Emmy Awards: Welsh actor Matthew Rhys makes history with double win

Rhys was named best lead actor in a limited series for The Beast In Me, then won best lead actor in a comedy for Widow’s Bay.

A small number of actors, including Alan Alda, Sally Field, John Goodman, Elisabeth Moss and Ted Danson, have been nominated for two lead acting prizes in the same year, but Rhys is the first to score a double win.

Backstage, he said: “I’m from a small country, and I’m glad we get moments to kind of put our flag on the map and say, ‘we punch higher than our weight sometimes’.”

The Beast In Me follows a grieving author, played by Claire Danes, who becomes obsessed with a mysterious new neighbour suspected of murder.

Rhys said it was a “real shock” to win the award, adding: “Thank you for letting me join the mystery machine and bringing out the beast, you are an intimidating scene partner, but I’m grateful for all this.”

Later in the night, accepting the comedy actor prize for playing the mayor in Widow’s Bay, he thanked the family, friends and colleagues who supported his career, including his parents who “kicked me on to the stage at a very early age”.