Keri Russell pulls back the curtain on "The Diplomat"

Keri Russell, literally acting as U.S. ambassador, was deftly balancing yet another diplomatic crisis, in a rented manor, with prop champagne. And the plot, while plausible, was scripted. Asked whether it was over-glamourized, Russell replied, "The diplomatic world? Well, yeah, it's TV! You've got to over-glamorize it! Everything takes so long!"

But "The Diplomat" moves. In its first season, Russell's character, Kate Wyler, was thrown into her role of United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (no pesky Senate confirmation required), and literally tussles with her opinionated former ambassador-husband (played by Rufus Sewell). The storyline parallels current events, including Iran and a resurgent Russia.

"It's just a world that we kind of don't know that much about, which is really interesting," Russell said. "I think the State Department, in general, they're doing their job well when we don't hear about them. It's fun to get to peer a little bit behind the curtain."