Matthew Rhys on his new horror-comedy and the town it is 'heavily based on'

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Emmy-award winning actor Matthew Rhys says his Welsh roots and family connections to a Pembrokeshire town helped him win a starring role in the new Apple TV horror-comedy series Widow's Bay.

Rhys portrays the mayor of a quaint New England town who is trying to attract tourists while playing down reports of the supernatural.

"It's not Fishguard, but it's heavily based on it," joked Rhys, who said he explained during his interview for the part that he was from a country with a rich history of mythical tales.

"If myth and legend were an Olympic sport, our country [Wales] would podium every time, because it's something very dear to our hearts," Rhys told BBC Radio Wales.

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Rhys was born in Cardiff but his mum's family are from Fishguard, while he said he also came from "a long line of mariners".

In Widow's Bay, Rhys portrays Tom Loftis, the mayor of a community struggling with no wi-fi, poor mobile phone signal and locals who believe the island is cursed.

Loftis wants to attract tourists to the town, but soon discovers that old stories that once seemed "too ludicrous to be true" start happening again.

Widow's Bay caps a spell of hit TV dramas for Rhys.

He spent five years on Brothers and Sisters, won an Emmy for playing a Soviet spy undercover in The Americans - where he met his partner Keri Russell - and most recently starred opposite Claire Danes in last year's Netflix thriller The Beast in Me.

The actor is acutely aware of the precarious nature of his profession though.

He admitted that after playing opposite Kathleen Turner in The Graduate on stage in 2000, he failed to get work for more than 18 months and considered a career in the Army.

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"I met with an officer and he was incredibly suspicious of me as an actor... and he said 'we'll be in touch'," said Rhys.

"Then about a week later, I got a rejection letter from the British Army saying, 'thank you for your interest, good luck in your career'.

"And I went 'oh my god, I can't even join the army'."

Last year, Rhys took to stages across the country in Playing Burton, a one-man theatre show in which he portrayed his hero, Richard Burton.

The shows raised money for the Welsh National Theatre, set up by actor and philanthropist Michael Sheen to tell stories from Wales.

Rhys is now in talks about taking Playing Burton to Broadway.

"I hadn't been on stage in 16 years, so terrifying as it was, it was one of the most gratifying things I've ever done within acting," he said.

"We're still half talking about it possibly having a small re-emergence in New York next year.

"So it definitely still has a little life, but as memories go, it will be forever one of the most cherished I have."