Matthew Rhys suffers some pretty punishing pummelling as the title character in the whip-smart new take on the old Perry Mason television series which starred Raymond Burr as the dogged defence attorney.
Rhys’s Perry definitely does not give as good as he gets — unlike his Russian spy Philip Jennings in The Americans, the seminal TV series about Cold War Soviet spooks posing as ‘regular’ citizens.
Co-star Keri Russell is now his partner off-screen as well and the part won him an Emmy, the small screen’s answer to an Oscar.
Matthew Rhys suffers some pretty punishing pummelling as the title character in the whip-smart new take on the old Perry Mason television series, BAZ BAMIGBOYE writes
‘The writers said they wanted Perry to be a physical and emotional punch-bag,’ Rhys said of his battered World War I veteran.
‘Thankfully, everyone who was doing the punching was incredibly skilled.’
He noted that ‘the beauty of The Americans was that by the time it ended, it was Keri who was doing all the fight scenes’.
She’s definitely a badass, I agreed. ‘And in life!’ he exclaimed, as I, for a split second, hoped he was out of earshot of his other half at the rented house in upstate New York they share with their son Sam and her two children Willa and River.
The original starred Raymond Burr as the dogged defence attorney
Rhys helps with chores, claiming to know how to load a washing machine and a dishwasher, though ‘Keri has banned me from cooking during this time … because I’m shocking at it’.
He continued, sadly: ‘Seemingly, as the whole world is perfecting banana bread, I couldn’t even do that.’
He is, though, a dab hand at peeling bananas in the dark.
‘At any given moment between 9pm and possibly 4am, any number of small voices will cry out for a banana.
‘I can not only find a banana in the dark , I can have it peeled and close to a small child’s mouth within seconds.
Rhys’s Perry definitely does not give as good as he gets — unlike his Russian spy Philip Jennings in The Americans, the seminal TV series about Cold War Soviet spooks posing as ‘regular’ citizens. Pictured: Rhys in The Americans alongside co-star Keri Russell
Russell is now his partner off-screen as well and the part won him an Emmy, the small screen’s answer to an Oscar. Pictured: The pair in The Americans
‘It’s the one small saving grace that might catch you a couple more hours of kip before dawn breaks.’
He is good, too, at keeping the three children (aged four to 12) entertained. He’s the ‘designated Green Goblin’ when youngest Sam watches Spider-Man cartoons.
And he and Keri have introduced the kids to David Attenborough’s documentaries.
‘All three, for once, were not only quiet but gobsmacked,’ he recalled. ‘We’re showing them the Blue Planets next.’
The new Mason drama is set in Depression-era Los Angeles with its corrupt, racist police force and a host of grifters, drifters and femmes fatales; and there are touches of Double Indemnity, Chinatown and LA Confidential
There are ‘talks and whispers’ of a second season, Rhys told me, tantalisingly
Rhys’s Perry Mason drama is whip-smart
They’re way too young for the gripping eight-part Perry Mason series now running on Sky Atlantic.
I was lucky enough to view the entire season over a weekend.
The screen writers have given Mason’s partners in crime Della Street (Juliet Rylance, sublime) and Paul Drake (a fine Chris Chalk) some layers of contemporary sensibilities, too.
The show is set in Depression-era Los Angeles with its corrupt, racist police force and a host of grifters, drifters and femmes fatales; and there are touches of Double Indemnity, Chinatown and LA Confidential.
The original Perry Mason series was a huge hit. Pictured: Rhys as Mason in the remake
‘When we first meet him, he’s got the world on his shoulders,’ Rhys said of Mason, explaining how, in this version, he just about gets by, with one foot in the gutter, taking illicit photographs of couples caught in flagrante for an attorney (John Lithgow).
Soon, though, he winds up taking over the defence of a woman accused of murdering her child.
I’m a huge fan, and hope HBO book a second season. ‘There are talks and whispers,’ Rhys told me, tantalisingly.
Watch out for…
Kelly O’Sullivan, who bestows on us the deeply felt film Saint Frances, which she wrote — and stars in.
She plays a 34-year-old who believes she’s not ‘an impressive person’ because she’s not as successful as her contemporaries, and she’s childless.
She nannies for a couple and their six-year-old daughter Franny — the Frances of the title.
Kelly O’Sullivan, who bestows on us the deeply felt film Saint Frances, which she wrote — and stars in
The kid’s no saint, but as played by Ramone Edith Williams (above right with O’Sullivan), she’s certainly captivating, as is the film.
O’Sullivan, too! I often wonder where are the British equivalents of these sharply observed, socially aware and engaging, low-budget American independent movies?
We have some; but they remain secrets, because for some reason, good, low-budget British films are kept hidden by our cinematic institutions. It drives me crazy.
■ Saint Frances is in cinemas from July 17.
Dozens of theatres up and down the country are turning passionately pink.
London’s National Theatre will lead the way today, when key parts of the building on the South Bank will be draped with pink tape, bearing the #MissingLiveTheatre hashtag, created by top-flight costume and set designers who have formed a coalition called SceneChange.
Award-winning creatives Bunny Christie, Lizzie Clachan, Anna Fleischle and Soutra Gilmour are among those involved.