Keri Russell completely evolves from silky spy to sweaty ‘Diplomat’

The first sign is the hair. Not exactly a total mess. But definitely not neat, either. Keri Russell’s hair on “The Diplomat,” her new Netflix series set in the world of high-stakes global diplomacy, is the hair of a woman — in this case, the US ambassador to Britain —who simply had more urgent things on the morning to-do list than a blow-out. Like briefing the White House or huddling with the CIA station chief. Russell’s Kate Wyler also sweats — a lot.

Which, like the messy hair, is something you never saw from Elizabeth Jennings, the Soviet spy Russell played with impeccable, delicious cool for six seasons on “The Americans.” Indeed, fans of that FX show will surely gasp at the sight of Russell’s Kate raising her hand so her husband can take a whiff and advise if she needs a shower. Just so not Elizabeth.

Russell laughs as she confirms that indeed, sweat was foreign to Elizabeth, whose blood ran cold while Kate’s runs decidedly hot.

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“I always used to think of (Elizabeth) as like a panther,” she said in an interview ahead of the first season of “The Diplomat,” created by Debora Cahn, which dropped on Thursday. “Very little movement. And I always wore this really cool eyeliner, and my hair was perfect — all very smooth and panthery. This character, Kate, is not that! I’m constantly sweating, the hair is a mess, and it’s probably a lot more like most of us in life.”

It’s been five years since we saw Elizabeth in that searing “Americans” finale, standing next to husband Philip (real-life partner Matthew Rhys) and gazing out at Moscow, their covers blown, contemplating a future (spoiler alert!) without their kids. “We’ll get used to it” was her last line, delivered in Russian.

But for some avid fans, it wasn’t so easy to “get used to it,” and they still wonder obsessively what Elizabeth and Philip might be doing these days. The actors were asked that question once again at a 10th-anniversary reunion panel last week at the Paley Center for Media. Russell had a pantherlike response, saying the ending was so perfectly written (by Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg) that she simply preferred to leave it there.

It was also great writing, Russell says, that has brought her back to TV. Busy with three kids, she was definitely not looking for a new show. But then “The Diplomat” came calling. Series creator Cahn is a veteran of both “The West Wing” and “Homeland,” and “The Diplomat” can credibly be seen as a mashup of the two — with some spicy “Veep” humour thrown in — just for starters. “For me, it’s always about the writing,” Russell says, and “this is so smart and acerbic and full of all this political jargon, but it’s funny, too. (Cahn) has this real take on the minutiae of life and relationships.” And when Russell says the new show is “just lighter,” she doesn’t mean simply that she isn’t killing people and stuffing them in suitcases.

Associated Press