Matthew Rhys Makes Emmy History With Two Lead Actor Wins in One Night
Matthew Rhys won lead actor Emmys for 'The Beast in Me' and 'Widow's Bay' on the same night, a first in the ceremony's history.
Actor Matthew Rhys entered the Emmy record books on Monday night, becoming the first performer to win two lead acting awards at a single ceremony.
Rhys claimed the lead actor prize in the limited category for Netflix's The Beast in Me before adding the lead comedy actor trophy for Apple TV's Widow's Bay later in the evening in Los Angeles.
The double win also gives the Welsh actor a complete set of lead acting Emmys across drama, comedy and limited series — a trifecta no performer had previously assembled. He had earlier won the lead drama actor award in 2018 for The Americans.
His victory in the limited race came as the night's bigger upset, as he edged out Oscar Isaac (Beef), who had been the presumptive favourite, along with Riz Ahmed (Bait), Jason Bateman (Black Rabbit) and Charlie Hunnam (Monster: The Ed Gein Story).
In the comedy field, Rhys prevailed over Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Wonder Man), Steve Carell (Rooster), Jason Segel (Shrinking) and Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building).
Two performers had previously collected two acting Emmys in a single night, but neither managed it in the lead categories. James Earl Jones won lead drama actor for Gabriel's Fire and supporting actor in the limited category for Heat Wave in 1991, while Stockard Channing took two supporting actress trophies in 2002 for The West Wing and The Matthew Shepard Story.
Rhys also holds two additional nominations this year as an executive producer on both of his series.
The ceremony's nominations were led by The Pitt with 25 nods, followed by Hacks, Widow's Bay and Beef.