LOS ANGELES — Winner winner chicken dinner — Matthew Rhys snagged the Emmy for lead actor in a limited series for his role on “ The Beast in Me” on Monday.

In Netflix’s eight-part crime thriller, the former “Americans” star portrays Nile Jarvis, the menacing and manipulative real estate scion suspected of murdering his first wife. The series sees Jarvis go tête-à-tête with his neighbor Aggie Wiggs, a grieving mother and struggling author played by Claire Danes, who is convinced to make him the subject of her next book.

“This is a real shock, because not least because the caliber and company of the actors in this category,” Rhys said. “We had a beautiful holy trinity of scribes in the glorious form of Daniel Pearle, Gabe Rotter, and the inimitable Howard Gordon, who really brought up the beast in all of us, we were guided so beautifully by Antonio Campos, but certainly led ferociously, fiercely, fervently by the incredible Claire Danes. Thank you for letting me join the mystery machine and bringing out the beast. You are an intimidating scene partner, but I’m very grateful for for all this.”

Rhys previously told the Times' Envelope podcast that the “big draw” of the series was that so much of it was in the escalating conversations between the two characters.

“[T]hese two people ... they’re like two magnets in a way,” he said in the episode. “They’re so drawn, they are so repulsed, they’re kind of images of each other’s shadow self. They see so much of each other while [being] polarizingly different. That to me was part of the great draw of that piece, with these two people and how they connected or seemingly didn’t.”

He also said in a previous interview that he didn’t know whether Jarvis was guilty of the crime when he’d signed onto the show. He instead used Jarvis’ notoriety and status to inform his choices in his performance.

“People treat you differently if they know you’re incredibly wealthy,” Rhys told the Envelope. “If you have this social stigma of a missing wife, people treat you very differently.”

This marks the second Emmy for Rhys, who previously won for lead actor in a drama series in 2018 for his work on FX’s espionage thriller “The Americans.” It was his first win for the role after also being nominated in 2017 and 2016. Rhys was also nominated for drama lead actor in 2021 for his performance as Perry Mason in the HBO reboot and for comedy guest actor in 2017 for his performance as Chuck Palmer in “Girls.”

His win for “The Beast in Me” at the 78th Emmy Awards kicks off what could be a historic night for Rhys. The “ Widow’s Bay” star is also nominated for lead actor in a comedy series for his work on the Apple TV horror-comedy. In the show, Rhys plays Tom Loftis, a devoted single dad and the mayor of a cursed New England island town who is desperately trying to boost its tourism despite the supernatural hurdles.

The other nominees for lead actor in a limited or anthology series were Riz Ahmed from Prime Video’s “Bait,” Jason Bateman from Netflix’s “Black Rabbit,” Charlie Hunnam from Netflix’s “Monster: The Ed Gein Story” and Oscar Isaac from Netflix’ “Beef.”

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