Following his feature acting debut, Rhys joined the cast of the BBC police drama "Backup" in 1997, the same year he made his professional stage debut as an anarchic gay man in "Cardiff East", written and directed by Peter Gill. The actor went on to have featured roles in the Jimmy McGovern-scripted "Heart" and the comedy "Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?" (both 1999) before landing the role of the punkish scheming son of Jessica Lange's Tamora in "Titus" (1999), director Julie Taymor's visually stunning take on Shakespeare's "Titus Andronicus". While his memorable turn alongside Jonathan Rhys Meyers should have brought Hollywood calling, Rhys followed up with some less than stellar efforts, few of which even opened in American movie theaters. He managed to attract some attention for his fine turn as an impressionable youth drawn into the rave scene in the Cannes-screened "Sorted" (2000) and garnered strong reviews for his work as a drug addict in the British TV drama "Metropolis" (also 2000). Rhys perhaps gained his highest profile playing the titular character in the London stage adaptation of "The Graduate", portraying the naive Benjamin Braddock opposite Kathleen Turner's Mrs. Robinson. Unfortunately Turner drew more attention with a brief nude scene and her high profile overshadowed the rising player's.
Rhys went on to team with pal Gruffudd to play a gay couple called Hob and Nob in the comedy "Very Annie Mary" and played a Cockney with commitment issues in "Peaches" (both 2001). Returning to the small screen, he was well-cast as a journalist turned reluctant explorer in the BBC remake of "The Lost World" (2001), based on Arthur Conan Doyle's tale. Back on the big screen, Rhys portrayed a venal TV talk show host with his own skeletons in "Tabloid" and an Irish nobleman who kidnaps two women in "The Abduction Club" (both 2002). While he has continued to develop as an actor and his charm and good looks have made him something of a sex symbol in the United Kingdom, Rhys has yet to enjoy full on success in the USA. Undoubtedly, it will only be a matter of time before he finally gets the role that will do for him what "Horatio Hornblower" did for his pal Ioan Gruffudd.