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It’s a cold, wintry December day in New York, and Keri Russell has a short break between filming scenes for The Americans. Though she’s now sitting in a heated van, there’s still a slight shiver in her voice as she explains what’s in store for Season 2 of the Cold War drama, which set network ratings records for FX during its Emmy-nominated debut last year. The Americans Season 2 begins Feb. 26.

“I think the main difference is last year when we started, Elizabeth wasn’t really even engaged in the marriage,” she says of her character. “It was questionable how much she was involved and wanted to be there, and I think this year she really wants to be in it. She’s trying to engage in that relationship in a really strong way that she hasn’t before. We start this year and continue as a team, less each one trying to jump ship and more how do we deal with all these obstacles as a married couple.”

Russell forever shattered images of Felicity (except for that hair, which we will always adore) with her hardened portrayal of Elizabeth, a Soviet spy sent to live deep undercover in the Washington, D.C., suburbs with Philip (Matthew Rhys), a fellow KGB operative. They go so far as to have a marriage and two children, who know nothing of their parents’ true identities. In addition to tempting fate each time they carry out missions from their bosses, Elizabeth and Philip have to deal with a new neighbor, Stan (Noah Emmerich), an FBI agent who is getting uncomfortably close to the truth. Continue reading Keri Russell talks about The Americans Season 2

In the second season of The Americans, the stakes are higher, the wigs shaggier, and the sex more dangerous: The FX drama’s 2013 pilot first introduced Keri Russell’s character, Elizabeth Jennings—a KGB spy living undercover in the U.S. during the Cold War—with a scene in which she poses as a prostitute and performs oral sex on an FBI agent from whom she steals intel. But early in the season-two premiere, an even more daring (especially for basic cable) sexual act between Jennings and her husband, Philip (Matthew Rhys), is cut short when their teenage daughter interrupts. “Paige is certainly affected by it,” says Russell, laughing. “She’ll never, ever, open a closed door again.”

At least Paige’s permanent scarring helped lay some thematic groundwork: “This season is all about their family,” says Russell. “Last year was about [Elizabeth and Philip’s] marriage. But they are a unified front now, and they’ll be dealing with the things everyday parents do.” Plus the usual espionage stuff: “Getting shot at the end of last season has shaken Elizabeth on a massive level. She’s not exactly cutting it as a spy. But does it shake her feeling about the cause? I think she’s still pretty into it. Elizabeth is hard-core.”

Between seasons, Russell reunited with director Matt Reeves—who helped launch her career when he co-created TV’s Felicity in 1998—to play a doctor in this summer’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. “I’m not really summer-blockbuster-movie material. My boobs aren’t big enough for that,” she says. “When Matt called, I was like, ‘You mean I’d be doing these emotional scenes with grown men in unitards pretending to be apes?’ But Andy Serkis [who plays lead ape Caesar] and I had so many gut-wrenching crying scenes. The unitards weren’t a problem.”

Source: http://www.vulture.com