Matthew Rhys

“Oh, Grey Gardens. That is a great– That’s a great one, just as an observation of humanity alone. Worth a look. But not on my list.”

“Oh! This is my number one: Withnail and I. As an actor – it’s about two out-of-work actors, and obviously that’s something I can relate to very easily. Bruce Robinson himself was an actor, and a lot of this– a lot of his life is in this movie. I would hasten to say that it is Richard E. Grant’s finest film performance. And the beautiful Paul McGann. The two of them together are as heartbreaking as they are hilarious. But Richard Griffiths as Uncle Monty, with some of the most quotable lines you will ever find in a beautifully made picture. In you go, my dearest thing.”

“Now, where would I find – hang on – The Princess Bride? This is probably the film that I have watched most. It was a great point of honor for me to show this to my son about a year ago. And what I delight… Excuse me, I’m getting emotional. What I delight in the fact was that his ability to pick up the right quotes from the entire film left me with one of the greatest senses of pride I’ve ever, ever felt. It transports you, enchants you. It makes you cry and laugh. It thrills. It has real intrigue. You’re forever going, “What is going to happen now?” I would say a perfectly made film, and I don’t often say that. Inconceivable.”

“Now then, where would I find Do the Right Thing? How could I miss it? Ooh, Spartacus. “I’m Spartacus.” See, this is very difficult. All of a sudden you get sidetracked. Sid & Nancy, another classic. Traffic, of course. But I am going to stick to my guns on this one, and I’ll tell you why. As a young boy growing up in Wales, I just remember it felt like I was being slapped around the face the first time I saw it and just introduced to a world I had no idea of. And that’s what great films should do, and it did. And it was this introduction to Spike Lee’s Brooklyn or America that made me… made me want to come here, certainly made me want to come to Brooklyn. I fell in love with Rosie Perez, and I kind of still am. But keep that to yourselves. 1989. I am clearly a child of the ’80s. Two ’87s and an ’89.”

“This being one of them. That was another one. In the same way that Do the Right Thing blew my head off, that blew my head off, because I went, “You mean people make films like this? Who made this?” A man called Martin Scorsese. What’s incredible about Mean Streets, now that you have his body of work, is to kind of begin here and keep going through and then finish with the documentary about him. That is a real treat. A time commitment, but one not misspent. Like a religious icon. You should take it. No, I won’t. I can’t. I shan’t. I want to hand it on to some younger kid, throw that in his bag or her bag and say, “Watch this.””

“♪ The babe called Brian ♪ Another movie that I mercilessly destroyed, a VCR tape, rewatching and rewatching and rewatching. Also a movie in my formative years. My family back home in Wales went, “Would you please, for the love of God, stop quoting Life of Brian?” There’s one glorious moment when the Roman centurions have to search a house and then they all come out and they go, “Did you find anything?” And he goes, “We found this spoon.” And my mother went, “If you say that line one more time, I will take that spoon and club you to death with it.” And also directed by Terry Jones, a Welshman. The only Welsh Python. Was he? Yes, the only Welsh Python. So we take great pride in this. Classic.”

“So I’m torn about my final because two great classics, obviously. I have a friend who says, “I hope to one day lose my memory so I can watch The Great Escape every day and not know how it’ll end.” It’s a remarkable piece of filmmaking as well. And it’s worth it just to see McQueen on a motorbike alone. However, good old Dickie Attenborough is also in The Great Escape. Another of the true great filmmakers. So… I’m about to escape this small closet with a great classic in the form of The Great Escape.”

“However, twenty-five years– twenty-seven years ago, I did a stage version of The Graduate in London’s West End with Kathleen Turner, and I played Benjamin Braddock. Obviously, I watched… foolishly, watched this film a lot prior to making that in the vain attempt that I would somehow imbue the magic of Dustin Hoffman, and maybe it just turned into a poor impersonation, I don’t know. But I’ve always loved, well, almost everything of Mike Nichols. I shall put The Graduate back.”