The couple met while filming the show, which ran six seasons from 2013 to 2018. Russell said they were falling in love and staying up all night, and she did it in crazy wigs and pearls. She called it "insanity" and "so fun and sneaky, and sexy, and so good."
Joseph Weisberg created the series, which followed Philip Jennings (Rhys) and Elizabeth Jennings (Russell), two deep-cover KGB spies posing as a married American couple who run a travel agency in Washington, D.C., during the 1980s Cold War.
The real romance turned into a family. After several years of dating, Russell and Rhys welcomed their son Sam in 2016. Russell also has a son, River, and a daughter, Willa Lou, with her ex-husband, Shane Deary.
Russell also addressed Rhys skipping a thank-you to her in his 2026 Emmys acceptance speeches for best actor in a comedy series and limited series, for Widow's Bay and The Beast in Me. Rhys was noticeably stressed beforehand, so she told him, "Take me off your plate. You don't have to thank me."