Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys's Relationship Timeline

Years before they played married KGB spies on The Americans, Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys met in 2002 at a kickball party hosted by actress Jennifer Grey. It was there that the British actor asked for Russell's phone number and left her a drunken voicemail that she never returned.

Russell had completely erased the encounter from her memory until the actor reminded her that they had already met while working on the FX series. This time around, the attraction was mutual — and soon, life began to imitate art when they took their on-screen romance into the real world and started dating.

While marriage hasn't been in the cards for them off-screen (Keri once joked that she'd punch Matthew if he publicly proposed at the Emmys), they did welcome a child together, a baby boy named Sam, in 2016.

Here, take a look back at Keri and Matthew's relationship timeline.

2002: Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys meet for the first time.

Sometime in 2002, Keri and Matthew met at a "kickball party," where the actor asked for the Felicity star's phone number. “I very drunkenly asked her for her number when she was a young, single slip of a thing,” Rhys said on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen back in 2017, adding that the exchange took place in a “very romantic” parking lot and that Keri asked him to open her beer.

They didn't cross paths again until they started filming The Americans a decade later, and Rhys reminded Russell of their initial meet-cute. "At a lunch, you said, 'You know, we've met before, I said, 'No, we haven't.' You said, 'Yeah, 10 years ago at a kickball party,'" Russell explained. "As soon as you said that, I went, 'Of course I remember that!'"

2012: Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys reconnect while shooting The Americans.

Ten years after their awkward parking lot encounter, Keri and Matthew reconnected again as co-stars in the FX drama series The Americans, where they played married couple Elizabeth and Philip Jennings, who are KGB spies living outside of Washington, D.C.

At the time, Keri was still married to her ex-husband Shane Deary, but when Andy Cohen asked if they fell in love on the show, Rhys responded: "Yes, absolutely."

January 2014: Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys spark dating rumors with a steamy GQ photoshoot.

While there were whispers of Keri and Matthew dating in the past, the rumors reached a fever pitch when they appeared in a steamy spread for GQ in early 2014. In the photoshoot, Russel wore black lingerie with nothing but a trench coat and heels as she provocatively posed alongside Rhys.

A few months later, People confirmed they were a couple after they were spotted looking cozy on a date at The Public Theater in New York City.

May 2016: Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys welcome their first child together.

Russell and Rhys welcomed their first child together in May but waited a few months to reveal the baby's name and gender publicly.

During an appearance on the Today show in July 2016, Russell told host Matt Lauer: "We had a boy. [His name is] Sam. He's so good. He's big and fat and nice." The actress then shared that Rhys was doing "so well" as a new dad.

September 2017: Matthew Rhys adorably fixes Keri Russell's hair on the red carpet. 

Rhys stepped in as Russell's hairstylist on the red carpet at the New York City Ballet's 2017 Fall Fashion Gala. It was particularly windy outside and blew Keri's curtain bangs out of place before Matthew sweetly smoothed them back to each side.

September 2018: Matthew Rhys gives a sweet shoutout to Keri Russell at the Emmys.

At the 2018 Emmys, Rhys won the award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role in The Americans, and during his acceptance speech, he took a moment to thank Keri. “And finally, to the woman who truly got me this award, who just stands in front of me every day and just puts up with me,” he said. “I don’t have the words or the time, neither which would do you justice, Keri Lynn, except thank you.”

March 2023: Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys reunite on-screen in Cocaine Bear.

Six years after the series finale of The Americans, Keri and Matthew got the opportunity to work together again in the Elizabeth Banks-directed film Cocaine Bear.

"I unashamedly jumped on my partner's coattails because I knew [Keri Russell] ... and I read the script, and I simply said, 'Who's playing that? That little fun part, a few seconds in the beginning?' [Keri] goes, 'I don't know.' I said, 'Ask Banks,'" Rhys told The A.V. Club.

Rhys ultimately scored the role of Andrew C. Thornton II, a former police officer turned drug smuggler who dumped cocaine while parachuting from an airplane, while Keri played Sari, a nurse and single mother who fights to get her and her daughter out of the forest alive.

April 2023: Matthew Rhys opened up about his workplace romance with Keri Russell.

During an interview with Page Six, Matthew admitted that he's thankful that his on-set romance with Keri happened but acknowledged that there's a lot of risk involved with dating your co-star.

“We were both at an age where we’ve done it long enough to go, ‘You know workplace [romances] can be disastrous,” he explained. “So, I think it was approached with caution and a great deal of trepidation, and coupled with that, for me, was certainly fun and excitement.” He jokingly added, "Thank God it worked."

January 2024: Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys attend the Golden Globes together.

Rhys and Russell made a rare red carpet appearance together at the 2024 Golden Globes. Russell, who was nominated for Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama for her role in Netflix's The Diplomat, wore a white fringed Jil Sander gown with a massive diamond necklace, while Rhys looked sophisticated in a black tuxedo.