1996
| Keri Russell has been the show biz star of her family since long before she was cast as Chloe in Malibu Shores.
The on-camera history of the 20-year-old actress dates back to her first days of high school in a Denver suburb, when her
dancing talents caught the attention of Disney - who then offered her parts in The Mickey Mouse Club and the 1992
movie, Honey, I Blew Up the Kid!. Yet despite being the Russell family's claim to fame, Keri's clan continues to
treat her normally. "They don't care what I do," she tells BOP, "which I like a lot."
That's not to say that her family isn't interested in what Keri does. In fact, they celebrate every success she has. Upon landing the lead in Malibu Shores, she recalls, "I think that I first told my mom: "Hi! I totally got the part!" Keri is also thankful that she considers her family to be completely normal. And assuming that the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree, they're probably a happy bunch too. "My parents," she gushes of folks David and Stephanie, "are still together, which is so cool, and they live in Dallas, Texas. I also have an older brother, Todd, and a younger sister, Julie." Of Todd and Julie's reaction to their middle sibling's successful career, Keri has said, "They're always used to my doing something weird or being gone a lot. I guess I'm just really driven, [because] I was always doing something." And when Keri relocated to Florida for MMC in the early '90s, it didn't always translate into leaving her siblings behind. Sometimes they'd come along - like it or not. "My older brother is fine," Keri said then of the temporary treks. "I mean, he doesn't care. The only one it's been kinda hard on is my younger sister. She doesn't want to leave her friends, but we're taking her and my older brother out to Florida with us to finish the month-and-a-half of school out there." These days, Keri's career doesn't affect anyone's living status, since she lives solo by the beach in Los Angeles with her cat Nala. Yet even though she and her family live in entirely different worlds now, they still manage to maintain a balance as a normal, happy family unit. Keri and Julie still share the love of dance that they always have. And Todd, Keri tells BOP, still thinks of her as "the dorky little sister." Being apart just means that the Russell family enjoys each other more during the time that they do have together, whether they're hanging out on the set of Keri's latest project or enjoying one of their traditional family barbeques at the Russell homestead. "I don't have to go somewhere to have fun," Keri claims, "as long as I am with people that I like." |