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"I just thought, 'Oh, f***, I think I have to do this.'"
Characterizing Keri Russell's new show The Diplomat (Netflix, April 20) is difficult, but that's part of its charm. "The drama of politics, the absurdity of that kind of politics, the pomp and circumstance mixed in with a complicated marriage." Sounds intense, but in fact "it's a bit saucy." Russell plays Kate Wyler, a career diplomat "plucked from the Middle East to go and host tea parties and talk to stylists" as the new U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom amid an international crisis. The tone of the show blends high-stakes drama with the humor of being a fish out of water, which is "part of the joke and the fun." The seamless blend in tone is credited to the show's creator, Debora Cahn. "I don't think she could write something that is super serious without a joke in it. That's just the nature of who she is." Russell, who recently starred in Cocaine Bear, is intentionally focusing on the lighter fare. "The world is so hard, at least since COVID. I just feel like I've been way more drawn to the lighter stuff, something brighter. Because the world is crazy town right now."
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What I love about the show is that it's not just a drama. It's a bit saucy.
It's a bit saucy, and it's a bit of fun.
Was the tone of the show something you responded to?
Totally. I definitely wasn't looking to take on another series. We had a great run on The Americans, and I felt fine with leaving it at that. It's good to go out on top. But I read it, and I just couldn't stop thinking about it. The drama of politics, the absurdity of that kind of politics, the pomp and circumstance mixed in with a complicated marriage, a competitive marriage, dealing with a husband that's in the middle of you trying do your best. I just thought, oh, f***, I think I have to do this. I can't stop thinking about it. And it made absolutely no sense in my life. I mean, Matthew, my partner, was working away, and I was holding down the fort with the kids. And then I was in charge of moving house in a few months. And Debora was like, we're shooting in London, and I was like, I can't do anything that you're saying. Like that does not makes sense with my life. [But] I gotta do it. So against all odds, I was just like, I'm doing it.
How did you find the balance in the tone, from high-stakes drama to humor?
Like any show, it takes a beat to find exactly what that tone is going to be. And it's also chemistry, depending on who you're working with, who the director is, and all those little pieces have to sift in together and create this big soup, and sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't, for whatever reason. I will say it took a second for us to figure out what the tone was going to be, like what you're gonna push forward and what you're going to pull back on. And that is so Debora, she is such a little package. She's so smart, so warm, so funny, and capable, she is all of those things. I don't think she could write something that is super serious without a joke in it. That's just the nature of who she is. And I think real life is that tone. That's kind of why I couldn't say no to it.
Totally, it is very real life. Even in the most serious of moments, like a funeral or something, I'm going to try and find some kind of levity. Like, you gotta joke sometimes to break the tension.
You've got to joke. And she's [Kate Wyler] in this complicated position in her marriage, and that's this whole crazy thing. The other fun thing to play with in this is, when you're an ambassador at this level, those are [people] who usually get chosen because you're a big donor to a presidential candidate campaign. And [what] I think is fun to play with with this character, [she] is one of the worker ambassadors, she's supposed to be in Afghanistan or Libya, in Beirut speaking other languages and doing what she considers real humanitarian work. And to go to living in a house with servants, butlers and people watching you, that's part of the fun of it. Being plucked from the Middle East to go and host tea parties and talk to stylists and stuff is part of the joke and the fun.
And being in the U.K., that British life is kind of a character in and of itself.
Absolutely, from the big stately homes to butlers who live in houses. To Americans, it's like wait, he lives here? He wears that every day?
What do you think it is about U.K. culture that makes it such a culture shock to Americans?
There's such a cultural divide. We're like crazy pioneer people. I grew up mostly in the west, Arizona and Colorado, places like that. Big, open-sky places. I didn't grow up with a ton of money, we weren't going to fancy things ever. Even moving to New York, I remember the first time in my young twenties seeing boys wear khaki pants and thinking, what are those pants everyone are wearing? Because I didn't. And then you go to the U.K. and it was up a level.
I remember in the U.K. I went to a fancy place for high tea in a big black hat, a baggy black denim onesie and combat boots, and well, let's just say I didn't fit in. But they needed it.
They needed it. We do have a lot of fun with that. London has a pretty fun wild scene. It's not all pomp and circumstance, but that is absolutely one of the characters of the show. Even though there's definitely location porn. Debora has said many times that doing these hour shows is a grind. So many times it's like she was in Morocco at a night shoot, like five in the morning going, "This could be in England during the day." That's literally how we ended up here.
Recently you've done such a wide range of characters, from The Americans to Cocaine Bear. How do you find your characters?
I don't know. My guy [Russell's husband, Matthew Rhys] is a really serious actor. Like he can do German accents and s*** at the drop of a hat. He's legit. And I am not like that. I have to read something and have an immediate, instinctual thing where I get it, I understand it. I can't do everything. I have a limited amount I can do and I kind of go, "Oh, I know what that is. That's funny to me," you know? I'm not one of those people who goes, "Oh, my gosh, I'm gonna play a Russian drug addict. And I'm gonna get the accent. And I'm going to shave my head." I know my limitations, and I think there's just something about this character that I got immediately. This is closer to who I am than like a sly, cougar-walking Elizabeth Jennings from The Americans.
OK, so you did the spy thing on The Americans. Now you're doing the diplomat thing. If you could choose one place to either be a spy or a diplomat in the world, where would you choose?
Oh, for real life? I'm going to say...you know, in truth, I do have an interest in world journalism. [The Diplomat] in some way satisfies a bit of that. I think I've always been drawn to that. I watch those documentaries. I read those books. So when I'm imagining myself as something way cooler than I am, I think it'd be awesome to be Christiane Amanpour, you know what I mean? But I also like to go meet my girlfriends and get wasted at lunch at a restaurant, so...
Totally, that's my speed. Paris isn't for me, too fancy, give me a Berlin bar any day.
Totally, Berlin would be great. I mean, you're absolutely right.
And they don't care if you get fat either. They're just like, eat the food, drink the drinks have fun.
Yeah. [Paris] is way too worried about wearing something glamorous and cool.
Exactly. I have to ask you about Cocaine Bear, because it blew up. What do you think made it so popular and, let's be real, the thing everyone wants to know is how cool is Margo Martindale?
Literally, my answer was going to be Margo Martindale. That's my answer for everything. I'm not kidding. This is seriously what happened. Elizabeth Banks [who directed Cocaine Bear] texted me, it was the middle of COVID, everything was so f****** depressing and hard. She pitched this to me. And I was like, what? And then Margo Martindale texted me. And she said, are you doing this f****** movie? And I said, are you in this movie? I was like, I'm definitely doing this movie if Margo is. Talk about boozing it up at the bar, Margo is the best thing going. Seriously, everywhere she goes, she's the belle of the ball in her own amazing, unique way. And she's the MVP of that movie. Her doing crazy s***. But I think the movie just hit at the right time. The world is so hard, at least since COVID. And that's part of The Diplomat too. I just feel like I've been way more drawn to the lighter stuff, something brighter. And that has a little bit of fun in it. Because the world is crazy town right now.
One of the biggest pop culture moments in my life was when you, as Felicity, cut your hair. Are you surprised people cared that much?
Yes, it is amazing. People still talk to me about it. What's amazing is, we were on the WB, it's not like we had this huge audience. It wasn't like we were on NBC. We were this little show that the people who watched it liked it. It was a sweet little something. J.J. [Abrams] and Matt [Reeves] called me over the summer in between season one and season two and said, "Would you consider cutting your hair for the storyline?" Yeah, of course. Like every college girl does that, they cut their hair when you break up with the boyfriend. They get some terrible haircut and they hate it for a year and that's part of being a teenager or college age. So I did it. They cut it on the show. And people were still like, oh my god, she went and cut her hair. I'm way too much of a goody two-shoes to do something so punk rock like that. I still love it. I think it was awesome for the character.
Listen to H. Alan Scott on Newsweek's Parting Shot. Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. Twitter: @HAlanScott
