Actress Keri Lynn Russell plays Ellie, a leading role in the 2014 movie Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Russell was born in Fountain Valley, California, and raised in Arizona and Colorado. A childhood dancer, she earned a spot on the Disney Channel's All-New Mickey Mouse Club (1991-1994), followed by Married with Children (1995), Clerks (TV pilot, 1995), the title role on the series Felicity (1998-2002), Scrubs (2007) and The Americans (2013). In 2004, she made her Broadway debut in Fat Pig. Movie roles have included Honey, I Blew Up the Kids (1992), We Were Soldiers (2002), The Upside of Anger (2005), J. J. Abrams' Mission: Impossible III (2006), Waitress (2007), August Rush (2007) and Extraordinary Measures (2010).
Like Kodi Smit-McPhee who played her stepson in Dawn, Keri had worked with director Matt Reeves before. Kodi worked with Matt on Let Me In (2010) while Keri worked with Matt on Felicity (1998-2002). Becoming a good friend of Matt Reeves, she was personally asked by him to take the female human lead in Dawn alongside Jason Clarke who played her love interest in the film. Keri described her character as the only female human in a male dominated group of human survivors. Her character was also described as a war journalist.
Trivia[]
- Keri Russell voiced Wonder Woman in a 2009 animated video feature, a role also played in 1967 (after a fashion) by Linda Harrison.
