Debora (“The West Wing”) Cahn created The Diplomat, a political thriller series, which premiered on Netflix on April 20, 2023, and was renewed for a second season.
Disregard the title, which is too generic for the kind of shifting, multi-nuanced narrative that unfolds.
The series centers on Kate Wyler, the new U.S. ambassador to the U.K., as she helps defuse an international crisis, forges strategic alliances and adjusts to her new position.
In the process, she also manages her deteriorating marriage to fellow career diplomat Hal Wyler.
Without Keri Russell, The Diplomat could have been an engaging if conventional weekly procedural, except that the vet actor brings a considerable arsenal to the role of Kate Wyler.
Russell’s Wyler is clever, manipulative, and vulnerable, especially in her battle-of-equals scenes alongside onscreen husband Rufus Sewell, with whom she shares a chemistry that sizzles one moment and simmers with resentment the next.
Keri Russell was deservedly nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
I have followed the work of Russell (who’s 47) over the past three decades, during which she proved herself to be a versatile actor with a considerable rang–and charm.
Russell began her career on the big screen with roles in Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (1992), at age 16, We Were Soldiers (2002), Mission: Impossible III (2006), Waitress (2007), August Rush (2007), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), Antlers (2021), and most recently, Cocaine Bear (2023).
She played the title role in the drama series Felicity (1998–2002), and later portrayed Elizabeth Jennings in the spy thriller series The Americans (2013–2018), which earned her nominations for several Primetime Emmy Awards.
