Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys have an arranged marriage, as spies on “The Americans.” (Craig Blankenhorn)
“Brothers & Sisters” (ABC)
In the first episode of the FX spy drama “The Americans,” which airs Wednesdays at 10, Welsh actor Matthew Rhys was caught in a lengthy foot chase.
However long it seemed on screen, though, was nowhere near as long as it felt in real life for Rhys, who was required, over several nights, to do between 30 and 40 takes of rapid sprints, some of which he knew would barely be seen by viewers.
“We filmed for two or three nights, just flat out gallops,” Rhys tells the Post in his trailer on the show’s set, in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn. “You’re like, ‘How wide is this [shot],’ and the director of photography says, ‘We barely know it’s you.’ Great: This will be two seconds worth, if that. And they’re like, ‘SPRINT!!!!’ Remember when I’m running in the park for a few seconds? That took an afternoon!”
In “The Americans,” which takes place in the early 1980s, Rhys and Keri Russell play Philip and Elizabeth Jennings, two Soviets who were recruited by the KGB as teens and sent to America to pose as husband and wife while really serving as spies for the motherland.
For Rhys, 38, the role of Philip has provided a slew of challenges, even beyond running full speed for what felt like days on end.
In addition to being his most action-packed part to date — his role as Kevin Walker on ABC’s “Brothers & Sisters” didn’t require many beat downs — it also allows him to dramatize a type of emotional complexity few viewers have experienced firsthand.
Posing as travel agents, Philip and Elizabeth have built a home that includes two teenage children. But while Elizabeth remains as dedicated to their KGB work as ever, Philip is having second thoughts, as he’s fallen in love with both his longtime work wife, and the country he’s paid to hate. At various points in the series, he tries to persuade Elizabeth to take a tremendous leap with him — abandon the spy agency, and live their lives as normal, everyday Americans.
“Philip has fallen in love with the American dream,” says Rhys, who was born in Cardiff, Wales. “One of the things I learned doing my research on Russia is that when he would have grown up, it was an incredibly stark, harsh and difficult place. [So he’s wondering], ‘Do I wanna go back to that? I have two American children now, and my priority is my family.’ ”
These factors provide a solid foundation for the audience to become enveloped in the story, starting with Philip’s inner turmoil about deciding he’s disenchanted with the cause he’s given his life to.
“It’s so layered,” he says. “They’re doing what their mandate is. Then, coupled with it, he’s told her that he wants to defect. So there’s an element of having to do this to see what the outcome with her is going to be. The more human elements you pile on top of that, hopefully the more engaged the audience becomes.”
It was Rhys’ ability to portray these complicated elements of Philip’s life — plus the roaring sea of emotions that come with it — that landed him the role.
“There was this unbelievably unusual thing we were looking for — the ability to simultaneously be a KGB officer and killer assassin, and also a suburban dad,” says show creator Joe Weisberg.
“In a comedy, that wouldn’t be too hard to find. But in a drama, where you want someone to embody both sides, it’s extraordinarily difficult. You need someone who has the capacity to, in one second, be very brutal and heartless, and kill if necessary, but who can then go home to their family, be warm and affectionate, and show no signs that they’re anything but the guy who mows the lawn. Matthew is such a gifted actor that he’s able to do both of those things.”
Whatever challenges Rhys has faced, it seems that the show’s greatest challenge — making American audiences feel sympathetic toward Soviet spies — has been accomplished. “The Americans” was recently renewed for a second season, based on ratings that found the show’s premiere to be the most watched in the network’s history, and ratings since that have kept it FX’s most-watched first year series.
Moving forward, Rhys, who moved from Los Angeles to Brooklyn when he landed the role, hopes he can continue to imbue Philip with enough complexity and humanity to keep viewers rooting for this unlikely hero.
“The thing I hope people remember is that they were recruited by the KGB at a very early age,” he says. “They began the journey when they were children. They didn’t know who they were, what they wanted, or what they stood for. Now I’ve come of age, and it’s ‘Where are you going? This isn’t me.’ I have two children of my own. I just want the good life.”
THE AMERICANS
Wednesday, 10 p.m., FX