American hero Matthew Rhys is proud to be Cardiff-born and bred
An American viewer who comes across the line-up of leading men nominated for the Welsh Baftas this month might be brought up short by one of the four names. Michael Sheen? Tick. Celyn Jones? Yes, certainly sounds Welsh. Sir Anthony Hopkins? No questions asked. But what about Matthew Rhys? He’s an A-lister in the US, where he won an Emmy last year, and many fans have no idea he was not raised on their side of the Atlantic.
But Rhys, 44, who co-stars with Tom Hanks in the very American film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, is in fact Cardiff born and bred. His surname is a clue, yet the actor’s mastery of accents, particularly in the awardwinning spy television series The Americans, has shaped his career, keeping him working largely in the US, where he first appeared in the popular series Brothers and Sisterswith Sally Field and Calista Flockhart.Fellow American cast members are not always happy, he told the Observer this weekend, when they discover he is Welsh. “I do get comments like, ‘When are you going back?’ and ‘Have you got leave to stay?’ It is all done under the guise of joking about it, but they are annoyed by it.”
Despite his proud Welsh identity, Rhys is now to play a major American fictional hero: Perry Mason. The actor has been cast as the crime-busting California lawyer in a major television reboot set and filmed in Los Angeles. The HBO show will go back to the 1932 setting of the original books by Erle Stanley Gardner, rather than pick up on the 1960s setting of the vintage black and white television series, starring Raymond Burr.
Before Mason becomes a defence lawyer, Rhys’s version will show him working as a low-rent private investigator, haunted by his wartime experiences and mourning a broken marriage.
The actor’s high profile in America now suits him domestically since he lives in New York with Keri Russell, his co-star in The Americans, and their young son. His Welsh Bafta nomination comes, however, for his recent British television appearance with Jamie Dornan in BBC2’s drama series Death and Nightingales. And he says that being professionally recognised for this in his native land means a lot to him: “You want the plaudits most from your hometown somehow. It’s there you want to prove yourself, so being nominated there is the greatest accolade, especially to be alongside Sir Tony, Celyn and Sheeny. That is a really rounded category.”
The wealth of Welsh acting talent on the market at the moment suggests a ratio per head that is now beaten only by the output of Eton College. How does Rhys explain the success of such a small country?
“There are a lot of us,” he agreed. “I think it is a perfect storm. For me, the inspiration was Richard Burton. I grew up watching his films and thinking, hey, there is this world-famous actor and he comes from Port Talbot! And Anthony Hopkins came next as the giant A-lister.”
Hopkins is also from the Port Talbot area, as is Sheen, but Rhys thinks the explanation lies in the culture, not the geography. “I’m sure I will get a rise taken out of me for this, but I think it is because of the bardic tradition and the Welsh storytelling tradition. Regardless of your schooling in Wales, you are all expected to take part in a festival, the Eisteddfod, that has poetry recital and music, as well as performance. It is not just encouraged, it is commonplace. And I love that fact. I know people who have gone on to work in business but say it really helped them with public speaking.”
Last November his friend Rhys Ifans, another Welsh star, was a leading signatory to a letter complaining when the National Theatre of Wales failed to cast Welsh actors. Although Rhys himself is guilty of often playing Americans, he feels the arguments for him are different.
“In America, I don’t feel I am robbing jobs from anyone, because of the vastness of the country. There is plenty to go round. But in Wales, and in a national company, I agree that they really should be looking to Welsh actors first,” he said.
Rhys also campaigned with Ifans last month to get more Welsh children inside cinemas. They both believe it is a good habit to form. “We have so many platforms now, but it still matters to have that different experience of watching a film with 100 other people at an early age, all gasping, or laughing or crying. Tarantino has been banging the drum about this recently, and we advocate it as well.”
Rhys’s new film with Hanks is his second, following his role in The Post as the whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. This time, in another story based on real life, Hanks portrays Fred Rogers, a well-known children’s television presenter in America. Rhys plays jaded Lloyd Vogel, a character based on Tom Junod, who wrote an acclaimed piece for Esquire magazine which inspired the film. It tells of five days he spent with Rogers and the profound effect it had on him.
“It was a time when journalists could still embed themselves with a subject for a while,” said Rhys. “Junod always felt you should be silent as an interviewer and let a personality reveal themselves, but he said he met his match in Rogers and found that he was the one opening up.”
Despite his busy Hollywood work schedule, Rhys said that he hopes to be offered a leading part in a West End play. “That would be the dream,” he said. And he could play American or Welsh. The British Academy Cymru Awards will be heldin Cardiff on 13 October
Other Welsh stars
Jonathan Pryce, 72
Born in Flintshire, the star of Brazil will soon be seen withAnthony Hopkinsin The Two Popes.
Christian Bale, 45
Born in Haverfordwest, he has played both Batman and Dick Cheney. Catherine Zeta-Jones, 50
Queen of Hollywood and Swansea Bay.
Siân Phillips, 86
Theatre royalty, born near Neath, recently starred in the BBC’s Strike.
Rhys Ifans, 52
Haverfordwest born. Soon to be seen as the Observer’s Ed Vulliamy in Official Secrets.
Ioan Gruffudd, 45
Born near Aberdare, starred in Fantastic Four.