Towards Zero: Matthew Rhys admits he wouldn’t make ‘real-life detective’

Actor Matthew Rhys has said he wouldn’t make a great detective in real life, despite playing one in a new Agatha Christie adaption.

The Cardiff-born actor plays Inspector Leach in murder mystery Towards Zero, which also stars Hollywood royalty Anjelica Huston and Clarke Peters.

Rhys is known for his role as Philip Jennings in Russian spy drama The Americans.

Speaking to Lucy Owen on BBC Radio Wales, he said he couldn’t “buy a clue” if his life depended on it.

“I’m not the sharpest tool in the box. When I did The Americans people would say that to me, like, ‘do you think you make a good spy?’ And I was like, no,” he said.

“I don’t think I make a good detective, because there was even times when I’d finished the script, and still I went to the director, ‘I don’t quite understand how it happened’ and he’s like ‘oh boy we’re really dealing with one here’.”

Set in the 1930s, Towards Zero centres on an explosive love triangle, a house party of deadly enemies and a formidable matriarch, Lady Tressilian.

Rhys said the allure of acting alongside Huston was an enormous draw.

“I was incredibly nervous. There’s only one family who has three generations of Oscar winners, and her and the Hustons are those,” he said.

“I found myself at a slight tremble when the immortal words of ‘and action’ were shouted.

“But those people are those people for a reason, because they are full of grace and understanding and incredibly talented, and she certainly went out of her way to put me at ease.”

During the final crucial scene in the drama, Inspector Leach takes to the tennis court to play one of the suspects Nevile Strange, played by Oliver Jackson-Cohen.

While Rhys may have played rugby back in Wales, the only time he attempted tennis was on video games and a bit of ping pong, while his co-star also had little to no experience.

Both had emergency tennis lessons before filming, but even they could not help.

“It just got to a point where they were shooting it and the director went, ‘you know what? You just pretend like you’re hitting it, and we’ll put the balls in after’,” he said.

It has been a busy period for the actor as he stars in the upcoming Apple TV series Widow’s Bay and the Netflix series The Beast in Me opposite Homeland’s Claire Danes.

Rhys now lives in New York, but remains a passionate Welshman, celebrating St David’s Day with his family in Brooklyn.

The second episode of Towards Zero is BBC One at 21:00 GMT on Sunday. All episodes are available now on BBC iPlayer.

Matthew Rhys’ interview with Lucy Owen on BBC Radio Wales was first broadcast on Saturday and is available to catch up with on BBC Sounds.