How Keri Russell Helped a ‘Struggling’ Costar on The Diplomat

Ato Essandoh has nothing but praise for The Diplomat costar Keri Russell.

“I’ve been doing this for 20 years — 30 years — I’ve been on a whole bunch of television shows and I’ve had a whole bunch of people I’ve worked with, but this is the first time I get the feeling that it’s a family,” Essandoh, 52, exclusively told Us Weekly at The Diplomat season 2 screening on Sunday, October 20. “We really care about each other. Every person on the cast genuinely cares about each other.”

While at The Paley Center for Media’s PaleyFest New York 2024, Essandoh gushed that working alongside Russell, 48, is “incredible.”

“She’s such a genuine human being,” Essandoh told Us. “She’s fierce, she’s kind, she brings joy to the set, and she has fun with what she does. If I’m struggling with a scene she’ll take me aside and say, ‘We’re just playing here.’”

The Diplomat, which premiered in 2023, follows newly appointed US ambassador to the United Kingdom Kate Wyler (Russell) and her complicated marriage to fellow politician Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell).

After launching on Netflix, the show became the most-viewed series for the first two weeks. Russell earned an Emmy nomination for her role, as well as nods for Golden Globe, Critics Choice and SAG awards.

“I read [show creator] Debora Cahn’s script, and I just thought it was so funny and sharp and messy and enjoyable, and I couldn’t say no,” Russell told Netflix earlier this month.

Season 1 of the series centered around Kate (Russell) trying to get her bearings “amidst all the pomp and circumstance,” she told Netflix. (After planning to go to Kabul for her next assignment, Kate is asked by the president to instead serve as the US ambassador to the UK.)

While Russell has been tight-lipped about season 2 of the series, she teased that it “starts with such energy and propulsion that there’s no time to think about being center stage.” This season, she’s tasked with tracking down conspirators who attempted to kill her husband. “That is much more in her wheelhouse,” Russell told Netflix.

Kate also has to figure out “how to manage investigating a country that is [her] ally,” Russell told the outlet. “She’s there to engage with and support this government, so I think her situation is exactly what diplomacy is.”

The Diplomat season 2 drops on Netflix October 31.

With reporting by Andrew Nodell