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Keri Russell’s “comeback year” has the feel of a reinvention, a re-branding of the dainty young lovely who burst on the scene with “Felicity” back in the past century.

But as different as her flinty mom in the new film “Dark Skies” (not previewed for critics) might seem, as dangerous and “out there” as her Born Again Bolshevik sleeper spy is in TV’s “The Americans,” she refuses to label her return to public view a career makeover.

“The great think about disappearing is that people forget about you a little bit,” Ms. Russell says. “Your past is forgotten. You can come back as something fresh and new.

“These past two years, I’ve come back to all these interesting things that people might not have thought about me for in the past. They just happened.”

She stepped away from film and TV half a dozen years ago, getting married and giving birth to two children, who are now 1 and 5. At 36, she’s a different person — a mom, for starters. And it’s made her a different actress. Continue reading Motherhood changes Keri Russell’s outlook

The name of Keri Russell’s new film may be “Dark Skies,” but in reality, the light is shining brighter than ever on the acclaimed actress’ already successful career.

In a recent interview, Russell told me that she’s read several scripts in the horror and supernatural thriller genre, but there was really nothing that piqued her interest until the script for writer-director Scott Stewart’s “Dark Skies” rolled overhead.

“It’s one of those scripts that I read and instantly thought, ‘That’s going to work.’ It has all the rights for me. It’s scary, but fun scary, but at the core, it was like a family drama,” Russell said. “For me, those are the kinds of movies I like, where you believe in the family, first, to set things up, and then things start happening — like in a ‘Poltergeist’ vein. That’s more of what we were targeting.”

Opening in theaters nationwide on Friday, Russell and Josh Hamilton star as Lacy and Daniel Barrett, a pair of suburban parents whose peaceful existence is turned into a living nightmare as a mysterious alien presence invades their home and preys upon them. Continue reading Keri Russell thrilled to navigate ‘Dark Skies’

Dark Skies opens in theaters this week (Friday, February 22nd) and ShockTillYouDrop.com had an opportunity to speak with actress Keri Russell (The Americans) and producer Jason Blum.

Russell and Josh Hamilton star in the film as a suburban couple whose lives become a nightmare when a terrifying alien presence enters their home each night to prey upon their children. Increasingly isolated from skeptical friends and neighbors, the couple is forced to take matters into their own hands to save their family.

Scott Stewart (Legion, Priest) directs. Head inside for the interviews! Continue reading Shock Interview: Keri Russell & Jason Blum Talk Dark Skies

When she was 15 years old, Keri Russell was cast on the All-New Mickey Mouse Club. For the next three years, the fresh-faced youngster came of age alongside Ryan Gosling, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, forming the base of what could retroactively be described as the modern American pop culture landscape. All of which makes Russell’s latest foray into that culture so intriguing.

Twenty years after she landed America’s signature kids program, Russell is playing Elisabeth Jennings, a Cold War-era Washington D.C. Stepford wife who leads a double life as a KGB spy. As if to hammer the point home, the new FX series The Americans opens with Russell, best known as the soft-hearted Felicity in the romantic dramedy series of the same name, performing fellatio on an unsuspecting American target.

The Mickey Mouse Club, it certainly is not.

We caught up with Russell to discuss her return to dramatic television, memories of the Cold War and her most sexually graphic role to date. Continue reading Q&A: Keri Russell talks on-screen oral sex and what it’s like to play a Russian spy on The Americans