Keri Lynn Russell (born March 23, 1976 in Fountain Valley, California) is an American actress and dancer.
After appearing in a number of made-for-TV films and series during the mid-1990s, she came to fame for portraying the title role of Felicity Porter on the series Felicity, which ran from 1998 to 2002, and for which she won a Golden Globe Award. Russell has since appeared in several films including Mission: Impossible III (2006), Waitress (2007), August Rush (2007), Extraordinary Measures (2010), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), and starred in the FX television series The Americans. She currently stars as protagonist Kate Wyler on the Netflix series The Diplomat.
Film Roles
- 1992 Honey, I Blew Up the Kid as Mandy Park
- 1997 Eight Days A Week as Erica
- 2002 We Were Soldiers as Barbara Geoghegan
- 2005 The Upside Of Anger as Emily Wolfmeyer
- 2006 Mission: Impossible III as Lindsey Farris
- 2006 Grimm Love as Katie
- 2007 Waitress as Jenna Hunterson
- 2007 The Girl In The Park as Celeste
- 2007 August Rush as Lyla Novacek
- 2008 Bedtime Stories as Jill
- 2009 Leaves Of Grass as Janet
- 2009 Wonder Woman as the voice of Wonder Woman.
- 2010 Extraordinary Measures as Aileen Crowley
- 2012 Goats as Judy
- 2013 Austenland as Jane Hayes
- 2013 Dark Skies as Lacy Barrett
- 2014 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes as Ellie
- 2016 Free State of Jones as Serena Knight
- 2019 The Rise of Skywalker as Zorii Bliss
- 2020 Antlers as Julia Meadows
- 2023 Cocaine Bear as Sari
Television Roles
- 1993-1994 The Mickey Mouse Club
- 1996 Malibu Shores as Chloe Walker
- 1998–2002 Felicity as Felicity Porter
- 2007 Scrubs as Melody O'Hara
- 2010–2011 Running Wilde as Emmy Kadubic
- 2013–2018 The Americans as Elizabeth Jennings
- 2023–present The Diplomat as Kate Wyler
Tropes associated with her work:
- Awesome, Dear Boy: She accepted her role in The Americans because she wanted to know what happened next in the script.
- Career Resurrection: After Felicity finished, she was mainly in small parts and little-seen films. A couple of well-received guest spots on Scrubs, a part in Mission: Impossible III and the well-received Waitress got her back on track.
- The Cast Show Off: She was mainly hired for her dance abilities on The Mickey Mouse Club.
- Celebrity Voice Actor: As the title role in Wonder Woman.
- I Am Not Spock: Played with. She has amassed plenty of critical acclaim for other projects but Felicity is still her most well-known role. Though that might be changing as The Americans grows in stature.
- Important Haircut: Famously in the second season of Felicity, where she cut her long curly hair completely short. As the show nosedived in ratings immediately afterwards, the WB actually came up with a mandate that young stars on their shows would not change their hairstyles too drasticallynote . Keri notably grew the hair back as quick as she could. This was not actually her choice - as the haircut was written into the script.
- Production Posse: After starring in Felicity' she continued to show up as side characters in many J. J. Abrams films.
- Romance on the Set: She dated and eventually had a child with Matthew Rhys, her co-star on The Americans.
- Star-Making Role: She mainly did TV movies and bit parts before Felicity.
- Typecasting: She's played a pregnant woman four times.
