Keri Russell has found her next leading TV role.
The former star of FX’s The Americans will play the title character in The Diplomat, a drama series from Debora Cahn (Homeland, Grey’s Anatomy). Russell will also be an executive producer on the show, which Netflix ordered to series in January.
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The Diplomat is described as a political thriller. Russell will play Kate Wyler, a career diplomat who, in the midst of an international crisis, lands in a high-profile job she’s unsuited for — resulting in massive implications for her marriage and her political future. The series is set to film in the U.K.
The series will be Russell’s first at the top of the call sheet since The Americans — for which she earned three Emmy nominations for playing Soviet spy Elizabeth Jennings — ended in 2018. Russell is also part of the ensemble for Apple TV+’s climate change anthology series Extrapolations.
Russell’s recent credits include feature films Star Wars Episode IX, Antlers and the upcoming, Elizabeth Banks-directed Cocaine Bear. She is repped by WME, The Burstein Company, Viewpoint and Sloane Offer.
Cahn, who has an overall deal at Netflix, also counts The West Wing, HBO’s movie Paterno and FX’s Fosse/Verdon among her writing and producing credits. She executive produces The Diplomat with Janice Williams and Russell.
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