Early life

Russell was born in Fountain Valley, California, the daughter of Stephanie (née Stephens), a homemaker, and David Russell, a Nissan Motors executive. She has an older brother, Todd, and a younger sister, Julie. The family lived in Coppell, Texas; Mesa, Arizona; and Highlands Ranch, Colorado, moving frequently because of her father's employment. Russell's dancing earned her a spot on the Mickey Mouse Club.

Career

1991-2002

Russell first appeared on television at age 15 as a cast member of the All-New Mickey Mouse Club variety show on the Disney Channel. She was on the show from 1991 to 1994 (Seasons 4-6) and co-starred with future actor Ryan Gosling and future pop stars Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, JC Chasez, Justin Timberlake, and Tony Lucca.

In 1992, Russell appeared in Honey, I Blew Up the Kid alongside Rick Moranis and in 1993, she had a role on the sitcom Boy Meets World as Mr. Feeny's niece. Russell appeared on Married... with Children in a 1995 episode ("Radio Free Trumaine", production 9.24). She subsequently starred in several film and television roles, including the 1996 made-for-television film The Babysitter's Seduction. That year she also had a role on the short-lived soap opera series Malibu Shores.

In 1994, Russell appeared as the "other woman" in Bon Jovi's music video "Always" with Jack Noseworthy, Carla Gugino, and Jason Wiles. In 1997, she appeared in two episodes of Roar alongside Heath Ledger.

From 1998 to 2002, Russell starred as the title character on the successful WB Network series Felicity. She won a Golden Globe for the role in 1999. Russell's long and curly hair was one of her character's defining characteristics. A drastic hairstyle change at the beginning of the show's second season was thought to cause a significant drop in the show's television ratings.

During the show's run, Russell appeared in the films Eight Days a Week, The Curve, and Mad About Mambo, all of which received only limited releases in North America. Her next role was in the film We Were Soldiers (2002), playing the wife of a United States serviceman during the Vietnam War. The film was released two months before the end of Felicity's run.

2003-present

When Felicity ended, Russell moved to New York City and made her off-Broadway stage debut in 2004, appearing opposite Jeremy Piven, Andrew McCarthy, and Ashlie Atkinson in Neil LaBute's Fat Pig. In 2005, she returned to television and film, beginning with an appearance in the Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie The Magic of Ordinary Days, theatrical film The Upside of Anger (alongside Kevin Costner, Joan Allen and Evan Rachel Wood), and the television miniseries Into the West. Directing Mission: Impossible III in 2005, J. J. Abrams asked Russell to join the cast and she accepted. She was screen tested for the role of Lois Lane in Superman Returns but lost the role to Kate Bosworth.

In the summer of 2006, Russell was chosen to be a celebrity spokeswoman for CoverGirl Cosmetics. In the summer of 2007, Russell appeared in The Keri Kronicles, a reality show/sitcom sponsored by CoverGirl and airing on MySpace; the show was filmed at Russell's home in Manhattan and spotlighted her life. Also in 2007, she played "Melody" on the NBC show Scrubs.

Russell next starred in the film Waitress, which marked the fourth time Russell had played a pregnant woman. Her performance—opposite Nathan Fillion, Cheryl Hines, Jeremy Sisto, Andy Griffith and the film's director Adrienne Shelley—was positively received by critics, with Michael Sragow of The Baltimore Sun writing that Russell's performance had "aesthetic character" and "wields tenderness and fierceness with quiet heat". In 2007, Russell also completed roles in Butterfly: A Grimm Love Story (titled Rohtenburg for its German release), in which she played Katie Armstrong, a graduate student who writes a thesis paper on an infamous cannibal murder case, and the thriller The Girl in the Park, opposite Sigourney Weaver, Kate Bosworth and Alessandro Nivola.

Russell next appeared in August Rush, released in November 2007. She also appeared on the cover of the New York Post's Page Six magazine on November 11, 2007. Russell later appeared in Bedtime Stories. In an appearance on The View on December 15, 2008, Russell said she got the part because Adam Sandler's wife Jackie had seen her in Waitress and suggested her for the movie. Russell voiced Wonder Woman in a direct-to-video animated feature released March 3, 2009.

Russell starred alongside Brendan Fraser and Harrison Ford in the Tom Vaughan-helmed Extraordinary Measures for CBS Films. The drama, which started filming on April 6, 2009 and was released on January 22, 2010, was the first film to go into production for the new company. Russell played Aileen Crowley, a mother who tries to build a normal home life for her sick children while her husband, John (Fraser), and an unconventional scientist (Ford) race against time to find a cure.

Russell starred in the Fox series Running Wilde, from 2010 to 2011. Since 2013, she has starred in the FX series The Americans, playing a deep undercover KGB spy living as an American in the early 1980s.

In 2014, Russell starred in the film Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, a sequel to the 2011 movie Rise of the Planet of the Apes alongside actors Andy Serkis and Gary Oldman.

Personal life

Russell and Shane Deary, a carpenter she met through mutual friends, became engaged in 2006 and were married on February 14, 2007, in New York. The couple separated in early summer 2013, which was confirmed by Russell's representation after media queries about her family's whereabouts when the actor's home was burglarized in early December of that year. Russell and Deary have two children together, a son born in 2007 and a daughter born in 2011.

Russell has been in a relationship with her Americans co-star Matthew Rhys since 2013, and, as of 2016, they are expecting a baby together.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Honey, I Blew Up the Kid	Mandy Park
1997	Eight Days a Week	Erica
1998	Curve, TheThe Curve	Emma	AKA Dead Man's Curve
2000	Mad About Mambo	Lucy McLoughlin
2002	We Were Soldiers	Barbara Geoghegan
2005	Upside of Anger, TheThe Upside of Anger	Emily Wolfmeyer
2006	Mission: Impossible III	Lindsey Farris
	Grimm Love	Katie
2007	Waitress	Jenna Hunterson
	Girl in the Park, TheThe Girl in the Park	Celeste
	August Rush	Lyla Novacek
2008	Bedtime Stories	Jill
2009	Wonder Woman	Wonder Woman	Video; voice role
	Leaves of Grass	Janet
2010	Extraordinary Measures	Aileen Crowley
2012	Goats	Judy
2013	Austenland	Jane Hayes
	Dark Skies	Lacy Barrett
2014	Dawn of the Planet of the Apes	Ellie
2016	Free State of Jones	Serena Knight

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991-1993	Mickey Mouse Club	Herself	Variety show
1993	Boy Meets World	Jessica	Episode: "Grandma Was a Rolling Stone"
1994	Daddy's Girls	Phoebe Walker	3 episodes
1995	Married... with Children	April Adams	Episode: "Radio Free Trumaine"
	Clerks.	Sandra	Television film
1996	Babysitter's Seduction, TheThe Babysitter's Seduction	Michelle Winston	Movie
	Lottery, TheThe Lottery	Felice Dunbar	Movie
	Malibu Shores	Chloe Walker	10 episodes
1997	7th Heaven	Camille	Episode: "Choices"
	Roar	Claire	2 episodes
	When Innocence Is Lost	Erica French	Movie
1998-2002	Felicity	Felicity Porter	84 episodes
1999	CinderElmo	Princess	Movie
2005	Into the West	Naomi Wheeler	Episode: "Manifest Destiny"
	Magic of Ordinary Days, TheThe Magic of Ordinary Days	Olivia "Livvy" Dunne	Movie
2007	Scrubs	Melody O'Hara	2 episodes
2010-2011	Running Wilde	Emmy Kadubic	13 episodes
2013-present	Americans, TheThe Americans	Elizabeth Jennings	50 episodes
2013	Arrested Development	Widow Carr (voice)	Episode: "Señoritis"

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
1993	Young Artist Awards	Outstanding Young Ensemble Cast in a Youth Series or Variety Show	The All New Mickey Mouse Club	Nominated
1993		Best Young Actress Co-Starring in a Motion Picture	Honey, I Blew Up the Kid	Nominated
1999	Golden Globes	Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series - Drama	Felicity	Won
1999	Teen Choice Awards	TV - Choice Actress	Felicity	Nominated
1999		TV - Breakout Performance	Felicity	Won
2000		TV - Choice Actress	Felicity	Nominated
2001		TV - Choice Actress	Felicity	Nominated
2002		TV - Choice Actress, Drama	Felicity	Nominated
2005	Satellite Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television	The Magic of Ordinary Days	Nominated
2006	Teen Choice Awards	Movies - Choice Actress: Drama/Action Adventure	Mission: Impossible III	Nominated
2008	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Actress: Drama	August Rush	Nominated
2013	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Actress in a Drama Series	The Americans	Nominated
2013	Women's Image Network Awards	Outstanding Actress Drama Series	The Americans	Nominated
2014	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Actress in a Drama Series	The Americans	Nominated
2014	Satellite Awards	Best Actress - Television Series Drama	The Americans	Nominated
2014	Saturn Awards	Best Actress on Television	The Americans	Nominated
2015	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Actress in a Drama Series	The Americans	Nominated
2015	Satellite Awards	Best Actress - Television Series Drama	The Americans	Won

[ Source: Wikipedia ]