Soho Independant
Cressida Cassady
January 2001
Matthew Rhys is one of Britain's hot new stars - born in Wales and RADA trained, he has recently starred opposite Kathleen Turner in The Graduate, has worked at the National Theatre (Cardiff East) and The Old Vic (Grace Note).
He won the best actor at the Welsh BAFTA for his performance in 'Budd Yn Wrol' (Be Brave), was Demetrius in Julie Taymor's 'Titus' with Anthony Hopkin and Jessica Lange, and most recently played Frank in 'Peaches' which was premiered at the London Film Festival in November and will be on general release from February 2001.
Peaches was Rhys' first film lead - and while he enjoyed it, the shoot took its toll. "I think everyone involved in it would use the word 'enjoy' loosely; it was an extremely difficult shoot. We gave ourselves 24 days, which is a ludicrously short time to do a feature film. We were proud to finish the first week, let alone the whole film. It was a difficult film to make and we set ourselves a difficult task because it's dialogue-driven, so you can’t rely on gimmicks or car chases. It really was a team effort...the crew worked for nothing."
Rhys' portrayal of a typical 'lad' was a new one for him. "There were bits to him I could relate to. I always try to empathise with the character. If you resent them, then you judge them, and you shouldn't do that as an actor. There were a lot of things about him that made sense. He is at a crossroads in his life, where he's deciding it's time to take a step into the real world and same with girls, he can't commit to a cup of coffee let alone a girlfriend. I think the observations about boys are quite accurate and it doesn't enter the vein of lad culture, and I like the fact that it's not loaded territory, not ironic. It's a look at a stage we can all empathise with."
So would Rhys describe this as his most demanding role? "In all honesty, I think Frank in Peaches was my most demanding role to date, because although I found much in him that I could identify with and I understood his character, I didn't really feel close to him and the kind of person he was. The accent I found was very distancing and doing a cockney was difficult. So it was hard maintaining Frank, being an exhibitionist at times but ultimately quite scared."
In a growing film career, though, one experience stands out as a favourite. "It would have to be Titus purely because of being able to watch the 'master' - Anthony Hopkins - at work. That was a hell of a frightening experience because it was my first big film with Hopkins and Jessica Lange, a Shakespeare as well and a very extreme character I had to play. Demetrius was a rapist psychopath with blond hair and tattoos. So it was a bit intimidating but a hell of an experience."
So, apart from Hopkins, are there any other greats Rhys wants to work with? I was always watching Robert de Niro and Anthony Hopkins when I was growing up, and now I've worked with Hopkins, so one half of the dream has come true. Hopkins was always a dream, because very simply he is Welsh and was making films so I thought 'God it is possible for a Welshman to do well', and de Niro because I always believed what he does, I just love him, he's great. By extension, and it's another cliched dream in a way, I'd love to work with Martin Scorsese. And of course," he smiles, "Kathleen Turner was lovely."
Matthew Rhys has now succeeded in splitting his career between theatre and film, and is getting attention and plaudits from both - so which is favourite? Understandably, he finds it difficult to decide. "I want to do more theatre, I enjoy it a lot, it's very satisfying but I grew up watching films and I want to get more film roles."
So, what does the future hold? "At the moment I've got a project called 'Tabloid TV' a film for TV which is about a guy who hosts a TV show that 'outs' celebrity secrets. He gets set up himself with some bad consequences. David Blair - who directed Anna Karenina for TV - is directing it. And after that, in the longer term future, in all honesty, four years ago I would never have imagined I'd have done as much as I have, working with the people I've worked with...if things keep going the way they are I would be more than happy."