Matthew Rhys explains 'fun' in playing 'mildly sadistic' Nile in 'The Beast in Me'

Matthew Rhys is reflecting on his The Beast in Me character Nile Jarvis.

Rhys thinks Nile enjoys the discomfort around him, and the actor enjoys the dynamic between Nile and author and grieving mom Aggie Wiggs (Claire Danes).

"There's a relish to Nile in that there's a relish of the discomfort around him that he thoroughly enjoys," Rhys, 51, told People. "And I think sometimes he does that for his own entertainment, for his pleasure, for his mildly sadistic nature."

"But then when he finds a kind of tennis partner in Aggie [Claire Danes], and he goes, 'Oh wow, this is someone who can hit the ball back at a far greater speed and far more deftly.' So, that's always fun," he explained.

Aggie and Nile, are "only one impulsive move from being each other," Rhys added.

"And it's paper thin," he said of the difference between them. "The kind of membrane between is paper thin and thereby the grace of God goes the other one. And I think they see that in each other, that it's at any given moment, given how impulsive the two of them are, the stories can be switched so easily."

"And that's when it's kind of electric," Rhys remarked.