Matthew Rhys Makes Emmy History With Best Actor Win for ‘Widow’s Bay’

When Matthew Rhys accepted his second Emmy of the night for best actor in a comedy series for Widow’s Bay, he made history.

The Welsh actor is now the first performer in history to have won the lead-acting Emmy across all three genres, since he won on the drama side back in 2018 for The Americans, and the first man to win two lead-acting trophies in a single night.

Unlike in the limited series category, Rhys was considered the heavy frontrunner here, given Widow’s Bay’s dominance in the nominations. He beat out four fellow former nominees in Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Wonder Man), Steve Carell (Rooster), Jason Segel (Shrinking) and Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building).

Widow’s Bay was the word-of-mouth sensation that no one saw coming this past spring, as Apple TV’s inventive horror-comedy first took critics by storm and then built in buzz with viewers week over week. Rhys’s performance as the hapless Tom Loftis, mayor of a New England island town that he really hopes is not haunted as tourists start arriving in droves, drew raves for its combination of slapstick physicality and emotional range. It’s the underdog in the best-comedy race opposite returning winner Hacks (competing for its final season) and already cleaned up at least week’s Creative Arts awards, including a first-ever Emmy win for guest star Betty Gilpin.

“When I first read it, I was like, ‘What the fuck is this? I’ve never read anything like this, and I’ve certainly never played anything remotely like this,’” Rhys told The Hollywood Reporter of Widow’s Bay earlier this year. “When I got on my first Zoom with [executive producer and director] Hiro [Murai], he just said, ‘Look, we’re not making a comedy. We’re not making horror. We’re just going to create a real world with real people that have real backstories — and we’ll play it for real.’”

This led into a finale that featured some of the most intensely dramatic material of the actor’s career: “I’m coming off the back of Beast in Me, and I was like, ‘This feels heavier than that!’” Rhys recalled. “But the drama becomes magnified and far richer as a result of it.”

Widow’s Bay has been renewed for a second season. Rhys is also nominated tonight for best comedy series, as an executive producer on the show.

The 2026 Emmys aired live on Monday from the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles. Mariska Hargitay hosted. See the red carpet looks here.