Brothers & Sisters.
Career
Rhys was trained at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, England, one of the oldest acting schools in the UK, and graduated with an acting diploma in 1996.
He has stated that he uses an acting technique called 'sense memory' where he recalls real feelings he's experienced in his past to place him in an emotional state that he needs to be. Rhys also comments that because of his heavy Welsh dialect, he has to commit 50% of himself to restrain his accent while leaving only 50% to truly perform in scenes.
Awards and Nominations
- In 1993, Rhys was awarded the Patricia Rothermere Scholarship during his attendance at RADA.
- He is the first recipient of the Lady Rothermere Award.
- For his portrayal of Dylan Thomas in the biopic The Edge of Love, he was nominated for BAFTA Cymru's Best Actor Award.
- For his role as Philip Jennings on The Americans, Rhys has been nominated for the Television Critics Association's Award for Individual Achievement in Drama since the series began: 2013, 2014, 2015.
- Also for his role on The Americans, Rhys has been nominated for The Critics' Choice Television Awards' Best Actor in a Drama Series for three consecutive years since the start of the show.
Trivia
Matthew Rhys benefits greatly in being part of the FX Network, as likewise. He has worked with Adam Reed and Matt Thompson as a guest star in the FX animated series Archer, in an episode that Rhys helped develop. The episode “Achub Y Morfilod” story credit read: “Story Inspired From A Rousing Tale By: Matthew Rhys” and stars Rhys as voice of a Welshman. He is also set to work with Kurt Sutter, creator of another FX show Sons of Anarchy, for his new series in the making called The Bastard Executioner, yet another FX show. Rhys would work on set in Wales, his homeland, and would have the luxury of using his Welsh dialect while acting.
Rhys is currently filming The Jungle Book: Origins (2017). He will be acting alongside Christian Bale, Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchett, and Andy Serkis. Serkis has previously worked with Rhys' The Americans co-star Keri Russell in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014).
Personal Life
In 2013, rumors began to circulate that he was in a relationship with his The Americans co-star Keri Russell, which became public the following year. In May 2016, the couple welcomed their first child together, a son named Sam.