Keri Russell wasn’t upset that Matthew Rhys failed to thank her in his Emmy Awards acceptance speeches because she had asked him not to.
Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys had a pact not to thank one another if they won at the recent Emmy Awards.
The 51-year-old actor came under fire after last month’s ceremony because he picked up both Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Widow’s Bay and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for The Beast in Me, but failed to mention his partner in his acceptance speech.
However, Keri – who was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for The Diplomat but lost to Pluribus star Rhea Seehorn – has now spoken out about the snub and revealed she had told Matthew not to worry about thanking her in a bid to ease his nerves about the night.
Speaking on the Dear Chelsea podcast, she said: “He was just so nervous. I mean, we were all nervous. But it’s a lot of pressure.
“And we said to each other the week of, we’re both nervous people. We’re not in that world that much. We visit that world. So we were both so nervous.
“And I looked at him a few days before and I said, ‘Okay, well, can you articulate what you’re most nervous about?’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah, having to speak.’ And I said, ‘Totally.’ And I said, ‘Take me off your plate.’
“Like, you don’t have to thank me, I know you love me, take me off your plate. There’s so many people you have to thank.”
Keri – who has Sam, 10, with her partner, and River, 19, and Willa, 14, from her marriage to Shane Deary – noted Matthew still gets a “hard time” from the people he omitted from his speech at the 2018 Emmy Awards, when he won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in The Americans.
She added: “People still give him a hard time because he didn’t say their name. Like, it’s so crazy. People get nuts. It’s stupid and it’s also lame.
“So I said, ‘Take me off your plate, that’s not what this is.
“I don’t care if you want to thank the dog walker. You do whatever you want to do. That’s your minute. That’s your 45 seconds. So I just said, ‘Take me off your plate.’ And we kind of said to each other, ‘We don’t have to thank each other.’ “
Matthew previously praised Keri as a “class act” following his Emmy win.
He joked of the competitiveness between them in the press room at the awards: “It’s not playful. I’ve got a lot of money on myself.
“The kids ran a book, and I was the odds-on favourite. It’s going to be a rough week for her. I’m sorry — I don’t know if I am to be perfectly honest.”
He grew serious as he added: “You know, she’s always the class act. She sends her fellow nominees Gloria Steinem quotes about being linked and not judged, and I’m the one going, Wahoo!
“She’s always really the winner, if I’m perfectly honest.
“And I think next year she might get one, that’s my bet.”
Keri Russell addresses Matthew Rhys’ Emmy Awards acceptance speech snub
