A FEW QUICK THINGS ABOUT KERI RUSSELL: she arrived perfectly on time for this profile’s photo shoot; her face was makeup-free, hair slightly damp, smile wide and open; she wore cut-off jean shorts and well-worn Toms; she was unfailingly polite and relatively quiet until her kids arrived on set, at which point she got down on the floor in full-on, silly mom-mode; she says Colorado with the flat “A” of someone who has lived in Colorado; her only specific request for the daytime shoot was beer; she eats anything and everything; she loves—LOVES—her bike; she has been listening to a lot of Tom Petty lately; like, a lot of Tom Petty. And so it probably wouldn’t be out of line to guess that she’s also crazy about Elvis, loves horses, and her boyfriend, too. All of which is to say: Keri Russell is normal. Well, but first, some thoughts on “normal,” at least as it pertains to celebrities. Probably the most tedious part of reading—or, for that matter, writing—celebrity profiles is when the journalist goes out of the way to make the celebrity seem “normal.” After all, isn’t the whole point of an actress being profiled that she isn’t normal? And yet, journalistic back-flips are performed in order to make a woman who is extraordinarily beautiful and charming and talented and wealthy seem completely relatable. Frequently this is done with the all-too-familiar celebrity profile trope of the eating scene, during which the subject over-enthusiastically orders a huge cheeseburger and french fries, only to eat nothing save a solitary fry. What makes these moments so cringe-inducing is how performative they are and how they wind up doing the exact opposite of what they’re intended to do; instead of making the celebrity relatable, they only serve to delineate the difference between her life and ours. After all, we might not be wealthy or famous, but at least we can eat a fucking cheeseburger. Continue reading An American Girl: Keri Russell
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