Transcript - Keri Russell at The Rosie O'Donnell Show

28 September 1998

Rosie O'Donnell (RO) - Please welcome the adorable Keri Russell.

RO - Well, hi Keri. How are you?

Keri Russell (KR) - I'm good.

RO - Are you all right?

KR - I'm nervous.

RO - That's okay. This is your first talk show?

KR - Yeah.

RO - Of many, I assume.

KR - Oh my gosh.

RO - The buzz on this show - very, very hot. Have you felt the pressure from that?

KR - Oh yeah, we've been doing lot of interviews and no, it's good. I understand that's the medium of the show, and that's how you get it out so...

RO - You have to do it. A lot of anticipation. A lot of people think it will be the next Ally McBeal.

KR - Yeah. Which is a great comparison actually. You have to sort of compare it to something.

RO - Did you like the script the first time you read it, right off the bat?

KR - Oh yeah.

RO - It's basically that premise we set up. A girl who's in college who goes to New York because she's in love with a boy she's never spoken to.

KR - Right. But more than that I think it's this coming of age story, making choices for the first time in your life.

RO - It's good. I haven't seen it yet, the staff is hogging the tape. You're on the cover of Seventeen magazine, looking awful pretty. It just premieres tomorrow but there's a lot of preshow buzz. But have people started recognizing you yet?

KR - Um, yeah. A little girl came to my door selling chocolates the other day. The show's not even out, and she said "Are you TV's Felicity." I was like "Oh my god."

RO - So it begins.

KR - Yeah.

RO - How old are you?

KR - 22.

RO - Where did you grow up?

KR - Colorado and Arizona.

RO - No kidding! How'd you get into the whole showbiz thing? Your parents?

KR - No, no. I was a dancer, and a photographer tried to get me into modeling, and it sort of segue from there. By chance, really.

RO - What kind of dancer?

KR - Oh everything, jazz, ballet.

RO - I did a lot of ballet. No I didn't, but the visualization of me in a tutu is pretty funny. Did you start that when you were young?

KR - Not really, I sort of got really interested in it when I was old enough to understand what I was doing.

RO - Did you go to regular high school or were you tutored?

KR - Both. I sort of switched back and forth. I was doing this show, The Mickey Mouse Club.

RO - The New Mickey Mouse Club?

KR - Yeah, so we were tutored and we got to go back.

RO - Was that fun, doing The New Mickey Mouse Club?

KR - Yeah, we grew up in Disney World. It was pretty wild.

RO - How long was that on?

KR - A few seasons. I don't know really.

RO - Did you have to say at the beginning, "I'm Keri?"

KR - Yeah.

RO - Do we have a clip of that? No, we didn't want to embarrass you.

KR - Thank you.

RO - Next time you're on, we'll show it. Are you still nervous?

KR - Hi.

RO - You're doing good.

KR - Thank you.

RO - Any expectations of what fame will be like?

KR - Oh, I don't now. Yeah, it is crazy to think about, it is really crazy. I mean like photographers taking your picture and...

RO - It's a little daunting.

KR - Way daunting. Overwhelming.

RO - It's very nice to meet you.

KR - Thank you.

RO - You did very well. I know you were a little nervous. It's not easy to do your first talk show. One day I'll show you a tape of my first talk show, you'll feel a lot better. All right, next time you're here Mickey Mouse Club. Keri Russell, ladies and gentlemen. Felicity is on tomorrow night 9 o'clock on the WB.

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