Actor Matthew Rhys has admitted he’s “terrified” about portraying screen legend Richard Burton in a new play – admitting he’s fretting about forgetting his words and worrying about whether to imitate the late actor’s voice.
Matthew Rhys is “terrified” about playing Richard Burton on stage in a new one-man play.
The Americans star has taken on his first stage role in 13 years by signing up for the lead in Playing Burton – which opens at The Old Vic in London on Sunday (16.10.25) – and he now admits he’s fretting about forgetting his words and worrying about whether to imitate the late actor’s voice.
Rhys told The Times newspaper: “Yup, I’m terrified. And the fact that I will be entirely by myself on stage makes it even more daunting.
“If I forget my words I will be truly at sea. But this is what I originally trained to do, so I guess it’s like giving my acting technique a kind of MoT.
“You know, how are the old muscles working after all these years?”
He went on to admit playing Cleopatra star Burton is an incredibly daunting feat. Rhys said: “I’m still wrestling with how much I should try to imitate his voice.
“When you listen to him you think: ‘God, even attempting to come close to that incredible baritone will do him a disservice.’ It was a unique instrument …
“On the other hand, I think we have to make some kind of nod towards the voice – a flavour of it anyway.”
The play – written by Mark Jenkins – charts Burton’s life from growing up in the Welsh valleys to Hollywood superstardom – touching on his marriages to fellow screen star Dame Elizabeth Taylor as well as his battle with alcohol.
It’s being made by the Welsh National Theatre – the company set up by fellow Welshman Michael Sheen – and speaking at the time of the announcement, Rhys insisted he felt it was his time to “step up”.
He said in a statement: “Michael Sheen has been putting all us Welsh actors to shame by setting up Welsh National Theatre so, when a space appeared in my schedule, I felt it was my time to step up!
“The Old Vic meant a lot to Burton’s early days, as it did to mine, playing Nick in Samuel Adamson’s Grace Note there in 1997.
“It’s going to be really something to be back on that stage, playing an actor who ignited my love for the craft.
“When Covid hit, I prepared a production of Playing Burton but have never had the chance to perform it on stage.
“With 2025 being both Burton’s centenary year and the first year of the Welsh National Theatre, it felt right to return to the London and Welsh stage for the first time in 20-plus years.
“The reason I wanted to act was because of Richard Burton. Since first seeing his incredible performance in Look Back in Anger to still listening to his audio of Hamlet and Under Milk Wood. He blazed the trail for us all and showed us it was possible.”
Rhys made his last stage appearance back in 2012 when he appeared in Look Back in Anger at the Roundabout Theatre Company in New York.
Matthew Rhys is ‘terrified’ about playing Richard Burton
