Frank Ockenfels/FXThe Americans may be embarking on a new season, but at least one season one tradition is sticking around: Keri Russell still slaps Matthew Rhys.
"Yeah, that's an old tradition that's been upheld from the last season," Rhys told E! News. "It goes back to the audition, the first audition that I had, the chemistry read that I had with Keri where she was told by Gavin O'Connor, the director, to slap me in the scene, completely unbeknownst to me, and did incredibly hard, and has consequently continued to do so in two seasons now. It's happened several times. She likes to do it at inopportune moments, or when she thinks I'm least expecting it."
Season two will find our favorite spies Elizabeth Jennings (Russell) and Phillip Jennings (Rhys) more together than ever.
"The last season, which was about the divide between Phillip and Elizabeth, you do see them on a far more, as I think was hinted at the in the end of last season, they are a lot more of a united front this year," Rhys said. "The family conflict becomes a lot louder, as the ever more growing inquisitive teenage daughter becomes a lot more aware of the bizarreness of her parents' disappearance."
Russell said her TV daughter, Paige (Holly Taylor), is stirring up trouble.
"She's growing up and so is her mind, and so is her interest in everything, so she plays a big part this year," Russell told E! News.
And what about those promos and scenes with the sizzling chemistry between her and Rhys?
"There's lots of beer involved, I'm sure, to get us through," Russell said.
The Americans season two premieres Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 10 p.m. on FX.