Keri Russell
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Keri Lynn Russell (born March 23, 1976) is an American actress. She played the title role in the drama series '' Felicity'' (1998–2002), which won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama, and later portrayed Elizabeth Jennings in the spy thriller series ''
The Americans ''The Americans'' is an American historical drama, period spy fiction, spy drama television series created by Joe Weisberg for FX (TV channel), FX. It aired for six seasons from 2013 to 2018. Weisberg and Joel Fields also served as showrunners ...
'' (2013–2018), which earned her nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and two
Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual Awards ceremony, award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally ...
. For playing the title role in the political drama series '' The Diplomat'' (2023–present), she received one
Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...
and two
Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...
nominations. She has also received a record seven nominations for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series. She first appeared on
Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
's revival of '' The Mickey Mouse Club'' when she was 15, and was a regular cast member on the show from 1991 to 1994. She made her first film appearance in '' Honey, I Blew Up the Kid'' (1992). Russell's other film appearances include '' We Were Soldiers'' (2002), '' Waitress'' (2007), '' Dawn of the Planet of the Apes'' (2014), and '' Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker'' (2019). On stage, she acted in
Neil LaBute Neil N. LaBute (born March 19, 1963) is an American playwright, film director, and screenwriter. He is best known for a play that he wrote and later adapted for film, ''In the Company of Men'' (1997), which won awards from the Sundance Film Fest ...
's
off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
play '' Fat Pig'' (2004–2005) and made her Broadway debut in the Lanford Wilson revival '' Burn This'' (2019).


Early life

Russell was born on March 23, 1976, in Fountain Valley, California, to Stephanie Stephens, a homemaker, and David Russell, a Nissan Motors executive. She has an older brother and a younger sister. The family lived in
Coppell, Texas Coppell ( ) is a city in the northwest corner of Dallas County in the U.S. state of Texas. It is a suburb of Dallas and a bedroom community in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its population was 42,983 at the 2020 census. A small area in th ...
;
Mesa, Arizona Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The population was 504,258 at the 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Arizona, third-most populous city in Arizona, after Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, T ...
; and Highlands Ranch, Colorado, moving frequently due to her father's work.


Career


1990–2002: Early roles and rise to prominence with ''Felicity''

Russell was a dancer in middle school and high school, and her dancing had helped her get cast on '' The All New Mickey Mouse Club'' television show on the
Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
. Russell was on the show from 1991 to 1994, encompassing seasons four to six. In 1992, she appeared in '' Honey, I Blew Up the Kid'' and in 1993, had a minor role on the sitcom '' Boy Meets World'' as Mr. Feeny's niece. She appeared on '' Married... with Children'' in a 1995 episode ("Radio Free Trumaine", production 9.24). She subsequently starred in several film and television roles, including the 1996 made-for-television film '' The Babysitter's Seduction.'' That year she also had a role on the short-lived soap opera series '' Malibu Shores.'' In 1994, Russell appeared as the "other woman" in
Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Sayreville, New Jersey in 1983. The band consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarists John Shanks and Phil X, percussionist Everett Bradley ...
's music video " Always". In 1997, she appeared in two episodes of '' Roar''. From 1998 to 2002, Russell starred as the title character on the successful
WB Network The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" and/or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network that ran from 1995 to 2006. It launched on b ...
series '' Felicity'', and in 1999 won a Golden Globe for the role. During the show's run, Russell appeared in the films '' Eight Days a Week'', '' The Curve'' and '' Mad About Mambo'', all of which received only limited releases in North America. Her next role was in the film '' We Were Soldiers'' (2002), playing the wife of a United States serviceman during the Vietnam War. The film was released two months before the end of ''Felicity''s run.


2003–2012: Theater and film roles

When ''Felicity'' ended, Russell moved to New York City and made her off-Broadway stage debut in 2004 in
Neil LaBute Neil N. LaBute (born March 19, 1963) is an American playwright, film director, and screenwriter. He is best known for a play that he wrote and later adapted for film, ''In the Company of Men'' (1997), which won awards from the Sundance Film Fest ...
's '' Fat Pig''. In 2005, she returned to television and film, beginning with an appearance in the Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie '' The Magic of Ordinary Days'', the theatrical film '' The Upside of Anger'', and the television miniseries '' Into the West''. In 2005, director J. J. Abrams asked Russell to join the cast of '' Mission: Impossible III'', and she accepted. She was screen tested for the role of Lois Lane in '' Superman Returns'' but lost the part to Kate Bosworth. In mid-2006, Russell was chosen to be a celebrity spokeswoman for CoverGirl cosmetics. In the summer of 2007, Russell appeared in ''The Keri Kronicles'', a
reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...
sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
sponsored by CoverGirl and airing on
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; the show was filmed at Russell's home in Manhattan and spotlighted her life. Also in 2007, she played Melody on the NBC show '' Scrubs''. Russell next starred in the film '' Waitress'', which marked the fourth time she played a pregnant woman. Her performance was positively received by critics, with Michael Sragow of '' The Baltimore Sun'' writing that Russell's performance had "aesthetic character" and "wields tenderness and fierceness with quiet heat". In 2007, Russell also completed roles in '' Grimm Love'' and '' The Girl in the Park''. Russell next appeared in '' August Rush'', released in November 2007. Russell later appeared in '' Bedtime Stories''. In an appearance on '' The View'' on December 15, 2008, Russell said she got the part because Adam Sandler's wife Jackie had seen her in ''Waitress'' and suggested her for the movie. Russell voiced
Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superheroine who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''All Star Comics'' Introducing Wonder Woman, #8, published October 21, 1941, with her first feature in ''Sensation Comic ...
in a
direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...
animated feature released on March 3, 2009. Russell starred in the Tom Vaughan-helmed '' Extraordinary Measures'' for
CBS Films CBS Films Inc. was an American film production and distribution company founded in 2007 as a subsidiary of CBS Corporation and was considered a Major film studio#Mini-majors, mini-major studio up until 2019. CBS Films originally was planned t ...
. The drama, which started filming on April 6, 2009, and was released on January 22, 2010, was the first film to go into production for the new company. Russell played Aileen Crowley, a mother who tries to build a normal home life for her sick children while her husband and an unconventional scientist race against time to find a cure. Russell starred in the Fox series '' Running Wilde'' from 2010 to 2011.


2013–present: ''The Americans'' and ''The Diplomat''

From 2013 to 2018, she starred in the FX drama series ''
The Americans ''The Americans'' is an American historical drama, period spy fiction, spy drama television series created by Joe Weisberg for FX (TV channel), FX. It aired for six seasons from 2013 to 2018. Weisberg and Joel Fields also served as showrunners ...
'', playing Elizabeth Jennings, a deep-undercover Russian
KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...
spy living as an American in the 1980s
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
era. She appeared opposite Matthew Rhys, who portrays her character's husband and spy partner. Russell and Rhys became partners in real life during this time. The series ended after six seasons. For her performance, she was nominated for three consecutive Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, as well as two Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama. Emily St. James of '' Vox'' praised her performance describing it as "gorgeously restrained". In 2013, Russell starred in the science-fiction horror film '' Dark Skies'' and the romantic comedy film '' Austenland''. In 2014, she starred in the science fiction action film '' Dawn of the Planet of the Apes'', a sequel to 2011's '' Rise of the Planet of the Apes''. She starred as Serena Knight in the 2016 historical war film '' Free State of Jones''. In 2017, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In July 2018, Russell was announced to have joined the cast of the film '' Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker'', which was released on December 20, 2019. The film reunited her with J.J. Abrams, with whom she had worked on ''Felicity'' and ''Mission: Impossible III''. In March 2019, she starred in the first Broadway revival of Lanford Wilson's play '' Burn This'' at the Hudson Theatre. Frank Rizzo of '' Variety'' wrote of her performance, "Russell, whose stage credits are slim but who’s proven her chops onscreen in ''The Americans'', creates a vivid, if less flashy, performance", adding, "Still, she’s a force in her own right." In 2023, Russell began starring in '' The Diplomat'', a political series on
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
from writer and producer Debora Cahn.


Personal life

In 2006, Russell became engaged to Shane Deary, a Brooklyn-based contractor she met through mutual friends. They married in New York on February 14, 2007. They have two children: a son born in 2007 and a daughter born in 2011. Russell and Deary separated in early 2013 and divorced in mid-2014. Since 2014, she has been in a relationship with Welsh actor Matthew Rhys, her co-star in ''The Americans''. They have a son, born in 2016. In interviews conducted in 2021, Russell and Rhys referred to each other as husband and wife, although in an interview in 2025, Rhys said "we literally haven’t got round to marriage yet".


Filmography


Film


Television


Music videos


Video games


Theatre


Awards and nominations


Notes


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Keri 1976 births 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actors from Dallas County, Texas Actors from Denton County, Texas Actors from Douglas County, Colorado Actors from Maricopa County, Arizona Actresses from Arizona Actresses from Colorado Actresses from Orange County, California Actresses from Texas American child actresses American film actresses Child actresses Television child actresses American television actresses American voice actresses Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (television) winners Living people Mouseketeers People from Coppell, Texas People from Fountain Valley, California People from Highlands Ranch, Colorado People from Mesa, Arizona