Why Keri Russell Rejects Plastic Surgery Trends and Beauty Standards in Hollywood: ‘I Like the Way I Look’ (Exclusive)

Keri Russell empathizes with her character in The Diplomat, U.S. Ambassador Kate Wyler, whose looks are sometimes scrutinized by other characters.

During a PEOPLE in 10 interview about season 3 of the Netflix political drama, Russell shared her feelings about beauty standards while discussing her character.

“I’m totally empathetic,” says the 49-year-old actress, who has made countless headlines for her looks — and locks — since her breakout role in Felicity in 1998. “It’s such a weird thing being a woman. Everyone has an opinion about the way you look, the way you dress, the way your hair is.” 

“It’s just the nature of our society. But I also find it really enjoyable, I mean, it’s like a fun thing to play,” Russell continues of portraying Kate in The Diplomat. “I like how cranky she is about it, and how she’s always trying to fight people about it, and is rude about it. I love it. I find it delightful.”

For Russell, the beauty topics spill over into real life, too.

“It’s something my girlfriends and I talk about all the time. Plastic surgery is having such a moment right now — men, women, 20-year-olds. I mean, it is around,” she explains. “We’re inundated with these movie stars. Even though they might be 50 or 60 years old, they look amazing.”

Russell adds, “I watch this show and I’m like, I do not look like that, you know. I like the way I look on the show, and it’s amazing that I feel like that’s strange, like that’s a unique thing to look like that, but it is.”

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Russell also recently told PEOPLE that she “loved” the “subtle” nod in a season 3 episode to the decades-long discourse about her hair. 

In the season’s fourth episode, Russell’s character snaps at her secret service agent, who is meant to be her double and look like her, due to her very disheveled hair. “It’s not like I don’t wash it. I do. And I comb it,” her character explains. “It’s a style. That style is: not looking like you spend hours [doing your hair], because some people have more important things to do. It’s not: couldn’t get the top up on the convertible.”

Season 3 of The Diplomat is now streaming on Netflix.