Keri Russell

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 20^th 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).