In recent years, Matthew Rhys has revealed that he and Keri Russell actually made a "love connection" a full 10 years before they worked together on The Americans. While being interviewed on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in 2017, Matthew explained, "We actually met a very long, long time ago. I very drunkenly asked her for her number when she was a young, single slip of a thing. So I sort of knew then, when I was 26." That meeting happened in a parking lot after a "kickball party."
Russell confirmed the story, but told Andy Cohen that she had completely forgotten about the experience until they met on the set of The Americans. "We did all the readings together and all of the things, and then after a heavy dose of a fight training, all sweaty, like at a lunch, you said, 'Oh, you know we've met before.' I said, 'No we haven't,' and you said, 'Yeah, we met before, like 10 years ago at like a kickball—,'" she recalled. "As soon as he said that, I knew exactly what [happened] and I was like, 'Oh! Of course, I remember that.'"
