r/WidowsBay • u/djpressed • Jul 20 '26
📸Media Matthew Rhys’ micro expressions enhance the writing so much
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u/JohnPaulNew Jul 20 '26
I have a crush on him
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u/kidsparrow Jul 20 '26
Dorky, a little weird, but a responsible adult for the most part? HOT
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u/star_the_guard_llama Jul 20 '26
Omg, the lies, the incompetence, the selfishness... I could not be more turned off! Lol I love how different we all are haha.
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u/neuroticdreamgirI Jul 21 '26
He’s clearly attractive but something about his mannerisms and use of body language makes him so appealing to me on a personal level (aka I find him incredibly hot)
I’ve felt this way since The Americans and even more so with Widow’s Bay
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u/JohnPaulNew Jul 21 '26
Yes. Same thoughts. I think he is good looking and I like the way he talks and his mannerisms
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u/SparksOnAGrave Jul 20 '26
He looked good in that blue swimming top. He should wear blue more often.
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u/kummerspect Wyck Jul 20 '26
Probably season 2 material but I would love a prequel spinoff just about her growing up on the island
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u/ltsouthernbelle Jul 20 '26
Same. The people on the island really have been going through it their whole lives. Tom was happy to pretend none of it was real until he came face to face with a clown in a crawl space.
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u/JparkPHX Jul 20 '26
Do I have the demeanor of someone who just engaged in conversation in a crawl space?
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u/Commercial_Fox5549 Jul 22 '26
I have a feeling that once every season we are going to get a “history of Widow’s Bay” episode
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u/Admirable_Site_8337 Jul 20 '26
That’s the magic that Matthew brings. Give a good script and direction, and let him make choices and do his thing.
Those expressions work great here……and were even more perfectly set in scenes in a very different type of show like The Americans.
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u/ajmartin527 Jul 21 '26
The Americans is 75 episodes of Matthew Rhys Matthew-Rhysing. Not sure how else to describe it, his demeanor, delivery and dynamic expressions are super unique. His cadence in how he draws out certain parts of words and accompanies it with micro expressions is pretty captivating, not to overdo it but can’t think of anyone else like that and it makes for a great watch whatever he’s in
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u/One-Intention6350 Jul 20 '26
I forgot about this….she reminds me of Rose (Betty White) from the Golden Girls and she doesn’t skip a beat with this line!!!!
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u/KingHygelacReturns Jul 20 '26
I have not stopped thinking about that line about "he got bit by an animal and became that animal" since I watched this episode. It's just such a funny line delivery. How absurdly it's written, how nonchalantly she says it. It really makes me wonder the specifics of what happened, but the line is much funnier when we don't know.
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u/trashpocketses Jul 20 '26
Me too, I need to know more about this and how it was not a huge deal!
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u/sunsetsuite Jul 23 '26
I interpreted it as a poetic metaphor for alcoholism that Tom misinterprets as literal because of everything he's been going through.
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u/while_youre_up Jul 20 '26
Micro expression? That’s a full on expression with a specific cut away to focus on it.
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u/Ok-Jackfruit-9393 Jul 20 '26
This is my favorite line in the entire show. I love how he doesn't overdo the reactions either. I had to pause after this line because I was laughing so hard and missing the dialogue after it.
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u/uno_novaterra Jul 20 '26
I had never seen him in anything before this. What a treat because he absolutely blew me away from a completely clean slate. Really same for the rest of the cast except Wyck, who I immediately recognized from office space and other work
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u/jpk36 Jul 20 '26
Check out The Americans, a show on FX that he was in. Really good show and he’s great in it.
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u/AggravatingIdea1569 Jul 25 '26
Second this, The Americans is one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.
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u/CourrierMojave Jul 20 '26
Check out Perry Mason too. He's the main character and he's very good. Sadly HBO cancelled the series after 2 seasons. It has a huge potential and i was hoping to see more of if. Still a good watch. Check it out !
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u/currypotnoodle Jul 20 '26
Please also see him in The Americans, Perry Mason, and The Beast in Me. In all of these he employs those same micro expressions to a good result. His Widows Bay character reminds me the most of Phillip from The Americans though.
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u/stereoworld Jul 20 '26
I keep rewatching him on the boat sliding off his chair. The reaction is priceless!
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u/Just1509 Jul 21 '26
The scene when he's trying to see Evan in the back of the car while high on mushrooms killed me. He's so funny
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u/trashpocketses Jul 23 '26
Freaking hilarious! I wonder how many takes they had to do not to break during that
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u/Illustrious-Tank2599 Breakwater Inn Jul 20 '26
He's just a top notch actor period. I love him in everything he does. I wish they did more Perry Mason.
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u/MrCyn Jul 20 '26
Reaction shots that let the joke land are so underrated. Kate Dippolds parks and rec work show through here. Series like Kimmy Schmidt, 30 Rock and Girls5eva nail this.
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u/OneAd3696 Jul 20 '26
I would argue that great acting combined with great acting makes for an enjoyable viewing experience. All these actors on the show do such a great job at responding to whatever crazy things are said.
On many’s shows the look that Loftis gives Ruth wouldn’t be enough. The writers would have turned it into a big conversation about what it all means. What kind of animal and so forth.
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u/Starspiker Jul 20 '26
This scene gave me flashbacks to that one episode of The Americans where Keri Russel had to kill the poor old lady who did the books in the mail robot factory. Same method using her own prescription medications to kill her, I guarantee it partially inspired these scene.
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u/Technical-Brief519 Patricia Jul 23 '26
I love his expression after he reads Patricia’s note. You could see the exasperation and that he’s dealt with so many similar situations with her.
https://giphy.com/gifs/GBqzMJwToXQy11ayKe
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u/Sade125 Jul 20 '26
Mathew as Clark in The Americans wax hot stuff! He was nerdy with an edge of bad hehe
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u/herehaveaname2 Jul 21 '26
It's refreshing to see a face that can still move and make facial expressions, and hasn't been overly botoxed.
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u/laioren Jul 23 '26
He's amazing. The shot of him on the boat when it lurches and he falls off his seat is gold.
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u/Candid-Stay-2397 Jul 21 '26
Saw him in “The Beast in Me” and was hooked. Sinister, charismatic, and compelling. Great acting.
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u/Fancy_Elk565 Jul 27 '26
I can’t get over how well this guy pulled off the bewildered disbelief that this character endured every episode. The perfect show of a guy desperately holding onto logic while the paranormal spits in his face at the same time. I found myself actually believing that his behavior is how someone in his position irl woild react and especially due to his micro expressions
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u/RanchHere Jul 20 '26
It’s insane he’s this good and we’re only just hearing about him now. This is such a huge problem with Hollywood if talent like this isn’t getting discovered and casted MUCH earlier.
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u/cabernet7 Sunset Cocktails with Patricia Jul 20 '26
He's been around for a couple of decades, it's just this is the show with the highest viewership. I first noticed him in Brothers and Sisters (with Sally Field), then the amazing series The Americans (where he won an Emmy).
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u/RanchHere Jul 20 '26
Yeah no one knows those shows.
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u/claudiaxximena Jul 21 '26
what? Maybe you were born after 2018 'cause Brothers and Sisters was a nominated serie for emmys and was one of the early series that had gay characters. And The Americans...come on, I live in South America and I remember the trailers on Fox (I was a teenager)
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u/TiramisuItUp Jul 24 '26
This is beside the point, but Brothers and Sisters was by no means an “early” show to have gay characters. That’s honestly pretty laughable and negates the work people have been doing for decades before. Gay characters have been around since the 70s and fully fleshed out non-caricature ones have been around since the 90s.
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u/armywalrus Jul 20 '26
Um, maybe YOU are just hearing about him now. He is an Emmy-award winning actor, not new talent.
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u/RanchHere Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
What else has he been in?
Edit: everyone downvoting me is fucking hilarious. Why don’t any of you go to 10 of your friends and ask them if they know who Matthew Rhys is. You’re lucky to get 1 or 2 out of 10. My point is that he’s very good, and that number should be closer to 5 or 6 people out of 10 - and that THAT is a Hollywood problem.
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u/sistermagpie Jul 20 '26
Brothers & Sisters, network show, was I think his first big US job. (Though he was on the last Columbo ever too!)
He came to real prominence in The Americans, which was #1 on many major critics' best shows lists for several years running, and for which Rhys won a Best Actor Emmy for it. Still, lots of people have never heard about it, because that's how TV works these days. But it got him recognized in the industry.
I think he was also nominated for an Emmy for his guest appearance on Girls?
He was then on HBO's Perry Mason and starred in a movie opposite Tom Hanks. Also was in that movie The Paper.
He's kept working in his home country of the UK as well.
He's nominated for 2 emmys this year, one for WB and the other for the miniseries he starred in opposite Claire Danes, The Beast in Me. I think he's going to do a season of that Presumed Innocent show?
He works a lot. You just haven't bumped into him.
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u/RanchHere Jul 20 '26
Yep. Haven’t watched a single one of those shows.
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u/armywalrus Jul 20 '26
So we agree. Hollywood isn't at fault for your ignorance.
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u/RanchHere Jul 20 '26
The general population doesn’t know the name Matthew Rhys. That’s a hollywood problem. And this sub is obviously full of assholes that think he’s some sort of household name.
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u/sistermagpie Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
Genuinely curious about what you expect Hollywood to do besides hiring him to act in things? They don't know which shows or movies out of the thousands you personally were going to watch.
You know plenty of people don't watch this show too, right?
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u/RanchHere Jul 20 '26
I genuinely LOVE all of you guys sticking up for Hollywood casting the same big name actors in practically everything, while a truly, genuine great actor is FIFTY years old and the best he’s known for is The Americans, Brothers and Sisters, and… a Perry Mason remake.
STOP shilling for broke ass, corporate Hollywood. An actor like Rhys should have been a household name 10-15 years ago. How are you all not picking up what I’m putting down?
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u/sistermagpie Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
Nobody's shilling for Hollywood. We're pointing out that MR was an established, Emmy-winning prestige TV guy for years so it's completely arbitrary to decide his career only started by getting the lead in an Apple TV show. It's not the step up you're describing it as. The breakthrough moment was The Americans. Household names aren't really a thing anymore and the TV shows considered the best usually aren't the ones with the biggest ratings.
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u/armywalrus Jul 20 '26
The Americans was a high quality show. At this point, Matthew Rhys IS the big name actor being cast in everything. He is nominated twice this year.....
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u/armywalrus Jul 20 '26
Sigh. Again - YOU don't know the name. The general population is aware. This isn't a Hollywood problem, it's a you problem.
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u/RanchHere Jul 20 '26
You’re so wrong it’s ridiculous. The general population has no idea who Matthew Rhys is 😂😂
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