Matthew Rhys Won Two Emmys in One Night, So Which of His Shows Do You Watch First?
Two weeks ago, on Monday, September 14, Matthew Rhys did something no actor had done at the Emmys: he won two lead-acting awards on the same night. One was for limited series, for Netflix's The Beast in Me. The other was for comedy, for Apple TV's Widow's Bay. He already had a drama win from 2018, for The Americans.
Backstage he sounded like a man who had not processed any of it. "It certainly hasn't sunk, sunk in," he told ABC News. He was "stumbling for words, because I really don't have them at the moment."
That leaves a fan with three great shows and the question of where to start. Our answer: go light first, then dark, then long. Widow's Bay, then The Beast in Me, then The Americans. And yes, the best one goes last.
First: Widow's Bay
Katie Dippold's comedy horror series premiered on April 29, 2026, and it is the easiest door in. Rhys plays Tom Loftis, the skeptical mayor of a cursed island town off the New England coast, a place that has been dealing with supernatural afflictions for centuries. It is ten episodes, it sits at 98 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and it won 14 Emmys, including Outstanding Comedy Series, supporting wins for Stephen Root and Kate O'Flynn, a guest win for Betty Gilpin, and directing for Hiro Murai, who directed five episodes.
Why first? Because it shows you the range before the intensity. Rhys is funny here in a dry, put-upon way that his dramas never ask of him. It was renewed on June 11, so you will not be left hanging.
Second: The Beast in Me
This one is eight episodes and much colder. Claire Danes plays Aggie Wiggs, an author who starts writing a book about her new neighbour, Nile Jarvis, a real estate executive suspected of killing his first wife. Rhys is Jarvis. Created by Gabe Rotter with Howard Gordon as showrunner, it premiered on November 14, 2025.
Rhys was gracious about who drives it. On stage he said the show was "certainly led ferociously, fiercely, fervently by the incredible Claire Danes," and called her an "intimidating scene partner." Watch it now for a practical reason too: it was billed as a limited series, but it was renewed for a second season this month, with Danes returning.
Last, and best: The Americans
Joe Weisberg's spy drama ran on FX from 2013 to 2018, six seasons and 75 episodes. Rhys and Keri Russell play Philip and Elizabeth Jennings, KGB officers posing as an ordinary American married couple in Falls Church, Virginia, raising kids who do not know what their parents are, with an FBI counterintelligence agent living next door.
It goes last because it is the big commitment and the big reward. The finale, "START", won Weisberg and Joel Fields the Emmy for drama writing, and critics ranked the final season among the best endings television has produced. Rhys won his drama Emmy in 2018, the year the show ended. Two weeks ago, Russell was at the ceremony to watch him make history, nominated twice herself for The Diplomat. The two have been together since 2014.
The new wins are real, and Widow's Bay proves he can be very funny. But Philip Jennings, a man slowly losing his faith in the work that defines him, is the performance that will still be discussed in twenty years.
If you want more
After the three, try his Perry Mason in Perry Mason on HBO, his Daniel Ellsberg in The Post, and his journalist Lloyd Vogel opposite Tom Hanks in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Longtime fans will remember Brothers and Sisters, where he broke through as Kevin Walker.
