First ‘The Diplomat’ Image Shows Keri Russell as a U.S. Ambassador

Netflix released the first image in its political thriller relationship drama hybrid The Diplomat. First announced back in February 2022 and starring Keri Russell of The Americans fame, it’s set to follow the goings-on of a new U.S. ambassador to London as she’s immediately thrust into an international crisis. In addition to the new image, the series also set an April 20 release date.

Russell steps into the shoes of Kate Wyler, the rookie ambassador who finds herself in over her head despite being a career diplomat with more than enough experience to qualify her for the job. Originally slated to head to a crisis zone in Afghanistan, she finds herself thrown into the political deep end in London. The new role is a stressful one as it has major implications for both her career’s future and her marriage to political golden boy Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell). She balances the needs of her life while also navigating the landscape and forging powerful connections in London. Her sheer determination to push through and prove she’s fit for her new job shows through in the image, however, as she walks alongside her colleagues with a serious expression that shows she’s steeled for anything.

Russell recently cropped up on the big screen in a major way with Elizabeth Banks‘s wacky dark comedy Cocaine Bear where she got to reunite with a few of her The Americans colleagues while experiencing some gnarly kills at the hands of the coked-out grizzly. The Diplomat will mark her first foray into television since the FX drama ended in 2018, and she’ll have David Gyasi, Ali Ahn, Rory Kinnear, and Ato Essandoh joining her for the occasion.

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Debora Cahn Aims to Give Political Thrillers a Twist With The Diplomat

Homeland and Grey’s Anatomy writer Debora Cahn penned the series and executive produced with Russell and Janice Williams. Cahn has her fair share of experience working on political dramas with one of her larger credits being as a writer and producer for the Aaron Sorkin hit The West Wing where she earned one of her two Emmy nominations as part of the creative team. With The Diplomat, however, she’s exploring the messiness of relationships of all kinds, from marriages to work and international relations, while delving into the same high-stakes intrigue of the political thriller genre.

Speaking to TUDUM, she hammered home the ever-present struggle of maintaining long-term relationships in every setting, saying:

“The Diplomat is a show about the transcendence and torture of long-term relationships. It’s hard to keep a relationship going, be it a marriage or a military alliance. We change, the world changes, and yet we want these relationships to go on forever. It’s a show about a bunch of good people doing their best to keep their global and personal partnerships intact without killing each other. In the world of diplomacy, you’re dealing with a lot of rule-bound, protocol-driven behavior, but underneath all that, these are people who sweat, and spill coffee on their clothes, and forget the name of the person they’re talking to. All of that is always bubbling under the grandeur and majesty of working with heads of state.”

Netflix premieres all eight episodes of The Diplomat on April 20. In the meantime, check out Russell’s Cocaine Bear interview with Collider below.