Keri Russell Recalls “Having Sex All the Time” With Matthew Rhys on ‘The Americans’ Set

Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys were having their own kind of fun while on the set of The Americans.

During a recent episode of the Dear Chelsea podcast, Russell told host Chelsea Handler that she and Rhys were “having sex all the time,” even while in the characters’ disguises on set. The couple met while filming the FX period spy drama, which ran for six seasons from 2013 to 2018.

“We were falling in love and staying up all night and having sex all the time and just wearing disguises, like, I’m fucking [in] crazy wigs and wearing pearls,” The Diplomat star confessed. “When have you ever worn pearls and [been] fucking in trailers and fucking everywhere. I mean, it was insanity. It was so fun and sneaky, and sexy, and so good.”

The Americans, created by Joseph Weisberg, followed Philip Jennings (Rhys) and Elizabeth Jennings (Russell), two deep-cover KGB spies, who pose as a married American couple running a travel agency in Washington, D.C., during the 1980s Cold War.

After several years of dating, Russell and Rhys welcomed their son Sam in 2016. Russell also shares two children, son River and daughter Willa Lou, with her ex-husband, Shane Deary.

Elsewhere on the podcast, the Felicity actress addressed Rhys not thanking her during his acceptance speeches at the 2026 Emmys for best actor in a comedy series and limited series for his roles in Widow’s Bay and The Beast in Me. Before the ceremony, she recalled telling him, “Take me off your plate. You don’t have to thank me; I know you love me, take me off your plate,” as Rhys was noticeably stressed about the speeches.