Matthew Rhys quips that he ended up in Cocaine Bear via Keri Russell’s coattails
Speaking with The A.V. Club, Matthew Rhys admits he "jumped on my partner’s coattails" for a cameo in Cocaine Bear
Aux News Keri Russell
This article contains minor spoilers for Cocaine Bear.
Cocaine Bear is a sensation in its own right, but one aspect delighting fans is the stealthy The Americans reunion within the cast. The heavy lifting for that reunion is between Keri Russell and Margo Martindale, but Jennings patriarch Matthew Rhys also managed to sneak his way into the production as one of the film’s only real-life figures, Andrew C. Thornton II, the ill-fated drug smuggler whose cocaine was found by the bear. Speaking with The A.V. Club’s Saloni Gajjar, Rhys explained exactly how he landed the part.
“I unashamedly jumped on my partner’s coattails,” Rhys shares, “because I knew [wife Keri Russell] was doing this movie with Elizabeth Banks, who we know, and I read the script and I simply said, ‘Who’s playing that? That little fun part, a few seconds in the beginning?’ She goes, ‘I don’t know.’ I said, ‘Ask Banks.’ And then she said, ‘No, it’s been cast,’ and I said ‘Tell Banks I’ll do it.’ And then I was like, ‘Well actually, just ask her if I can do it.’”
“I was in Ireland looking after the kids. I said, ‘Look, I’m here! I’m around. I’m local,’” the actor joked. His pitch paid off, and Rhys was brought on to portray Thornton’s tragically comic death. “That was a very quick pop for me. It was kind of half a day,” he said of filming. “They set up an old airplane with a big wind machine, and a stunt team, you know, for the pratfall, and that was it. They put on loud a’80s music, and we had a lot of fun.”
In an interview with Syfy, producer Chris Miller told his side of the story, crediting Banks with bringing Rhys on. “One thing that people don’t really know about Matthew is that he’s one of the funniest people you’ll ever meet,” The Lego Movie director said. “We were talking about who should play Andrew Thornton, and we had already cast Keri. We had dinner with him and Keri and they’re both super fun and funny, but we left that dinner thinking, ‘How come nobody knows this side of him?’ He plays dramatic roles incredibly well and interestingly, and his American accent is spot-on. I had no idea that he wasn’t actually American for years. It seemed like a really fun opportunity to get him to show off some of the range that he has, even in a very, very brief role.”
29 Comments
In Soviet Russia, film cast you!No, wait that needs work, that’s how films generally do things everywhere.
In Soviet Union, Cocaine does Bear!
Damn, I almost forgot Perry Mason S2 is premiering Monday. HBO has really done a crappy job of promoting it.
That was a pleasant surprise when I found out like 2 weeks ago that there was a second season coming. They really barely mention it. It’s also on Mondays, which is kind of where they dump their less-prestigious shows.
That’s not a good sign. I get the feeling that NBC is going to axe American Auto after this season 2—I haven’t seen a single ad for it anywhere, but plenty for Night Court. Kinda resembles what HBO has done in basically ignoring Perry.
They did the same thing with His Dark Materials and The Nevers (though for different reasons, I guess)… both had a lot of buzz going in, then they just kind of fizzled and they dumped the remaining eps out on Monday nights.
Rhys was pretty funny as the Welsh “terrorist” on Archer
He and Keri are MARRIED?! I didn’t know that! I don’t usually squee but that’s so fucking adorable.
This was my reaction. Holy shit!
Apparently it happened in 2021
Yes, but now we’re forced to assume that they actually are deep-cover Soviet operatives.
Margo Martindale has definitely really killed people. There’s no doubt in my mind.
There’s only one true soul mate for Keri.
And they legally adopted the Mail Robot!Not really. But I can dream.
Not really. But I can dream.*hands over restraining order* No, you can’t.
“I had no idea that he wasn’t actually American for years.”Some him on Seth Meyers the other night, and kind of the first time I heard him speak in his normal Welsh accent for an extended period of time… and it is ridiculous. The accent, couple with the ridiculous mustache, makes him seem like an entirely different person. I might’ve not even recognized him by voice or by appearance if I hadn’t seen his name in the show guide.
Imagine my surprise when I found out that Jimmy McNulty and Stringer Bell are both Englishmen.
And Rhonda Pearlman, the redheaded DA.
What? Deirdre Lovejoy is American.
Is she? There’s a couple of times where her accent slips and she sounds almost Irish. Hunh. Thanks!
I’m really bad at hearing actors covering up native accents. People keep saying that Dom was slipping into his accent all the time during The Wire, but I never heard it.I think Idris has a near perfect American accent—-I never realized Stringer nor Charles Miner were played by a Brit.
West was normally pretty good, but there’s one rant he has in the first season where his accent slips quite a bit:
And Tommy Carcetti is Irish
“one aspect delighting fans is the stealthy The Americans reunion within the cast.”I wish they could’ve got the kid who played Henry, sitting at home by himself while Keri Russell is out in the woods running from the bear trying to save her other kid.
The little boy friend who is not her kid and she therefore is way less worried about is actually named Henry, which is super distracting and, frankly, feels deliberate.
haha shit! Really? That is outstanding.
The actor playing Henry was brilliant in depicting a potted plant.
TUSK!