Matthew Rhys Wins First Emmy for ‘The Americans,’ Thanks Keri Russell During Acceptance Speech

Matthew Rhys just won his first Emmy.

The actor won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, beating out Ed Harris (Westworld), Jason Bateman (Ozark), Jeffrey Wright (Westworld), Milo Ventimiglia (This Is Us) and Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us), who took home the category last year.

The win comes after his third nomination for playing Philip Jennings, a Russian spy embedded in the U.S. He won for his performance in the series finale, “START,” which also earned co-executive producers Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series.

While accepting his award, Rhys made mention of his co-star and partner, Keri Russell, who was also nominated for the finale season of The Americans. (Though she’s been nominated three times for the show, she’s never won.)

“And to the woman who truly got me to this award who stands in front of me every day and puts up with me -- she said if you propose to me, I'll punch you clean in the mouth -- I don't have the words. I don't have the time. Neither of which would do you justice, except thank you, more to come,” Rhys said. “Thank you.”

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