Post by meredith on Sept 8, 2007 20:46:32 GMT -5
icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0900entertainment/0050artsnews/tm_method=full%26objectid=19747320%26siteid=50082-name_page.html
Welsh actor lives up to ‘one-to-watch’ status
Sep 7 2007
by Claire Hill, Western Mail
WELSH actor Matthew Rhys may be about to conquer American television with the second series of Brothers & Sisters, but in Britain he is best known for tabloid gossip about a rumoured relationship with Sienna Miller.
Speaking from the set of the hit ABC series, the Cardiff-born actor yesterday laughed off the suggestions of a romantic link with his co-star in The Edge of Love – the Dylan Thomas biopic filmed in West Wales – that have seen him splashed across gossip magazines and red-top newspapers in recent months.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, his performance as gay lawyer Kevin in Brothers & Sisters has seen him become one of American television’s most in-demand actors, while he has also been tipped to win an Emmy award.
But quizzed about the rumoured relationship with Miller which has coloured his UK profile, the star burst out laughing.
Admitting that it got him a lot of column inches, he joked, “Yeah, I am going to start a rumour now that I am going out with Keira [Knightley, fellow co-star] and see what happens.”
Preparing for his role as best man at Ioan Gruffudd’s wedding in Mexico this weekend, Rhys was amused to find that the gossip columns were now linking Miller to fellow Welsh actor Rhys Ifans, reducing him to a jilted lover.
“It’s the battle of the Rhyses,” he laughed, “North v South.”
The attention back home is markedly different from the press which focuses on his critically and publicly acclaimed role as gay lawyer Kevin on the hit show.
More than a year ago the 32-year-old joined Calista Flockheart and Sally Field for the domestic drama revolving around the trials of the Walker family.
Initially, it was predicted to be a flop, with television critics panning it before it was aired.
However, the first series pulled in up to 15 million viewers when it was screened, received three Emmy nominations and Rhys was praised for his portrayal of a gay character.
Now preparing for the second series to air on September 30, Rhys has seemingly cracked the US television market, something that many of his fellow actors, and no Welsh actor, has achieved.
This year household names like EastEnders star Michelle Ryan and Anna Friel are hoping for success with their new programmes, The Bionic Woman and Pushing Daisies, but Rhys is already streets ahead of them.
Boyd Hilton, television writer for Heat magazine believes this could of Rhys becoming a serious name in Hollywood.
He said, “For someone like Matthew Rhys to have a key role in a high profile series it has been very good for his career.
“He could have done an American independent film which came and went in the cinema with no-one batting an eyelid. But he is on every week in this show and is being seen constantly by everyone in Hollywood.
“It is very high profile.”
While Hilton said he is not at the same level as British actor Hugh Laurie, he believes this role will open up opportunities in supporting roles in Hollywood movies.
He said, “In theory the world is his oyster now.”
Television in America is still hot property with many of the country’s key actors abandoning film to focus on the small screen.
It is not surprising given that if successful it can lead to world-wide fame and impressive pay packets for the actors.
In March 2007 Entertainment Weekly published a report on earnings for actors in American television roles.
It said, “This season, ABC Television Studio is believed to have spent in excess of $800,000 on the cast salaries for Brothers & Sisters – including $150,000 or so per episode for Calista Flockhart and about $100,000 for Sally Field.”
Working on those figures and if the rest of the money was evenly split for the show it could have seen Rhys earning up to $70,000 per episode.
Whatever the salary, the profile that Rhys has gained Stateside for his acting and in the UK for his tabloid rumours surrounding Sienna Miller, should ensure that the Cardiff actor has finally lived up to his “one to watch” status which began when he starred on stage with Kathleen Turner in The Graduate.
Welsh actor lives up to ‘one-to-watch’ status
Sep 7 2007
by Claire Hill, Western Mail
WELSH actor Matthew Rhys may be about to conquer American television with the second series of Brothers & Sisters, but in Britain he is best known for tabloid gossip about a rumoured relationship with Sienna Miller.
Speaking from the set of the hit ABC series, the Cardiff-born actor yesterday laughed off the suggestions of a romantic link with his co-star in The Edge of Love – the Dylan Thomas biopic filmed in West Wales – that have seen him splashed across gossip magazines and red-top newspapers in recent months.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, his performance as gay lawyer Kevin in Brothers & Sisters has seen him become one of American television’s most in-demand actors, while he has also been tipped to win an Emmy award.
But quizzed about the rumoured relationship with Miller which has coloured his UK profile, the star burst out laughing.
Admitting that it got him a lot of column inches, he joked, “Yeah, I am going to start a rumour now that I am going out with Keira [Knightley, fellow co-star] and see what happens.”
Preparing for his role as best man at Ioan Gruffudd’s wedding in Mexico this weekend, Rhys was amused to find that the gossip columns were now linking Miller to fellow Welsh actor Rhys Ifans, reducing him to a jilted lover.
“It’s the battle of the Rhyses,” he laughed, “North v South.”
The attention back home is markedly different from the press which focuses on his critically and publicly acclaimed role as gay lawyer Kevin on the hit show.
More than a year ago the 32-year-old joined Calista Flockheart and Sally Field for the domestic drama revolving around the trials of the Walker family.
Initially, it was predicted to be a flop, with television critics panning it before it was aired.
However, the first series pulled in up to 15 million viewers when it was screened, received three Emmy nominations and Rhys was praised for his portrayal of a gay character.
Now preparing for the second series to air on September 30, Rhys has seemingly cracked the US television market, something that many of his fellow actors, and no Welsh actor, has achieved.
This year household names like EastEnders star Michelle Ryan and Anna Friel are hoping for success with their new programmes, The Bionic Woman and Pushing Daisies, but Rhys is already streets ahead of them.
Boyd Hilton, television writer for Heat magazine believes this could of Rhys becoming a serious name in Hollywood.
He said, “For someone like Matthew Rhys to have a key role in a high profile series it has been very good for his career.
“He could have done an American independent film which came and went in the cinema with no-one batting an eyelid. But he is on every week in this show and is being seen constantly by everyone in Hollywood.
“It is very high profile.”
While Hilton said he is not at the same level as British actor Hugh Laurie, he believes this role will open up opportunities in supporting roles in Hollywood movies.
He said, “In theory the world is his oyster now.”
Television in America is still hot property with many of the country’s key actors abandoning film to focus on the small screen.
It is not surprising given that if successful it can lead to world-wide fame and impressive pay packets for the actors.
In March 2007 Entertainment Weekly published a report on earnings for actors in American television roles.
It said, “This season, ABC Television Studio is believed to have spent in excess of $800,000 on the cast salaries for Brothers & Sisters – including $150,000 or so per episode for Calista Flockhart and about $100,000 for Sally Field.”
Working on those figures and if the rest of the money was evenly split for the show it could have seen Rhys earning up to $70,000 per episode.
Whatever the salary, the profile that Rhys has gained Stateside for his acting and in the UK for his tabloid rumours surrounding Sienna Miller, should ensure that the Cardiff actor has finally lived up to his “one to watch” status which began when he starred on stage with Kathleen Turner in The Graduate.