Keri Russell
Birthdate: Mar 23, 1976
Birthplace: Fountain Valley, California, USA
Keri Russell (birthname: Keri Lynn Russell) may be best known as a TV star of such hit shows as Felicity (1998-2002) and The Americans (2013-2018), but she also has a notable roster of feature credits, starting with Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (1992), with Rick Moranis and Lloyd Bridges, and followed by a string of little-seen genre items and rom-coms, such as Mad About Mambo (2000).
Russell’s major movie assignment was in writer-director Randall Wallace’s Vietnam War movie, We Were Soldiers (2002), starring Mel Gibson, Madeleine Stowe, Greg Kinnear, Sam Elliott, and Barry Pepper, and grossing a mild $115 million for its $75 million budget. Russell joined the excellent cast of Kevin Costner, Joan Allen, Erika Christensen, Evan Rachel Wood, Alicia Witt, and Mike Binder in writer-director Binder’s The Upside of Anger (2005), which earned more than double its $12 million budget.
Keri Russell was cast in the biggest blockbuster of her feature career with the J.J. Abrams-directed Mission: Impossible III (2006), starring Tom Cruise, with Ving Rhames, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Michelle Monaghan, Maggie Q, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Billy Crudup, and Laurence Fishburne, and nearly quadrupling its costs with $550.5 million global return.
Russell had her biggest movie role to that career point in the U.S.-South Korea-made musical, August Rush (2007), starring Freddie Highmore, Rhys Meyers, Terrence Howard, and Robin Williams, and earning a healthy $65.3 million gross, followed by the hit comedy-drama written and directed by Adrienne Shelly, Waitress (2007), with Shelly, Nathan Fillion, and Cheryl Hines, and grossing $22 million on a tiny $1.5 million budget. Russell next co-starred with Adam Sandler in the hit Disney fantasy comedy, Bedtime Stories (2008), with Guy Pearce, Russell Brand, Richard Griffiths, Jonathan Pryce, Courteney Cox, and Lucy Lawless, grossing $213 million worldwide.
In a rare foray into American indie cinema, Keri Russell was cast in actor-producer-writer-director Tim Blake Nelson’s black comedy, Leaves of Grass (2009), starring Edward Norton (in a twin role), Nelson, Richard Dreyfuss, and Susan Sarandon, though it failed at the box office with only $1.01 million. Another feature bomb in which Russell appeared was Extraordinary Measures (2010), starring Brendan Fraser, Harrison Ford, and Courtney B. Vance, but returning only half of its $31 million budget. Russell starred in writer-director Jerusha Hess’ Jane Austen-themed rom-com, Austenland (2013), with JJ Feild, Jennifer Coolidge, and Jane Seymour, with a small box-office return of $2.14 million.
Russell broke the losing box-office streak with the successful sci-fi horror movie, writer-director Scott Stewart’s Dark Skies (2013), with Josh Hamilton and J.K. Simmons, earning over eight times its $3.5 million budget with a $28 global take. One of Keri Russell’s best feature movie credits was director Matt Reeves’ magnificent sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), starring Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, and Kodi Smit-McPhee, and grossing a powerhouse $711 million for 20th Century Fox. Russell joined Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Mahershala Ali for writer-director Gary Ross’ Civil War drama, Free State of Jones (2016), earning $25 million (half of its costs).
Russell was cast in a supporting role in the biggest movie of her career (to date), the J.J. Abrams-directed Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), with Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher, amassing a $1.07 billion box-office return. Russell returned to a starring role in director Scott Cooper’s horror movie, Antlers (2021), with Jesse Plemons, Jeremy Thomas, Graham Greene, Rory Cochrane, and Amy Madigan, earning $19 million after several release delays during the COVID pandemic. Russell’s next starring role was opposite Alden Ehrenreich and the late Ray Liotta in producer-director Elizabeth Banks’ dark comedy, Cocaine Bear (2023).
Personal Details
Keri Russell was born in the Orange County suburb of Fountain Valley, California, and raised in Coppell, Texas; Mesa, Arizona; and Highlands Ranch, Colorado, by parents Stephanie and David Russell (Nissan executive). She has one older brother, Todd, and one younger sister, Julie. Russell’s dancing skills earned her a spot in the cast of The Mickey Mouse Club. She began her professional acting career at age 15. Russell was married to Shane Deary from 2007 to 2014; the couple has two children, River and Willa. Russell has been in a relationship with actor Matthew Rhys since 2014, though they consider themselves a married couple; the couple has one child, Sam.
Filmography
actor
Previous (7)
- 2023 | Cocaine BearasSari
Cocaine Bear
An oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists and teens converge on a Georgia forest where a huge black bear goes on a murderous rampage after unintentionally ingesting cocaine.
- 2021 |
- 2019 | Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of SkywalkerasZorii Bliss
Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker
In the riveting conclusion of the landmark Skywalker saga, new legends will be born-and the final battle for freedom is yet to come.
- 2016 | Free State of JonesasSerena
Free State of Jones
A disillusioned Confederate army deserter returns to Mississippi and leads a militia of fellow deserters and women in an uprising against the corrupt local Confederate government.
- 2014 | Dawn of the Planet of the ApesasEllie
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier.
- 2013 | Dark SkiesasLacy Barrett
Dark Skies
As the Barrett family's peaceful suburban life is rocked by an escalating series of disturbing events, they come to learn that a terrifying and deadly force is after them, one which may have arrived from beyond the stars.
- 2002 | We Were SoldiersasBarbara Geoghegan
We Were Soldiers
The story of the first major battle of the American phase of the Vietnam War, and the soldiers on both sides that fought it, while their wives wait nervously and anxiously at home for the good news or the bad news.
Some Facts About Keri Russell
AKA: Keri Russell’s nickname is Care Bear.
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