Keri Russell is having a whole lot of fun — even if her on-screen counterpart, Ambassador Kate Wyler, really isn’t in The Diplomat’s fourth season.
“I turned 50 this year, and I have to say, I am having the time of my life,” says Russell. “I’ve never had so much fun. I love this job so much, for real. Life is catching up, or I’m catching up, and I'm enjoying it so much.”
Russell’s Kate Wyler, on the other hand, finds herself confronting perhaps her most intense and morally compromising challenges yet in Season 4 of the political drama, which is now streaming. And that’s saying a lot, considering the ambassador has dealt with a terrorist attack, the death of a sitting president and subsequent swearing-in of the shrewd yet reckless President Grace Penn (Emmy-winning Allison Janney), and many potential marriage-ending incidents since she took office as the US ambassador to the UK in the show’s first season.
And then there’s the Season 3 finale. In the last minutes of the season, Kate realizes that her husband, Vice President Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell), and President Penn have hatched a secret plan to steal a Poseidon missile, a Russian nuclear weapon of “doomsday”-level destruction, a move that will be perceived as an “act of war” by British prime minister Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear). And you can rest assured that the ripple effects of that bold — and potentially illegal — decision fully set the course for the season to come.
“It’s such a launchpad,” says Russell. “It’s such a betrayal. And to be in such a vulnerable position with him and then have that realization that they’ve not only gone behind her back, but used her to get what they needed feels just completely shocking. So it’s a great, dramatically unsteady place to start.”
Kate has her work cut out of her in Season 4. While she absorbs her husband’s deception, she also has to contemplate the global ramifications of Hal and Grace’s daring decision, and question whether a president who has a high tolerance for the loss of human life is really fit for office.
It’s enough to make even a seasoned diplomat like Kate lose her way a little. But while the ambassador fights to find her footing and voice her dissent, Russell is having a blast. “I love this job. I love it,” she says. “This character is so fun and embarrassing and messy and stupid and brave, all the things — it’s so good.”
Here, she shares her reflections on the season and working with The Diplomat’s cast and creator.
Can you describe Kate and Hal’s dynamic this season and how it’s shifted once again?
Keri Russell: Going into this season, Kate and Hal are not trusting each other, which is just great. Then an incredible thing happens, which is very true to life — when a bigger event then happens, and it completely unifies you again.
The other thing I think is a big theme this season is, as tumultuous as people perceive Kate and Hal’s relationship to be, they have the same goal. They want to be in the room affecting change, the change that they want. They’re very altruistic. They want to help the world. And for the first time, Hal is truly in that room. No matter what the exact specifics are or disagreements or judgment Kate may have about Grace, one of them is in the room, the most powerful room. And that is their goal. That is enormous in both of their worlds. I think it all becomes very real, and this is the biggest moment they’ve had in their careers. Kate goes out of her comfort zone to try to help nurture and support him in that moment. Even though there are things that might be uncomfortable for her, she’s going to try.
Showrunner and creator Debora Cahn and the whole writers’ room have delivered another incredible season, which — as always — is full of shocking twists and turns. What’s it like working on a show with that caliber of storytelling?
Russell: Debora’s writing is the hero of the show. She’s just such a class act. I really mean this — it’s not enough just to be excellent at what you do. We need real leaders. We are so full of half-assed leaders right now, in many forms. I’m tired of those people. Debora is not that. She is a graceful, easy example of a different version, a better version of that. I watch her. She raises and nurtures these younger writers and helps them rise up. Now they have Emmy nominations, and she allows them to succeed, and she’s taking care of the whole.
I love her writing. I love how funny she is, and yet how strangely not jaded she is about marriage as a whole — smart people aren’t always like that. They have a little more bite, and she does have bite, but in her heart, she’s kind of a softie about marriage and our country. That is really part of the specialness of her.
Alex Graves directs four big episodes this season. How was it filming those huge scenes and also the more intimate scenes between Kate and Hal with him?
Russell: Alex Graves is our fearless general. I call him the bear. He’s in my phone as “The Bear” because he’s this big, strong, masculine guy who is just the best general. When we are shooting in three different countries at one time, we have 300 extras in this one scene, he is in charge and calm and kind. That’s another wonderful leader. And it matters. That trickles down. He’s such an interesting combination of things — he went to school, I think, for art history. So he has this real appreciation for art and history, and he puts it into every aspect of our show, but more than anything, he’s just my favorite of the directors. When we go into a 16-page scene, [we’re in] a safe pair of hands for sure.
Allison Janney has a tumultuous journey as Grace Penn this season. How much fun was it to work with her on those tense interactions?
Russell: Oh, it’s the best, being dressed down by her. As crazy and frenetic as Kate is, with all her ideas, [she’s thinking], “I’ve just got to get my idea across to [Grace] because it’s really important and she just doesn’t know and I’m just going to help her out.” And [meanwhile] Grace is steady, just watching, like, “Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.” She’s had so much more experience, and she’s watching Kate spin out of control. Janney is a dream. I love her so much personally. She’s such a good example of someone with so much experience and such enormous talent. She’s incredibly smart — she has a real ease and command with language. And when you are that easy and that good, when you come on set, there’s no stress or friction. So it allows you to play more. That’s why we have a lot of fun. She’s so constant. She's not holding, gripping, white-knuckling it. She’s having fun. She’s playing tennis. She’s fun to play with.
What’s your take on Grace’s season? Has she always been capable of this flagrant overreach and disregard for human safety? Has PTSD just brought out the worst in her?
Russell: I think she’s had a massive health thing, which contributes to some of her actions. I think when you’ve had a scare, and you start being questioned, some people like others’ opinions, and for other people, it really makes them dig in deeper. And she likes the power, she feels threatened. Physically, something’s definitely going on with her. All of those things are factors and more than one person in her intimate world is noticing it.
Kate and Todd Penn (Bradley Whitford) spend a lot of time together this season when he’s given a position in the UK. There’s a lot of comic relief in those scenes. How would you describe working with Bradley and Todd’s arc this season?
Russell: His rhythm is so different from anyone in our cast, which is the fun part about bringing these great actors in, because you just launch him in like a hand grenade and it changes the whole soup. My character at that moment is managing such a storm, and then he comes in pumped. “No, of course I’ll sign some autographs.” [And she’s like,] “Wait, hang on a second.”
He’s basking in the glory. Kate has so many things to deal with, and now she has to parade him around and babysit him because his wife can’t handle him? I mean, it’s so enjoyable. And then where it leads it that he becomes a real ally because he’s noticing what everyone else is noticing, and he’s asking for help. That’s what’s also great about the writing on this show. There’s not one true villain. Everyone is very complex, and yes, you think something about them right away, and then it turns out they have this whole fleshed out other reasoning behind it. He and Allison are massive assets to the show.
Watch all eight episodes of The Diplomat Season 4 now.
