"Felicity" Fronts CoverGirl

Fresh off Mission: Impossible III gig, Keri Russell signs on as newest of Cover Girl; print and TV ads launch in August

By Gina Serpe Jul 11, 2006 3:50 PMTags

Keri Russell is putting her best face forward--which apparently is slathered in a layer or two of CoverGirl.

The erstwhile Felicity star is getting in touch with her easy, breezy self, signing on as the newest face of the vaunted cosmetics company.

"CoverGirl is a brand that embraces both inner and outer beauty, and I'm honored to represent those ideals," Russell said when she signed with the company in February.

Of course, the actress was likely hired for her possession of the latter characteristic. It's a bit harder to light inner beauty.

"It's very exciting to join the ranks of such talented, unique CoverGirl spokesmodels," she said.

The 30-year-old actress joins makeup mavens Queen Latifah, Christie Brinkley, Tyra Banks and Molly Sims as a spokesmodel for the veteran beauty brand's Outlast Double Lipshine, appearing in both TV ads, out later this month, and print ads, hitting magazines in August.

"Keri embodies the clean, fresh, natural look that defines CoverGirl," said Gina Drosos, VP of global cosmetics for Proctor & Gambel, CoverGirl's parent company. "Her natural beauty and spirited personality shine through in everything she does."

Russell, who costarred in this summer's Mission: Impossible III, is opting to showcase the natural look--to a point, anyway, it is a makeup campaign--in her series of print ads, citing Brinkley as one of the inspirations for her cleaned-up look.

"Fresh and natural--it's what she is, too...I'm not really the sexy vixen type," Russell told the Associated Press.

Her commercial, too, will be more catered to the self-proclaimed tomboy's personality, forsaking the cafe-dweller lash-batting of typical makeup ads and instead mirroring Russell's recent butt-kicking role.

Per reports, the CoverGirl shoot, which took place in New York last month, more closely resembles a mini action movie than a beauty campaign, and features Russell fighting off a group of ensuing ninjas, albeit while maintaining a perfectly glossed pout.

But while the onetime J.J. Abrams muse has made her mark on screens big and small, the world of commercials is, despite her long career, a relatively new beast.

"When I first started, I did do a commercial for a deodorant or something," Russell told AP. "I don't even think it aired. This is the first thing I've done like this. It's a lot less stressful than doing a film. This takes two days, not a few months or the whole year of a television show."

Good thing, too. A couple days seems to be all the in-demand actress can spare.

According to IMDb.com, Russell, who just finished up a trot around the globe in support of M:I:III, has three more films in the works, including starring as in the title role in Waitress alongside Cheryl Hines and Andy Griffith, and appearing in the fairy-tale drama August Rush with Jonathan Rhys Meyers.