Category Articles & Interviews

Underneath her good-girl cloak, Keri Russell is bursting with mischief — and searching for imperfection.

It’s not that Keri Russell is tired of being adorable on-screen. She’s made a nifty career of it, from her debut at age 15 on “The All New Mickey Mouse Club,” through her coming-of-age years on the college drama “Felicity” (J.J. Abrams’ first TV series), and on into films including the new rom-com “Austenland,” in which she plays a wallflower who visits a Jane Austen theme park in search of her own Mr. Darcy. Being delightful off-screen isn’t hard for Russell, either — in a recent phone interview, she was sunny and playful, with a mischievous sense of humor.

But to be honest, she’s having a total gas playing the moody and secretive Elizabeth Jennings, a 1980s-era Soviet spy posing as a Washington, DC, housewife, on the FX series “The Americans.”

“I’m really enjoying not having to be charming at every turn,” Russell says. “It’s sort of relaxing. And I get to wear thick, cat-eye eyeliner, and chains and silk blouses and long hair. I feel glamorous and cold. I like it.” She lets loose a peal of laughter. Continue reading Keri Russell goes under cover

Who can do the worm, skateboard, and play Nelly songs on the piano?

This girl: Keri Russell.

She can also juggle a badass leading role on The Americans, Gary Oldman and Gary Clarke in director Matt Reeves’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, one husband, and two littles.

For her latest trick, she plays a hopeless Jane Austen addict in Austenland, a Sundance rom com from Napoleon Dynamite co-writer-turned-director Jerusha Hess. We caught up with the wonder woman (who’s more charming and loveable than a Mr. Darcy blow-up doll) to talk movies, books, and beauty.

And Scott Speedman (what?). Continue reading Summer Fridays with Keri Russell

nd I’m back with more from my press day in NYC for Austenland. Besides chatting with director Jerusha Hess & Stephenie Meyer (Our round-table interview is here. Plus I have 1 on 1 interviews I’ll share tomorrow!) we talked with the cast that was in NYC for press-day: Keri Russell (really wish I hadn’t called her Felicity*), Jennifer Coolidge and JJ Feilds (Who, despite all the auto-correct attempts in the world, actually spells his name Feilds and not Fields) Continue reading Austenland interview with Keri Russell, Jennifer Coolidge and JJ Feilds

Idon’t think I’ve ever filled you ladies in on just how much I love Jane Austen—though I did share 5 little-known facts about her—but suffice it to say that if I had the funds to take an Austen-themed vacation to England I would already have gone, come home, and be planning my second, third, fourth trip back. So, yes, Keri Russell’s latest film, Austenland—a movie about a Darcy-obsessed woman who takes a vacation to England and experiences her own Elizabeth Bennet moment—definitely appealed to me. Even better, I got to chat with Keri about being a Janeite, her Felicity roots, and more. Listen in! Continue reading Keri Russell Talks Austenland, Those Empire-Waist Dresses, and Fave Felicity Moments With Us

Keri Russell won the admiration of many an adolescent girl during her four-season run as the star of “Felicity,” a teen drama focused on an awkward young girl’s adjustment to college life. Now those teen girls have grown up, are in their 30s, and get to see Russell embrace an adult fantasy reminiscent of the wistful ones many of us had years ago. Russell stars as Jane, a Jane Austen obsessive who blows an exorbitant amount of money to immerse herself in a Jane Austen reenactment resort in England.

The hilarious cast of supporting players includes Jennifer Coolidge, JJ Feild, Bret McKenzie, James Callis, Georgia King and Jane Seymour. Adapted from the novel by Shannon Hale and directed by Jerusha Hess, who previously brought us “Napolean Dynamite,” the film premiered at Sundance and opens tomorrow, August 16 in New York and Los Angeles with plans to expand. Russell sat down with Indiewire this week to talk about costume dramas, the state of women in Hollywood, and the multitudinous boobs. Spoiler alert: No one dies. Continue reading Keri Russell Talks ‘Austenland,’ Women in Hollywood, Costume Dramas and Boobs

If any actor on a freshman drama seemed a lock for an Emmy nomination, it was Keri Russell for her work as Soviet agent Elizabeth on FX’s ’80s-set “The Americans.”

Sexy, tough, and committed to the cause, Elizabeth started the series as a true believer, while her fellow agent and husband, Philip, was more ambivalent. But as the season progressed and Elizabeth suffered betrayals both big and small that first pushed her closer to Philip and then tore them apart, Russell’s work became electric and heartbreaking.

When the Emmy nominations were announced, Russell’s name was left out.

So it is surprising when she brings them up while discussing her new romantic comedy “Austenland.” More surprising is that she brings it up in reference to the lack of a nom for her co-star, Matthew Rhys.

“He’s so crazy good in it,” she says, still shocked. “I can’t believe he didn’t get nominated!”

Emboldened by her introduction of the topic, we submit that she did some pretty crazy good work herself. She looks at us as if we’re just crazy.

“Seriously, I have, like, long hair and some eyeliner,” she says. “But it’s crazy what he does.”

When Rhys is informed of this over the phone later, he verbally rolls his eyes. “She does everything in her utmost power to deflect attention away from herself,” he says from England. “She is genuinely modest and humble. But you get to the point where someone that talented, you want to go, ‘Shut up.’ ” More seriously, Rhys calls her “everything you’d want in a leading lady” and adds, “I’ve never heard her complain, the entire six months, even when she was beaten black and blue. She leads from the very top. She sets the pace, the standards, and the on-set decorum. But she does have great moments of irreverence, and she enjoys a glass of wine—sometimes at the wrong time of the day, so you know she’s human.” Continue reading Keri Russell Dons a Corset for New Movie ‘Austenland’

In the costume comedy Austenland, a super-obsessive Jane Austen fan (played by Keri Russell) more inclined to spend time with her Colin Firth–as–Mr. Darcy cardboard cutout than a real life man blows her savings to go on an immersive Jane Austen–themed vacation, in the hopes of meeting her own Mr. Darcy (or at least putting that fanciful notion out of her head once and for all). While on this vacation, the female guests wear corsets and empire-waist gowns, play croquette, and are wooed by the words of actors taking their cues from the etiquette of the period. Russell chatted with Vulture about letting out her inner Austen fangirl, showing off her breasts, and stealing Margo Martindale back for The Americans. And we taught her a thing or two about memes. Continue reading Keri Russell Learns About Jane Austen Fight Club, LARPing, and ‘Hey Girl’