Keri Russell’s training to play Soviet super-spy Elizabeth Jennings on The Americans apparently carried over to her appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, as she resolutely held up under the admittedly light torture of being grilled by host Jimmy Kimmel and refused to divulge any information about what happened on last night’s season five finale. (For a full debrief of the gripping, game-changing finale, check out Erik Adams’ review.) Sure, Kimmel may have tried to prod Russell toward some loose-lipped spoilers, but, even though her appearance would be airing after the finale went up last night, Russell, like Elizabeth, isn’t here for your amateur spycraft, Kimmel. If that is even your real name.
Nope, instead, Russell was just her charming, disarming actress self (which would be the perfect cover, really), spilling details only of her recent enshrinement on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, her shameful past rapping on the Mickey Mouse Club, and her upcoming appearance alongside survival-reality-show guy Bear Grylls. (Who’d better watch his ass, if Russell’s sparring scene with screen daughter Holly Taylor in the Americans finale is anything to judge by.) She also talked up her time on Felicity, since Kimmel’s other guest was Animal Kingdom’s Scott Speedman, who was Russell’s on- and offscreen love interest during filming of the WB series. While they both admitted that the amiably goofy Speedman was a disaster of a boyfriend, they agreed that they’ve remained good friends over the years. Meanwhile, everyone else agrees that Russell and current costar Matthew Rhys make a much more formidable fictional and real-life pair. And while Kimmel joked that Russell “was into spying for Russia before it was a trendy thing to do,” he never asked the tough questions. Like, “Would Elizabeth get all wigged-up to infiltrate Mar-a-Lago, see how easy it is to do, and proclaim, ‘That was a freebie’”? He probably didn’t dare.