The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Stars talk final season
Kerri Russell, Matthew Rhys tease ‘pretty juicy’ conclusion
Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys were enjoying the mild Southern California weather late one morning in January. The pair had taken a late flight from New York City the night before to come to Los Angeles to promote the final season of “The Americans.”
“It’s not too early for wine, is it?” asked Russell.
It wasn’t really a question, so the couple settled on a bottle of Bordeaux and the actress kicked off her heels to get comfortable (and hoped I wouldn’t be offended).
When told they would not be asked to divulge plot details about the upcoming 10-part sixth season, Rhys said he was grateful not to have to spend the interview “dreaming up things to say to skirt around the answers.”
At this point, “The Americans” cast and crew are adept at not spilling secrets, although Russell did allow “we have a pretty juicy ending” to the series.
However, the couple — who are together in real life and often finish each other’s sentences — was able to reflect on their characters and some of their favorite moments over the years.
At the time of this interview, Russell and Rhys were still in the middle of shooting the season. In the series, which is set in the 1980s, they play Philip and Elizabeth Jennings, who are Soviet spies embedded as a married couple with two kids, Paige and Henry, in a Washington, D.C., suburb.
Even though it was partially inspired by the 2010 arrest of Russian sleeper spies in the U.S. and remains topical in light of ongoing news about the former Soviet Union, the espionage series has always had a covert mission to be an intense family drama.
“The marriage storylines are what I think is the most interesting part of the show,” said Russell. “So for me, some of the bigger fights about trust were the most fulfilling and exciting to do, especially with these two people who spend their lives deceiving people.”
When Season 6 begins, the story has jumped three years from 1984 to autumn 1987. As a major U.S.-Soviet arms control summit looms, Elizabeth finds herself dealing with both world events and the strain of training her daughter to be a spy.
“Things are getting messy and Elizabeth is getting anxious,” said Russell, adding that the overriding question, which continues throughout this season, is whether Philip and Elizabeth trust each other.
One thing this has united the characters through the years was their love for their kids, though they often
differed on tactics, especially how to handle their real jobs as spies. Elizabeth has mostly been unwavering in following her mission from Moscow, even if that means killing innocents, while Philip has lost his stomach for the espionage game and retreated into running the couple’s travel agency, which is their cover in America.
“I see Philip as super objective,” said Rhys, “in that he wants the kids to grow up safe in America.”
“He would kill somebody,” he said, if “it meant keeping his kids safe.”
Their caring parenting skills aside, you have to wonder if you can even like Elizabeth and Philip given that they are also coldblooded assassins.
“There’s always a moment in every season where I write to Joe and Joel,” said Russell, referring to Weisberg and Fields, respectively, “The Americans” showrunners, “and say, ‘It’s too far. I want her to die now.’”
However, the actress notes that she always comes back to what a cool female character Elizabeth is.
“She’s doing what she’s supposed to do, and she full-heartedly believes in it. It’s so rare to get a character like that who is a woman,” said Russell.
Sometimes those deadly moments are killers dramatically, too, as in Season 3 when veteran actress Lois Smith played a bookkeeper working late as Elizabeth and Philip break in to plant a listening device.
“She picked a bad time,” said Philip, usually the sympathetic one, as they mull her fate.
Elizabeth, unexpectedly, is torn and lets the old woman quietly ruminate about her life in heartbreaking fashion as the inevitable approaches.
“That moment was so stark and still, and we have to thank (FX President) John Landgraf for allowing us to do stuff like that,” said Russell. “On the page, that could be so weird.”
While that became one of the many talked-about scenes in the series, two people who haven’t seen it are Russell and Rhys.
“People are always coming up and saying things like. ‘I loved the digging scene,’” explained Russell, referring to an episode from the beginning of Season 5, “and I smile and thank them but I haven’t seen that either.”
Rhys said he doesn’t want to get caught up in worrying about what he calls “vain aesthetics,” such as focusing on how he walks or talks.
But the other reason they don’t watch the show is their schedule.
“We are raising three small children, which takes up a lot of our free time; we spend so much of the rest of our time working on the show,” said Russell. “At this point, we’d have to catch up on six seasons when we could be watching …”
“‘The Handmaid’s Tale,’” Rhys chimed in. “Or the Vietnam documentary,” added Russell.
Though they had met once before “The Americans,” Rhys and Russell became romantically involved during the first season of the show. She had two children from a previous marriage, a son and a daughter, and in 2016, the couple had a son.
In January, neither of them was looking beyond the end of the series. “We’ll probably sleep,” said Rhys. (And maybe one day watch the show.?)
Since they have been in a relationship almost as long as the series has run, I wondered if any of that spills over into their characters.
“I’m sure things bubble over,” Russell answered diplomatically.
“Oh, we wouldn’t be human if it didn’t,” said Rhys, “and sometimes the two can inform each other and give it something extra.”