Keri Russell doesn’t love everything that comes with being a famous actress.
“The Diplomat” star revealed the “worst” part of being in Hollywood after gaining fame in the mid-1990s.
“I hate being watched,” Russell told Variety. “Oh my God, it’s the worst. I had to do two photo shoots last week, so I had to drink a beer. I’m like, ‘Oh my God, they’re gonna be watching me.’ It’s my nightmare.”
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Russell gained fame for her role in “Felicity,” which premiered in 1998. The show ran for four seasons, concluding in 2002.
“Felicity” co-creator J.J. Abrams didn’t initially think Russell was right for the role.
“She walked into the room, and it was almost ridiculous,” Abrams told Variety. “Because the character that I wrote was this wallflower who had never had a boyfriend, who sheepishly approaches a boy to ask to sign her yearbook. It’s not Keri Russell, right? I mean, Keri Russell walks in and she’s just this beautiful, you know, the hair, the smile, the eyes – you’re like, this is not someone that fits the job description.”
“But she was so genuine and so funny,” he continued. “And whenever she would get emotional, literally, Matt and I would cry. It was like, ‘What the h—?’ It was like the most remarkable demonstration of mirror neurons ever. And she got the part because she was so funny and she was so truthful.”
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Russell is also known for her work in “Mission: Impossible II” and “Waitress.”
In 2013, Russell returned to TV as Elizabeth Jennings in “The Americans.”
During her time on the TV show, Russell got divorced from Shane Dreary and eventually married her “The Americans” co-star Matthew Rhys.
“I was in love with Matthew,” she recalled to Variety. “We were, like, hot and heavy in love, shooting the spy stuff at night in disguises and wigs. I mean, it was such a fun, sexy time. So fun, oh my gosh.”
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While Russell considered herself a “nervous performer,” the actress felt comfortable on the set of “Felicity.”
“A gift about that show, and a little bit ‘The Diplomat’ too, is I got to wear these big baggy sweaters, and I hardly wore any makeup,” Russell noted. “I would watch the girls who were, like, the guest stars – the beautiful girls who would come on and have to wear girl clothes? – and I see how nervous that makes them. It’s hard to be beautiful; it’s much easier just to be in a big baggy sweatshirt and sneakers.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I love the beauty of women, too, and I like dressing up, and I like, you know, wearing makeup when I need to,” she explained. “But there’s so much more to being a girl than that. And I think some girls get stuck in that, you know? It was such a gift to just get to wear big baggy sweaters and just get to be funny or smart. So I was less nervous.”
