Keri Russell is speaking candidly about the start of her relationship with longtime partner Matthew Rhys, describing a whirlwind romance that began while the two filmed the early seasons of “The Americans.”
Appearing on the “Dear Chelsea” podcast, the 50-year-old actress described the period as intense and secretive. “We were like falling in love and staying up all night and like having sex all the time and just like wearing disguises, like, I’m f—ing [in] crazy wigs and like wearing pearls,” she said. “When have you ever worn pearls and like, f—ing in trailers and f—ing everywhere. I mean, it was insanity. It was so fun and sneaky, and sexy, and so good.”
Russell and Rhys had met briefly before working together, then reconnected in 2012 to shoot the first season of “The Americans.” Their relationship went public in April 2014 after dating rumors surfaced in late 2013. The couple share a son, Sam, born in May 2016. Russell also has two children, River and Willa, from her previous marriage to Shane Deary.
Despite being together for over a decade, Russell told host Chelsea Handler she has no interest in marrying Rhys. “I’ve had a big party. I get to dress up all the time,” she said. “People used to have to be married to have a credit card. We can have credit cards now. I don’t need my last name to go away. I’m cool. If you wanna be here, be here. If you don’t, that’s cool too.”
She added that having a child together is what makes the relationship “forever” to her, and she called marriage somewhat “antiquated.”
Promoting “The Diplomat”
Russell is currently promoting the fourth season of her Netflix series “The Diplomat,” in which she plays Kate Wyler, the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom navigating conflict between the two countries. She told People it’s “fun to play someone so smart, so funny, so fierce,” but who also “does stupid s— all the time.”
“I love her frankness, I love her bossiness. I love how she is always getting herself into hot water. I mean, to lose in a drama as a character is good. To be constantly losing and messing things up, it’s great. But I also love that she can pull it together and be presentable and put a dress on if she needs to.”
The Emmys snub that wasn’t
After Rhys failed to thank Russell in his acceptance speeches at the Emmy Awards, where he won for “Widow’s Bay” and “The Beast In Me,” Handler suggested that when Russell wins for “The Diplomat,” she should thank all her ex-boyfriends and skip Rhys entirely.
Russell said the omission wasn’t an issue between them. She explained that Rhys had told her he was nervous about having to make a speech if he won, so she told him not to worry about mentioning her. “I said, ‘Take me off your plate. Like, you don’t have to thank me. I know you love me,'” she said. “There’s so many people you have to thank. I don’t care if you want to thank the dog walker. You do whatever you want to do. That’s your minute. That’s your 45 seconds. So I just said, ‘Take me off your plate.’ And we kind of said to each other, ‘We don’t have to thank each other.'”
