Matthew Rhys: 'I Still Can't Believe It' at Historic Emmys

On the night of September 14 into 15, at the 78th Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, Matthew Rhys did something no actor before him had ever done. He won two lead acting Emmys on the same night, for two completely different performances, becoming the first man in the history of the award to hold all three major acting honors at once: drama, comedy and limited series.

He was first named best actor in a comedy series for his role in “Widow’s Bay” on Apple TV. Later that same night he picked up the Emmy for lead actor in a limited series, for “The Beast in Me” on Netflix. Combined with the award he won back in 2018 for the drama “The Americans,” the Welsh actor now has a complete set, all three major lead acting categories tied to one name.

”I Still Can’t Quite Believe It”

Ahead of the ceremony, Rhys spoke to reporters about what the nominations meant to him.

“It’s all you dream about. And then, when it happens, you still can’t quite believe it,” the actor said.

After his win for “Widow’s Bay,” he thanked, in his words, “the great and good people of Wales who have nurtured me as much as anybody. We’re a small but mighty nation. This is unbelievable.” Speaking to reporters after that award, he admitted he felt “a little giddy and a bit dazed,” and that he still needed to sit down and process everything that had happened. His second win, for “The Beast in Me,” caught him even more off guard. He said he had not expected to win at all, and that it showed in his acceptance speech, which he himself described as a jumble of words.

In that category Rhys beat the heaviest favorite, Oscar Isaac for “Beef,” along with fellow nominees Riz Ahmed for “Bait,” Jason Bateman for “Black Rabbit” and Charlie Hunnam for “Monster: The Ed Gein Story.” In comedy, he came out ahead of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II for “Wonder Man,” Steve Carell for “Rooster,” Jason Segel for “Shrinking” and Martin Short for “Only Murders in the Building.”

The only person before Rhys, regardless of gender, to have won awards in all three major acting categories was Barbara Stanwyck, between 1961 and 1983, a period when the split between drama and comedy categories did not yet exist in its current form.

Widow’s Bay Breaks the Record

“Widow’s Bay,” the series in which Rhys plays a ship captain obsessed with a theory about a curse on the island, closed its season with 14 Emmy wins in total, counting those handed out at the Creative Arts Emmys earlier in the week. No comedy series had ever collected that many awards in a single season.

At the main ceremony, the show picked up six statuettes: outstanding comedy series, lead actor for Rhys, supporting actress for Kathryn O’Flynn, supporting actor for Stephen Root, writing for Katie Dippold, and directing for Hiro Murai.

Root, who is 74, admitted his first thought was that there had been a mistake when he heard his name called.

“I’m going to put it right next to my wife’s father’s Golden Globe, in our office, right beside it,” said the actor, who has been married to Romy Rosemont since 2008.

He added that he was especially moved by the attention the show received from both the Academy and audiences.

Culkin: “We Will Never Forget Her”

The ceremony opened with Macaulay Culkin, known for playing Kevin in “Home Alone,” delivering an emotional tribute to Catherine O’Hara, the actress who played his mother in the film. O’Hara died in January of this year, at 72, from a pulmonary embolism, with cancer as the underlying illness.

“I could describe Catherine with a lot of words. She was inspiring, warm, funny. But the first word that comes to mind is ‘mom.’ She wasn’t just a wife and mother to Beau, Matthew and Luke, she was my mom too,” Culkin said from the stage.

He closed his speech by adding: “She may have forgotten me, twice, but we will never forget her.” His tribute was joined by her former “Schitt’s Creek” co-stars. Annie Murphy spoke about her unmistakable laugh, while Dan Levy noted that O’Hara had taught him to always say “yes” in life and in work. Their remarks led into the traditional In Memoriam segment, during which Noah Kahan performed “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

Other Big Winners

The medical drama “The Pitt” was named outstanding drama series for the second year running, and Noah Wyle won lead actor in a drama for the second consecutive year as well. With 25 nominations, “The Pitt” led this year’s field, ahead of “Hacks,” “Widow’s Bay” and “Beef.”

Rhea Seehorn, long a critical favorite thanks to “Better Call Saul” and long without a win of her own, finally took home her first Emmy, for lead actress in a drama for “Pluribus.” Tom Pelphrey won for his supporting role in “The Pitt,” and Allison Janney won for her supporting role in “The Diplomat.”

Jean Smart won lead actress in a comedy for the fifth year in a row, for her role as Deborah Vance in the fifth and final season of “Hacks,” making her the first woman to win an acting Emmy for every season of a series. Alongside Allison Janney, who also picked up her eighth acting Emmy, she tied Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Cloris Leachman for the most acting wins.

“DTF St. Louis” was named outstanding limited series, with seven wins in total, including supporting acting honors for David Harbour and Linda Cardellini. Sally Field won lead actress in a limited series for “Remarkably Bright Creatures,” while the lead actor statuette in that category, as noted above, went to Matthew Rhys.

This year’s ceremony was hosted by Mariska Hargitay.