First Minister hails Matthew Rhys’ ‘historic’ Emmys win
The Cardiff-born star picked up two major acting prizes in LA
Last updated 15th Sep 2026
The First Minister has hailed Welsh-actor Matthew Rhys’s “historic” wins at the Emmys.
The Cardiff-born star picked up two major acting prizes at the Los Angeles ceremony, where he was named best actor in a comedy for Widow’s Bay and best actor in a limited series for The Beast In Me.
He is the first star to scoop two best lead actor awards at the same ceremony.
In 2018 he was named best actor in a drama for The Americans, making him the first male performer to win in all three lead acting categories.
A tweet from the Office of the First Minister of Wales Rhun ap Iorwerth, said: “Historic. Tremendous congratulations, @MatthewRhys.”
The Welsh Government quoted his on-stage speech, writing: “We’re a small but mighty nation” Llongyfarchiadau, @MatthewRhys.”
Llongyfarchiadau is Welsh for congratulations.
Collecting one of the gongs on stage, he dedicated the win to “the great and good people of Wales, who were as much a nurture as anyone else”.
He added: “We are a small but mighty nation.”
He concluded the speech with: “Diolch yn fawr iawn”, meaning “thank you very much” in Welsh.
A community-owned pub in the Aeron Valley, in which Rhys is a stakeholder, also offered congratulations.
Tarfan y Vale in Felinfach shared a photo of the actor kissing his trophies and wrote: “Congratulations to Matthew Rhys, a shareholder at Tafarn y Vale on his amazing success at the Emmys last night!
“(Fingers crossed) that we’ll have a photo like this of the Darts team captain at the end of the season.”