Keri Russell is often dodging bullets on screen, but in real life, one of the most dangerous things she does—which is, arguably, kind of dangerous—is ride her bike around Brooklyn without a helmet.
“I’m not biking through Manhattan up Fifth Avenue like a bike messenger, weaving in and out of traffic. I’m riding on a bike path through bucolic Brooklyn Heights,” she says after noting that her family gives her grief about it. She says it’s her only vice. “I’m not doing cocaine, up all night on Friday nights. I ride a bike at 6 a.m. without a helmet, to let my hair blow in the breeze and feel like a teenager. Please give it to me.”
The actress, who famously let her hair down as an intrepid New York college student in “Felicity” more than 20 years ago, is known for portraying imperfectly powerful women in powerfully imperfect marriages. She put her stamp on prestige TV with FX’s “The Americans,” playing a Russian spy who fooled the neighbors alongside her agent husband, portrayed by Welsh actor Matthew Rhys. The show put a stamp on her personal life as well: She and Rhys are in a long-term relationship and together have an 8-year-old son. Russell has two children, ages 11 and 17, from a previous relationship.
In the Netflix drama “The Diplomat,” just returning for its second season, Russell plays Kate Wyler, a war-hardened diplomat turned reluctant ambassador to the U.K., married to former ambassador and backroom busybody Hal Wyler, played by British actor Rufus Sewell. In their partnership, arguments, political schemes and sex are all tumbled into one.
Russell, 48, spoke recently about her opinion of bedtime pillow talk, the trick with shooting phone scenes and getting caught outside in her underwear.
When do you wake up?
I’m filming right now, so my call is usually pretty early, about 4:45 in the morning. I tiptoe through the house. I open up the door and go outside and do this weird little bouncing thing. You kind of shake, you bounce up and down, and I just do it for like five minutes. The last few years, my back has been going out. And I find that if I do this bouncing thing, it shakes it all back into place. We were shooting in London, some mornings were rainy, I’d go out in my little nerdy T-shirt I slept in, I’d do my bounce around. I’m positive there are multiple days of security footage of this tired mom showing her underwear that no one needs to see with a tired, saggy, weird face and messy hair.
Do you exercise after that?
I do a quick little 15-minute workout. I’ll put on some amazing music, like full of teenage lust and longing, and just dance around and bounce around. My kids would die if they saw me, but it makes me happy.
Do you drink coffee?
I have a hot water and lemon. I make my own celery juice. I leave one out for Matthew. And I make my coffee, and that’s the heaven moment where everything is perfect. We have a pretty cool, old-fashioned pour-over kind of thing. I make a strong, almost espresso shot, and then I heat up some oat milk on the stove and put it in.
In this season of “The Diplomat,” Kate needs to deliver news about a death over the phone. Are phone scenes harder to perform than regular ones?
The scene you’re talking about, there was no person on the other line. You have to make up what that person is saying. You just have to have a good imagination.
“The Diplomat” is big on pillow talk. How do you feel about that at your bedtime?
We are at that stage, sadly, in our lives where we are super tired at the end of the night. My dream come true would be eyes closed at 8:45, where kids are safely happy in their beds, and if it’s my fantasy dream, they’re all reading a book—which, guess what, they’re not—and get themselves to sleep. And then I just get to drift off thinking about girl road trips or puppies that we’re going to get.
How do you and Matthew divide household chores?
Matthew is an incredible partner in that regard. His mom and dad were both teachers. They both had big, everyday jobs and so they shared tasks really well, and they taught him that. And he is an incredible dad and helper in the way that most moms are. We have a very good natural unspoken thing. He usually does trash. I usually do dinner, and sometimes he’ll do the cleanup.
What is the secret to a good relationship?
I think you’ve got to give people a break. We’re in this moment in relationships where we just kind of want everyone to be perfect, and all these things all at once. People have bad days. I remember this co-worker of mine said, “Bad days? I’ve had bad years in my marriage.” There are bad years where you kind of miss each other. I just try to pay attention when I can. And getting away from kids occasionally is really important, and we try to do that. If we could all procreate with our girlfriends, I guess we probably would.
What’s a piece of advice that’s meant a lot to you?
A woman just slightly older than me told me in my 30s in the midst of having very young children and working, she said, “You can have everything. Kids and a great career and friends and a great relationship. You just can’t have them all at the same time work really well.” And I really think that’s true. When I am working on a show like this, especially being one of the lead actors on it, it’s an uphill sprint. I work really hard for those few months, and then I’m not desperate to go find some independent movie in between seasons. I use that time off to do all that other stuff—show up to all my kids’ things, go on dates with Matthew, read books, see my friends for boozy lunches at 3 in the afternoon. You kind of let yourself off the hook a little bit.
Source: https://www.wsj.com
