Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys had incredible on-screen chemistry on The Americans, playing a married couple with more than a few secrets. Their compelling connection in front of the camera soon translated to one off-camera. The pair have been romantically linked since 2013 and share one child.
Here’s their complete relationship timeline so far.
2002
Long before they got together, Rhys tried to get Russell to go out with him. In 2017, they shared the story of that failed first encounter on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. Rhys explained that they met at a kickball game in 2002, adding, “I very drunkenly asked for her number.”
He left her a message before he sobered up and she never responded. Russell claimed she forgot about it all until they met again on the set of The Americans almost 10 years later.
She said they were at lunch when Rhys reminded her, “‘You know, we’ve met before,’ I said, ‘No, we haven’t.’ You said, ‘Yeah, 10 years ago at a kickball party.’ As soon as you said that, I went, ‘Of course I remember that!’”
Andy Cohen then asked if they fell in love on the show and Rhys replied, “Yes, absolutely.”
2012
That lunch took place in 2012, when the co-stars were cast as Elizabeth and Philip Jennings on The Americans. In the political thriller, the Jennings are KGB spies living in Washington, D.C. At the time, Russell was married to Shane Deary, who she married in 2007.
December 2013
In early 2013, Russell and Deary separated. She and Rhys were seen walking together late that year in her neighborhood in Brooklyn. That month, they were seen at ABC Kitchen having lunch, with a source telling Page Six, “Seeing the way they are together I could have sworn they were a couple. They were so touchy-feely, drinking and laughing.”
January 2014
The pair appeared in a photo spread for GQ in January 2014, in which Russell is wearing some sexy lingerie. They still had not confirmed their romantic connection.
April 2014
In the spring of 2014, People confirmed that Russell and Rhys were together after they were spotted at the Public Theater in New York City for Steven Soderbergh’s play The Library.
January 2016
The pair were rumored to be expecting a child in January 2016, and a source told People it was true and they were “thrilled.” This would be their first child together, though Russell shares two children with ex-husband Deary, River and Willa Deary.
March 2016
Russell told The New York Times that The Americans dealt with her pregnancy by incorporating some costume changes.
“There was a lot of winter-coat wearing,” she joked. “We justified it, like, ‘My mind is full of so many things, and I’m so worried that I just keep my coat on, even in the bedroom.’ I held a lot of giant salad bowls.”
That month, the two were seen biking around New York.
May 2016
The couple welcomed their son Sam in May 2016.
August 2016
Speaking with the The Hollywood Reporter, Russell and Rhys talked about filming intimate scenes.
“There’s that immediate thing where, like, physically you’re comfortable together, and so that’s fine,” Rhys shared.
Russell added, “In our show, I’m in a place of power: It’s to get information from that person or to make that person feel a certain way. And that can be empowering.”
January 2017
Speaking at FX’s Television Critics Association press day, Rhys said their relationship makes him more protective of her on set.
“Last year, when I directed my first episode and directed Keri for the first time, she was pregnant, so I was very cautious in my approach, and I mean that purely physically,” he explained.
Russell added, “Obviously, working with anyone any amount of years this closely, there is such an incredible shorthand, and you kind of know what the other is thinking before they think it. I have always and still do respect Matthew’s work on the show so much.”
June 2017
Rhys and Russell spoke to People about how they do need some “alone time” when they’re off set to keep their relationship functional.
“She has the patience of a saint, so that helps,” Rhys said. “That is basically it.”
Rhys added that red wine smoothes things over, too.
“The great leveler, the great equalizer. Everything is so much better after a good, solid half-bottle of red wine!”
July 2017
Before The Americans’ final season, Russell told People she never imagined how much change the show would bring to her life, saying, “It’s all been good change, and I’m very, very grateful for it.”
But it felt like the moment for the show to end.
“It will be sad, but it feels kind of right, too,” she said. “There’s something so great about having someone so close for funny moments or really hard moments or really mundane moments, like, ‘Can you pick up laundry soap on your way home because we’re out?’ or ‘We’re out of milk.’”
July 2017
Ahead of shooting the final season, Rhys brought Russell to Wales to introduce their son to his family in Cardiff, where the actor was born.
September 2018
Rhys won an Emmy Award for outstanding lead actor in a drama series in 2018. During his acceptance speech, the actor joked that his girlfriend had warned him against proposing onstage, saying, “And finally to the woman who truly got me this award who just stands in front of me every day and puts up with me. She said, ‘If you propose to me, I will punch you clean in the mouth.’”
(Earlier that night, producer Glenn Weiss proposed to his girlfriend after winning.)
November 2018
Rhys talked to The Irish News about his earlier trip to Wales with Sam and Russell, explaining how he tries to keep his son connected to his culture.
“I speak to him solely in Welsh,” he said. “He can answer and understand at the moment.”
He also suggested he would “force” Sam to support Wales in the Six Nations Championship as soon as he could understand rugby.
January 2019
In 2019, both Rhys and Russell received Golden Globe nominations for The Americans. During the E! Live from the Red Carpet pre-show, they joked about what would happen if they didn’t both win.
“We’ve discussed that, whether, in fact, one of us wins,” Rhys said.
Russell shared the plan, which was: “We break up.”
Rhys added, “Yeah, if you win, I’m gone. If I win, you’re gone.”
April 2020
Talking to Shape for their 2020 cover story, Russell shared a bit about their home life, saying that they trade off film shoots so they can be present with their kid.
“They say you can have everything—just not all at once,” she said. “I think that’s really true. There are times when you’re living for your career and times when you get to make cakes.”
May 2021
Rhys told Deadline more about speaking to Sam in Welsh.
“I only speak to him in Welsh, and he understands everything I say,” Rhys said. “He’ll always answer me in English. He’ll pepper a few words sometimes in Welsh, I think just to please me. But he’s very clear about his Dada’s language and then there’s Mama’s language.”
September 2021
They attended the 2021 Emmys and posted on the red carpet together.
March 2023
Russell and Rhys both starred in 2023’s Cocaine Bear. Rhys told The A.V. Club that he wanted a part in the movie just to join his wife and their friend Elizabeth Banks, who was directing.
“I unashamedly jumped on my partner’s coattails because I knew [Keri Russell]...and I read the script, and I simply said, ‘Whor’s playing that? That little fun part, a few seconds in the beginning?’ [Keri] goes, ‘I don’t know.’ I said, ‘Ask Banks,’” Rhys said.
January 2024
The couple attended the 81st annual Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles, where Russell was nominated. Rhys said during Variety and ET’s digital pre-show that Russell won her first Golden Globe for Felicity 25 years earlier.
He added, “[I’m] incredibly proud. Always—but especially tonight.”
