Who is Matthew Rhys? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: Matthew Rhys Evans

Age: 49 Years, 49 Year Old Males

Family:

father: Glyn Evans

mother: Helen Evans

siblings: Rachel Evans

children: Sam Evans

Partner: Keri Russell (2014–)

Born Country: Wales

Actors Welsh Men

Height: 5'11" (180 cm), 5'11" Males

City: Cardiff, Wales

More Facts

education: Royal Academy Of Dramatic Art

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Career

While Matthew Rhys was still a student at RADA, he was cast in both the BBC show ‘Backup’ and the Marc Evans’ film ‘House of America’. He made his screen debut in an episode of ‘Backup’ in 1997. He later came back to Cardiff to appear in the Welsh film, ‘Bydd yn Wrol’ (Be Brave). For his performance, Rhys earned a Best Actor accolade at the Bafta Cymru (Welsh BAFTAs).

He travelled to New Zealand in January 1998 to work on a colonial costume drama called ‘Greenstone’. He essayed the role of Demetrius in ‘Titus’, the 1999 cinematic adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘Titus Andronicus’. That year, he portrayed Ray in Peter Hewitt's directorial venture, ‘Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?’ When he got back to Wales, he shared screen space with veteran actor Jonathan Pryce in two back-to-back films, ‘The Testimony of Taliesin Jones’ (2000) and Sara Sugarman's comedy ‘Very Annie Mary’ (2001). Besides Rhys and Pryce, the latter film also starred Rachel Griffiths, who worked with Rhys again in ‘Brothers & Sisters’.

In the 2000 miniseries ‘Metropolis’, he portrayed the lead protagonist Matthew Bishop. He also worked in the film adaptation of Nick Grosso’s play ‘Peaches’ in 2000. In the 2000 stage adaptation of ‘The Graduate’, he was cast as Benjamin. The play was produced at The Gielgud Theatre in London's West End.

He went to Ireland to work in the romantic comedy adventure film ‘The Abduction Club’ (2002). In the 2003 animated adventure film ‘Y Mabinogi’, he voiced the character Lleu Llaw Gyffes. That year, he played the murderer Justin Price in the series finale of ABC’s long-running detective fiction series ‘Columbo’. He worked with the late Brittany Murphy in the independent feature ‘Love and Other Disasters’ (2006) and portrayed the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas in the 2008 biographical romance drama ‘The Edge of Love’.

When Rhys landed the role of lawyer Kevin Walker in the ABC family drama ‘Brothers & Sisters’ (2006-11), he decided to relocate to Santa Monica. In 2012, he played John Jasper in BBC Two’s ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood’, a miniseries based on Charles Dickens’ final, unfinished novel of the same name. Rhys starred opposite Eileen Atkins in the 2012 big-screen adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's 1957 novel, ‘The Scapegoat’. He also played Jimmy Porter in an Off-Broadway production of John Osbourne’s realist play ‘Look Back in Anger’. In 2015, he guest-starred in the adult animated series ‘Archer’, voicing a character named Lloyd Llewellyn. He portrayed the renowned writer Daniel Ellsberg in the 2017 film ‘The Post’.

He acted in the FX period spy thriller ‘The Americans’ (2013-18) that is about two Soviet KGB agents, Elizabeth (Keri Russell) and Philip Jennings (Rhys), who assimilate into American society as a married couple with two children. The show garnered widespread critical acclaim and was one of the most popular shows on television during its original run. Nominated four times, Rhys finally won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2018 for his performance in the show.

Rhys played John Lockwood in Netflix’s ‘Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle’ in 2018. He shared screen space with Ann Skelly and Jamie Dornan in Allan Cubitt’s miniseries ‘Death and Nightingales’ (2018). Rhys is set to star in the upcoming biographical drama ‘A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood’.

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Family & Personal Life

Born on November 4, 1974, in Cardiff, Wales, Matthew Rhys is the son of Helen and Glyn Evans. He has an older sister named Rachel, who is a BBC broadcast journalist. He studied at middle schools Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Melin Gruffydd (in Whitchurch, Cardiff) and Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf (in Llandaff North, Cardiff). In 1993, he received the Patricia Rothermere Scholarship.

At 17, he was cast as Elvis Presley in a school musical and later successfully applied to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. Rachel, his older sister, was also a student there.

He started dating actress Keri Russell, who starred opposite him in ‘The Americans’, in 2014. In May 2016, their son Sam was born. The family currently resides in Brooklyn, New York, United States.

Matthew Rhys Biography