Matthew Rhys became the first person to win two lead acting Emmy Awards at one ceremony on Monday (14.09.26).
The 51-year-old star's history-making evening began with a surprise win in the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie category for his role in The Beast in Me, and he then took the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series prize for Widows Bay, and after previously securing the Drama Actor prize in 2018 for the Emmys, he is now the first male performer to have won in all three lead categories.
Accepting the Limited Series prize - which he won ahead of Oscar Isaac (Beef), Riz Ahmed (Bait), Jason Bateman (Black Rabbit), and Charlie Hunnam (Monster: The Ed Gein Story) - he said: “This is a real shock, not least because the calibre and company of the actors in this program. We had a holy trinity of scribes in the glorious form of Daniel Pearle, Gabe Rotter, and Howard Gordon, who really brought out the beast in all of us.
"We were guided so beautifully by Antonio Campos, but certainly led ferociously, fiercely, fervently by the incredible Claire Danes.
"Thank you for letting me join the mystery machine and bringing out the beast. You are an intimidating scene partner, but I’m very grateful for all this.”
As he picked up his second award, Matthew praised the "depraved and twisted mind" of Widow's Bay creator Katie Dippod, who he noted had "genius in the recesses of her disturbed mind".
Amongst his many thank yous, he offered a sweet shoutout to his family.
He said: "Obviously my parents, they kicked me onto the stage from an early age. My sister, she was the brains of the outfit all along, The great and good people of Wales, we are a small and mighty nation.
"This is incredible, thank you very much."
He scooped the comedy prize ahead of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Wonder Man), Steve Carell (Rooster) Jason Segel (Shrinking), and Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building).
Meanwhile, Sally Field won the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Emmy for her work on Remarkably Bright Creatures, beating off competition from Matthew's The Beast in Me co-star Claire Danes, as well as Carey Mulligan (Beef), Sarah Pidgeon (Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette) and Sarah Snook (All Her Fault).
She said on stage: "“This was not supposed to supposed to happen! OK, I gotta talk really, really quick...
"I have been so grateful and so proud to be a part of this community — the arts — for 62 years or something. With art, we matter. Our voices matter. Our diversity, our unique story telling matters.
“We can’t let those voices be silenced or compromised or merged.”
