Matthew Rhys Shares How Fatherhood Has Changed Him: ‘I Cry a Lot Easier These Days’ (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Matthew Rhys at SXSW on March 7, 2025.Photo:Gilbert Flores/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty

Gilbert Flores/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty

Matthew Rhyshas fatherhood to thank for helping him prepare for his new film,Hallow Road.

TheBrothers & Sistersstar, 50, shared on the red carpet forHallow RoadatSXSWthat raising his 8-year-old son,Sam, with partnerKeri Russell, 48, helped him slip into the character in the film, in which he plays a concerned father who races against time to help his daughter.

“I think once you do become a parent and you do allow yourself those thoughts … the thought of having a child go through what happens in the film is horrifying so all you have to do is allow yourself the real thought of it,” Rhys tells PEOPLE.

“I cry a lot easier these days since I became a father for reasons I don’t know why,” he adds.

Mathew Rhys at SXSW on March 7, 2025.Jason Bollenbacher/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty

Jason Bollenbacher/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty

Rhys, who also shares two step-children with Russell — River, 17 and Willa Lou, 12 — also noted that there was an additional similarity between himself and his character in that they both had children who could drive.

“[River] has passed his [driving] test in New York, God Bless him,” he joked. “I think if he can drive there he can drive anywhere.”

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The actor previously opened up aboutbalancing work with parentingtheir son, in an interview with PEOPLE in June 2024. He shared at the time that they make sure there’s always “a parent in the house” to help take care of him.

Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell at the 2024 Netflix Primetime Emmys after party.Emma McIntyre/Getty Images

Emma McIntyre/Getty Images

“What we try to do is – how many of our friends do it – one works when the other one doesn’t,” Rhys said of their family dynamic. He admitted, though, that “there are moments where you’re ships passing in the night to a degree, and that makes it a little tricky.”

“But we try not to disrupt home life too much. So that’s how we’ve generally done it. And for the most part, up until now, it seems to work,” he explained, joking that he’ll now “knock on wood.”

Despite how the “logistical element of childcare becomes tricky” if Rhys and Russell work together, he said they’re still very much interested in another professional pairing. The couple notably began their romance while starring together onThe Americans.

“We definitely would work together [again], we’ve said that before,” Rhys said. “We’ve just waited. We always said The Americans was so special, it would have to be something akin that we’re both so excited to do. It shouldn’t just be anything.”

source: people.com