The star of the FX spy drama isn't ready to let Elizabeth Jennings go.
Keri Russell isn’t ready to say goodbye to The Americans.
Currently halfway through production on the sixth and final season of the FX spy drama, the 41-year-old actress took a moment to reflect on her six-year journey playing Elizabeth Jennings, a KGB officer posing as one-half of a married couple opposite real-life partner Matthew Rhys.
“I had no idea from the beginning the experience that it would turn into. I relish this experience,” Russell said at FX’s Television Critics Association press tour during The Americans’ farewell panel on Friday. “It’s been such an enjoyable, creative [time]. I know we’re set in this 1980s spy show, but it’s truly one of my favorite marriage stories, couched in this Cold War spy world. It’s just really sparse, interesting storytelling.”
“For me, playing Elizabeth, I just think as a woman, it’s been an incredible feminist role to get to play,” she continued. “It’s so rare to be so single-minded and she’s so successful at doing it. I’ve really enjoyed it. I’m happy it’s ending on such a high note while I’m still so excited and interested in the storylines. It’s been a great ride.”
Russell admitted that because they still have “two months” left in the filming schedule, she hasn’t had the opportunity to look back on this era in her life and career with any particular significance.
“It’s such an uphill sprint in a great way -- that type of work lends itself to the show, the cold and the struggle of it all. I feel like heads are still down, charging up that hill. There’s not a lot of time for reflection. It’s about getting through these last few months,” she said. “It feels really good and satisfying, what [executive producers] Joe [Weisberg] and Joel [Fields] have created.”
The Americans returns for its sixth and final season on Wednesday, March 28 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FX.
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