Matthew Rhys made Emmy Awards history on 14 September 2026, becoming the first person to win two lead acting prizes in a single night. The Welsh actor won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for ‘The Beast In Me’ and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for ‘Widow’s Bay’.
The wins also made Rhys the first male performer to receive lead acting Emmys in each of the three main categories: drama, comedy and limited series. He had previously won a lead actor in a drama series award in 2018 for ‘The Americans’.
On stage, Rhys dedicated his second award to the people of Wales. “We are a small but mighty nation. This is incredible,” he said. He also said, “Diolch yn fawr iawn”, meaning “thank you very much” in Welsh.
Rhys attended the ceremony with his partner, the US actress Keri Russell. His awards capped a night in which he was also nominated twice as an executive producer, for ‘The Beast In Me’ and ‘Widow’s Bay’.
‘The Beast In Me’ is a psychological thriller centred on a grieving author played by Claire Danes. The character becomes fixated on a mysterious new neighbour who is suspected of murder. Rhys’s other winning role came in ‘Widow’s Bay’, a supernatural television comedy set on a fictional island living under a centuries-old curse. He played the mayor.
A number of performers have previously received two lead acting nominations in the same year, including Alan Alda, Sally Field, John Goodman, Elisabeth Moss and Ted Danson. Rhys is the first to convert two such nominations into wins on the same night.
His achievement across drama, comedy and limited series also places him alongside Barbara Stanwyck in the Emmy record books. Stanwyck is the only other performer to have won in all three lead acting categories, collecting lead actress awards between 1961 and 1983.
‘Widow’s Bay’ also brought an acting Emmy to Kate O’Flynn, who won best supporting comedy actress for playing Patricia. Jean Smart won best comedy actress for her role in the fifth and final series of ‘Hacks’. It was Smart’s fifth Emmy for ‘Hacks’.
Rhys’s double victory brought together two markedly different performances: one in a thriller built around grief and suspicion, the other in a comedy shaped by an island curse. The awards gave him an unprecedented single-night double and completed his set of lead acting prizes across the Emmy’s principal television categories.
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