Rhys’ first language is Welsh and regularly speaks it at home in New York.
The passionate Welshman dedicated his second award “to the great and good people of Wales, who were as much a nurture as anyone else”.
“We are a small but mighty nation. This is incredible,” he said, adding, “diolch yn fawr iawn” which means “thank you very much” in Welsh.
Rhys has also been revealed as the voice of Han Solo in a new Welsh language adaptation of Star Wars.
Star Wars will be dubbed in Welsh for the first time ahead of the sci-fi classic’s 50th anniversary next year.
Rhys told New York Times podcast The Interview that the Welsh language project brought up some unexpected feelings.
“What was weird is obviously, they’d had to translate all these things that we’d grown up with, knowing Star Wars,” Rhys said.
“I was saying in Welsh things like, ‘pelydr cyrchu’ – it’s kind of like, ‘tractor beam’.”
He’s keen to remain connected to all things Welsh, and in 2025, Rhys took on the role of Welsh icon Richard Burton in the one-man show, Playing Burton, raising funds for the Welsh National Theatre.
Rhys said he first saw the play as a student in London more than 30 years ago and dreamed of portraying Burton ever since.
