Matthew Rhys has been named Best Actor at the Bafta Cymru Awards for his performance in the Netflix thriller The Beast in Me. The award follows a landmark night at the Emmys last month, when the Welsh actor became the first person to win two lead acting prizes at the same ceremony.
It is Rhys’s second Bafta Cymru, coming 29 years after his first, which he won for a role in a Welsh-language film whose title translates as Be Brave. This year’s ceremony took place at ICC Wales in Newport, where 17 awards were handed out, along with two Bafta Outstanding Contribution awards.
Gabrielle Creevy collected her second Best Actress award, and Y Crwydryn won Single Documentary, with Rhys Edwards also named Director Factual for the same programme. Mari Grug won her first Bafta Cymru, the presenter award, for Mari Grug: Un Dydd Ar y Tro. Y Golau: Dwr took two awards and Matthew Barry won Best Writer for The Guest. Amour a Mynydd was named best Entertainment Programme, Stori’r Iaith won the Factual Series award, and Burton took the Feature/Television Film prize. Gofod Ymennydd – Brain Space won Short Film and Itopia was named best Children’s Programme.
The two outstanding contribution awards went to Carol Vorderman and casting director Lauren Evans. Vorderman said she was “humbled and excited” to be recognised. Evans, from Hendy in Carmarthenshire, received the first Outstanding Contribution to Craft award after working on productions including Game of Thrones, King Lear and The Danish Girl, and more recently Sex Education, Lost Boys and I Swear, which was nominated for six Baftas this year. She also won Best Casting on the night.
Evans said she was proud to represent Welsh voices and wanted to keep raising the profile of Welsh creative talent, while noting that opportunities had improved. “It’s not as much of a closed industry as it was,” she said, adding that there was still plenty of work to do. Bafta Cymru chair Lee Walters said Vorderman and Evans had taken very different routes but had both achieved a great deal and deserved to be celebrated.
