Matthew Rhys on his new horror-comedy and the town it is 'heavily based on'

Matthew Rhys on his new horror-comedy and the town it is 'heavily based on'7 hours agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleLucy OwenBBC WalesApple TVMatthew Rhys stars in and is executive producer of the new horror-comedy series Widow's BayEmmy-award winning actor Matthew Rhys says his Welsh roots and family connections to a Pembrokeshire town helped him win a starring role in the new Apple TV horror-comedy series Widow's Bay.Rhys portrays the mayor of a quaint New England town who is trying to attract tourists while playing down reports of the supernatural."It's not Fishguard, but it's heavily based on it," joked Rhys, who said he explained during his interview for the part that he was from a country with a rich history of mythical tales."If myth and legend were an Olympic sport, our country [Wales] would podium every time, because it's something very dear to our hearts," Rhys told BBC Radio Wales.Apple TVRhys stars alongside Stephen Root in the new series, set on a US islandRhys was born in Cardiff but his mum's family are from Fishguard, while he said he also came from "a long line of mariners".In Widow's Bay, Rhys portrays Tom Loftis, the mayor of a community struggling with no wi-fi, poor mobile phone signal and locals who believe the island is cursed.Loftis wants to attract tourists to the town, but soon discovers that old stories that once seemed "too ludicrous to be true" start happening again.Widow's Bay caps a spell of hit TV dramas for Rhys. He spent five years on Brothers and Sisters, won an Emmy for playing a Soviet spy undercover in The Americans - where he met his partner Keri Russell - and most recently starred opposite Claire Danes in last year's Netflix thriller The Beast in Me.The actor is acutely aware of the precarious nature of his profession though. He admitted that after playing opposite Kathleen Turner in The Graduate on stage in 2000, he failed to g...