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The Americans is no longer a critical hit in hiding.

After three years of Emmy snubs, the spy drama rebounded this year with nominations for best drama series and lead actors Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys.

Russell and Rhys, a couple in real life who welcomed a son in May, were “in shock,” says Russell. “We were like, we’ve not been nominated so many times we were so sure we’d never be nominated! But maybe because it’s the fourth season (of the show) there’s so much less pressure. It just feels very fun.”

But there could be consequences. “I know,” she laughs. “We’re like, ‘Oh, no!’ Now no one’s going to like our show now. The underdog position is the place to be.”

Her summer maternity leave is full of little sleep and “fireflies.” The actress, who has two children with her ex, Shane Deary, says she and Rhys will return to shoot the fifth season in New York this October (A sixth in 2018 will wrap up the series). “It wasn’t exactly planned that way, but it did all work out pretty well,” she says of the baby’s timing. “It’s been a pretty fun summer of nature and kids and not a lot of sleep.”

And just like the rest of us, she’s trying to cobble clues about next season. “Before I left for the summer we got tipped off about one certain thing,” she says. “And I was like, ‘Guys, if I need to learn Russian, just tell me now. If we’re going to be doing heavy-duty Russian, I want to be learning it over the summer, not like a week before I have to perform it.”

Source: http://www.usatoday.com

n its fourth season, FX’s 1980s Soviet spy period drama The Americans has finally broken through with Television Academy members and earned some top-notch Emmy nominations including drama series, lead actress for Keri Russell and lead actor for Matthew Rhys.

Since its first season, The Americans, which follows Soviet spies Philip and Elizabeth Jennings (Rhys and Russell0, a married couple posing as an American suburban one at the height of the Cold War, was a critical darling. However, when it came to Emmy season, the series was continually overlooked in the above the line categories. In the wake of AMC’s Mad Men, which would consistently earn acting nominations and strike out in wins (except for Jon Hamm’s lead actor drama win last year), Americans was another example of a period series that was challenged when it came to Emmys.

The news today came as a huge surprise to both Russell and Americans EPs Joseph Weisberg and Joel Fields. Commenting on why this year was finally the year for the show, Russell beamed, “In all my years of wearing winter coats, I have no idea why. Our show is a slow burn for a lot of people.”

“It feels like we’re the bad kids who got invited to the party,” quipped the actress who counts her first Emmy nom after scoring a Golden Globe in 1999 for Felicity. For Rhys, Fields and Weisberg, it’s their first time too. Continue reading ‘The Americans’ Tears Down Emmy Wall With Key Noms For Cold War Spy Drama

“I thought I very likely misheard it,” said creator Joe Weisberg of his disbelief when he heard the FX drama called out during the nominations ceremony.
After four seasons on the air, FX’s critically acclaimed espionage drama The Americans finally got some recognition from the TV Academy.

The drama nabbed a total of five Emmy nominations on Thursday morning, which is the same as the total number of noms the show had racked up over its past three eligible years. Not only did the series get a nod for best drama this year — lead actors Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys received nominations in their respective acting categories, a first for both of the veteran television actors.

Showrunners Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields hopped on the phone with The Hollywood Reporter to talk about how they found out the big news, who their first call was and why they think this is the year that the espionage drama finally got some awards love. Continue reading ‘The Americans’ Showrunners on Emmy Nominations: “I Didn’t Believe It”