Editor’s note: This interview contains spoilers for The Diplomat Season 4.

Summary

Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell break down that shocking Season 4 finale.

Russell also explains how Dennison’s death impacts Kate and discusses working with Jodie Whittaker.

The two talk Kate and Hal’s disastrous dinner with Grace and Todd.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell are two of the greatest actors working today. The former has been excellent since the ‘90s, when she gave her breakout performance in the iconic coming-of-age romantic drama Felicity in the titular role. She is perhaps best-known for playing Russian spy Elizabeth Jennings in The Americans, which earned her three Emmy nominations. The latter’s career is equally impressive, spanning many mediums and genres. Notable highlights, however, include the beloved action-adventure film A Knight’s Tale, dystopian alternate history series The Man in the High Castle, and British play Rock ‘n’ Roll, for which he was nominated for a Tony and won an Olivier Award. The two are simply magic together in The Diplomat, where they play married couple Kate and Hal Wyler. Their relationship is deeply complicated and often toxic, but their chemistry is so intense and irresistible you can’t help but root for them. Season 4 sees their bond tested more than ever, coming off the heels of Hal and Grace’s (Allison Janney) controversial move to steal the Poseidon in the Season 3 finale. Between shocking shootings, devastating accidents, and jaw-dropping resignations, the political landscape they’re navigating has never been more complex either. Collider got the chance to speak to Russell and Sewell about their work in the show. During the conversation, the two reveal how everyone reacted to that wild Season 4 cliffhanger, break down Dennison’s (David Gyasi) death and Trowbridge’s (Rory Kinnear) resignation, and wonder why the hell Kate and Hal continue inviting Grace and Todd (Bradley Whitford) to dinner.
Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell Break Down That Shocking Finale

“It kind of blew us away.”

COLLIDER: I will never forget talking to everyone during Season 2 and learning that the finale had people throwing scripts across the room in shock, so I want to know: what was your reaction to reading the end of this season? RUFUS SEWELL: Well, we have a very similar story because this is the second time that the script had redactions for most of the cast until the readthrough. And once again, I have to say, by now we know that if Ato [Essandoh] isn’t in the room, there’s no point in doing that because he’s the one we’re doing it for. It’s like seeing Christmas through the eyes of a child. Reading a script, being able to watch Ato’s reaction, and then being able to experience it ourselves but also feel an audience’s reaction was really exciting. That ending, when we found out about it, kind of blew us away.

Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes
Which Netflix Character Would Be Your Best Friend?
Dustin · Emily · Wednesday · Gi-hun

Some friends drag you out of the house. Some sit with you on the worst night of your life. Netflix has written both, plus the one who tells you the truth you have been avoiding all week. Answer eight quick questions about how you actually do friendship, and find out which of them was always going to end up in your corner.

Dustin(Stranger Things)

Emily(Emily in Paris)

Wednesday(Wednesday)

Gi-hun(Squid Game)

FIND YOUR BEST FRIEND →

01
How do you usually end up making a new friend?
The origin story says a lot about the friendship that follows it.

AWe got loud about the same obsession and never stopped.
BThey invited me somewhere before we had properly met.
CWe bonded over disliking exactly the same thing.
DThey noticed I was struggling and stayed with me.

NEXT QUESTION →

02
What is a perfect Saturday with your best friend?
Friendship is mostly built out of very ordinary hours.

AA ridiculous plan neither of us should attempt.
BSomewhere new, photographed heavily, ending very late.
CSomewhere quiet, few people, zero small talk.
DSomething simple, and a conversation that actually matters.

NEXT QUESTION →

03
You call them at two in the morning. What happens?
This is the real test of a friendship, and everybody knows it.

AThey are already putting their shoes on.
BThey answer instantly and turn it into a plan.
CThey answer and say something unflattering and true.
DThey listen for an hour and never check the time.

NEXT QUESTION →

04
What do you want from them when you are clearly wrong?
The best friendships are the ones that survive being corrected.

ASupport first. We can review the mistake later.
BA relentlessly positive reframe of the entire disaster.
CThe blunt version. Do not soften it for me.
DPatience, and no judgment about how I got here.

NEXT QUESTION →

05
What do your friends actually value about you?
The friend you attract says something about the friend you are.

AI am all in, always, about everything.
BI can turn almost any situation into a good time.
CI say the thing nobody else in the room will.
DI look after whoever is having the worst day.

NEXT QUESTION →

06
You have a falling out. How does it go?
How a friendship repairs itself matters more than how it breaks.

ALoudly, briefly, then back to normal by Tuesday.
BThey apologise first, enthusiastically, with a gift.
CCold silence, then one dry joke that fixes everything.
DWe talk until we both understand what actually happened.

NEXT QUESTION →

07
What do you actually need a best friend for?
Everybody is missing something. The right friend fills that gap.

ATo make my life bigger than it would be alone.
BTo push me out of the house and into my own life.
CTo catch me when I start lying to myself.
DTo be the person who never gave up on me.

NEXT QUESTION →

08
Ten years from now, what keeps the two of you close?
Eight questions in, this is the one that decides who you get.

AWe would still drop everything for each other, instantly.
BWe still make plans, and we still actually go.
CWe still cut through each other’s nonsense in one sentence.
DThey stood by me once when it cost them something.

REVEAL MY BEST FRIEND →

The Group Chat Has Spoken
Your Best Friend Is…
Four Netflix characters, four completely different ways of showing up
for somebody. This is the one who fits how you actually do friendship, and what having them in your
life would be like.

Stranger Things · Netflix · Since 2016

Dustin Henderson
You do not do friendship at half volume, and neither does he.
What you want is somebody who says yes to the plan before you have finished describing the
plan.

Dustin is the friend the entire show runs on: loyal past the point of sense,
enthusiastic about everything, and incapable of leaving anybody behind.
You have the same instinct. Your friendships are loud, specific and slightly ridiculous,
and they last for decades because of it.
He is also the one person who would take your strangest interest completely seriously,
which is far rarer than it sounds.
You would have a group chat. It would never once be quiet.

Emily in Paris · Netflix · Since 2020

Emily Cooper
You are the friend who makes things happen, and so is she.
Together you would be mildly exhausting to everyone around you and completely delighted with
yourselves.

Emily treats an ordinary Tuesday as something that could be turned into an occasion,
which is either the best or the worst quality in a friend depending on your energy
levels.
You share her refusal to sit still. Neither of you has ever accepted a night in when
something was happening somewhere else.
She is far more loyal than people give her credit for. She defends her friends loudly,
publicly, and occasionally before checking the facts.
She would post the photo without asking. You would forgive her, because it is a very
good photo.

Wednesday · Netflix · Since 2022

Wednesday Addams
You have no patience for pleasant lies, and she has no ability to
tell them. What looks like coldness from the outside is the most reliable friendship on this
list.

Wednesday never says a kind thing she does not mean, which makes the rare ones count for
an enormous amount.
You would rather be told the truth than be made comfortable. She is constitutionally
incapable of offering you anything else.
Underneath all of it she is ferociously protective. She simply refuses to make a
performance out of caring.
Do not expect a birthday message. Do expect her to ruin anyone who wrongs you.

Squid Game · Netflix · 2021–2025

Seong Gi-hun
You look after whoever is having the worst day. So does he. It is
the least strategic way to move through the world and the best possible quality in a friend.

Gi-hun is not the strongest player in Squid Game, or the cleverest. He is the one who
keeps choosing to protect somebody else, over and over, at genuine cost to himself.
You have the same instinct. You notice who is struggling and you stay with them, long
after anybody would blame you for leaving.
He is a flawed friend, and that is part of why it lands. He lets people down, then comes
back and tries again, which is more than most manage.
He would give you his last chance and never once mention that he had done it.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

The stakes have never been higher. I feel like the line between marriage and politics is very blurry for Kate and Hal. Rufus, when Hal decides to resign, what percentage of that was him trying to do the right thing, and what percentage was him proving and committing himself to Kate and their relationship? SEWELL: It’s difficult to say, but I think, in the moment, it really was him being forced to make the ultimate moral decision rather than prevaricating and trying to play 23 games at once. This is one time when he doesn’t get the chance to do that, and he has to make a “wrong versus right” [decision], rather than see things as he does, as a political animal, a thousand different shades all the time. This time, you have to literally just choose, and it takes Kate to force him in that moment to do that.
Keri Russell Explains How Dennison’s Death Impacts Kate

“It’s a huge loss.”

Kate (Keri Russell) and Dennison (David Gyasi) in The DiplomatImage via Netflix

Keri, one of my favorite moments from you this season is right after they’ve had the meeting with Trowbridge and found out that Dennison has died, and Hal is confused about why Kate isn’t yelling at him. He tells her to make eye contact, and you just let out this little sob, which broke my heart. I’m curious if you can talk about the toll that Dennison’s death takes on her throughout the season. RUSSELL: Gosh, I don’t even remember that. Oh, I wonder what that was. Yeah, I mean, it’s such a shock, obviously, but I love what it does for the story. These people in foreign service are very much like the Peace Corps or service jobs, and people are transplanted all over the world. Or like war journalism. Those bonds and relationships you forge with people are so heightened because you’re far away from all your things, and your people, and your responsibilities, so it just becomes bigger and more intense. And I think that is very true of Dennison and Kate for a million reasons. It’s a huge loss. SEWELL: It was tremendously shocking when we read it. It’s not something you expect at all. RUSSELL: And I think Debora, like any writer of a show, there’s always talk of killing someone off early on just for the shock of it. She’s written an article recently about how she was going to kill someone else off, and then she loved them too much and couldn’t. SEWELL: In a different season. RUSSELL: In a different season. It’s a part of storytelling that someone is so beloved that you would never expect. Because he is so beloved, Dennison. It’s a shock, and I think it changes all the characters and all the dynamics.
Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell on That Disastrous Episode 7 Dinner Scene

“Why do they keep trying to have meals?”

Allison Janney and Bradley Whitford in The Diplomat Season 4Image via Netflix

I’m convinced that Kate and Hal have never had a normal meal with Grace and Todd. I feel like it’s always the dinner from hell. I’d love to talk about shooting that monster dinner scene at the end of Episode 7, particularly the moment where the tension is cut by the chef coming in and talking about the food, because I was laughing my head off. SEWELL: Why do they keep trying to have meals? Why does no one say, “Really?” RUSSELL: Well, there’s one point — I can’t remember where we are — we’re doing that big walk-and-talk, and you go, “Hey, maybe we should get dinner.” And I look at you, and I’m like, “What the fuck?” Like, “Seriously?” SEWELL: I remember reading that and thinking, “Why do I have to say that?” That’s the most hopeful and guileless he’s ever been in his life. RUSSELL: Polite. SEWELL: I had to find him some complex reason to say it.

RUSSELL: But it’s true. Because you’re not only negotiating a meal with, like, your work people, but the work person’s partner, and then watching your partner with…it’s just so complex in many, many forms. SEWELL: It’s true. It also reminds me of those times when you feel you have to say something, but you’re just praying that people say no. RUSSELL: No, exactly. You’re like, “They’re not gonna say yes.” SEWELL: “Oh, maybe you should come and stay.” RUSSELL: “Oh, great! Sure, sure!” The Diplomat Season 4 is now streaming on Netflix.

Release Date

2023 – 2023-00-00

Network

Netflix

Showrunner

Debora Cahn

Directors

Alex Graves, Andrew Bernstein, Simon Cellan Jones, Tucker Gates

Writers

Debora Cahn, Anna Hagen, Julianna Meagher, Mia Chung, Peter Noah, Eli Attie