Born Keri Lynn Russell on March 23, 1976 in Fountain Valley, CA, the oldest of three, she was raised in the Southwest and in Denver. Russell studied dancing from an early age. She later found that her love of dancing was good preparation for acting, insofar as both disciplines demanded self-discipline and an adherence to timing and choreography. Dancing led to a modeling stint, which in turn led to a trip to Los Angeles, where in 1991 she landed her first regular TV gig as one of the Mouseketeers on the Disney Channel's "All New Mickey Mouse Club". Russell stayed with the show until 1993, during which time she lived at Disney World, where the show was taped. During her time on the Mickey Mouse Club, Russell landed her first film role as the babysitter for a giant toddler in the Disney-produced sequel 1992's Honey, I Blew Up the Kid. After her TV commitment ended, Russell moved to Los Angeles .

After stints on two failed series (the 1994 CBS sitcom "Daddy's Girls" and the 1996 NBC primetime soap "Malibu Shores"), the young actress landed the coveted title role in "Felicity" (The WB, 1998-2002), a fantasy drama about a college freshman coping with life changes. In 1996, she did more film work in the little-seen The Babysitter's Seduction, and she continued her film work in 1997 with the comedy Eight Days a Week. With her career flagging, playing confused college freshman Felicity Porter, turned out to be her big break. Russell nearly wasn't considered for the part because the show's creators felt she was too beautiful to have the problems her character did.

Suddenly the subject of countless interviews and magazine covers, Russell found herself as one of television's hottest commodities, especially in the wake of the Golden Globe she netted for her portrayal of Felicity. Unsurprisingly, this new status led to a new range of opportunities, including her role in The Curve (1998), a thriller which had its premiere at Sundance and co-starred Matthew Lillard and Michael Vartan. Russell undertook her first lead in the independent romance Mad About Mambo (1999). After playing a soldier's wife in the Vietman drama We Were Soldiers in 2002, alongside Mel Gibson and Madeleine Stowe, she will next be seen in the British flick Cabbages & Queens (2004).