Meet the Real-Life Loves ofThe DiplomatCast (Including One Couple That’s Married On-Screen and Off!)

Mar. 15, 2025

Matthew Rhys, Keri Russell William Jackson Harper and Ali Ahn.Photo:Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty; Taylor Hill/FilmMagic

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty; Taylor Hill/FilmMagic

Luckily, the cast’s real-life love stories are far less dramatic.

Keri Russell, who plays Kate, admitted to PEOPLE that her character’s relationship with former diplomat Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell) is “complex.” But she also argued that the second season feels “very mature” and shows the “realities of knowing somebody for so long," something she can relate to in her over decade-long relationship withMatthew Rhys.

Season 2 ofThe Diplomat, which was released on Oct. 31, raises the stakes even higher in Kate and Hal’s on-again, off-again dynamic. There’s also the undeniable chemistry she has with British Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison (David Gyasi), and the awkward tension between her right-hand man Stuart Hayford (Ato Essandoh) and CIA station chief Eidra Park (Ali Ahn).

While the characters’ relationship statuses remain a question mark on-screen, many of the actors who portray them have long-term partners.

Here’s everything to know about the real-life loves ofThe Diplomatcast.

Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys

Kerri Russell and Matthew Rhys.Kevin Mazur/Getty

Kevin Mazur/Getty

Before she was defusing international crises inThe Diplomat, Russell was an undercover spy in FX’sThe Americansfrom 2013 to 2018. While on set, the actress started secretly dating her costar (and fictional husband), Matthew Rhys. During a 2024 episode ofJesse Tyler Ferguson’sDinner’s on Mepodcast,Russell said that the timingof their relationship was everything.

“It was such a lark that we got to do that together … at that prime of our lives,” she said. “Had we met when we were 20, we wouldn’t be together. We were just in the right moment."

The couplewent public with their relationshipin 2014, and welcomed their son, Sam, in 2016. Russell also has two children — Willa and River — with her ex-husband Shane Deary.

Rufus Sewell and Vivian Benitez

Rufus Sewell and Vivian Benitez.Mike Coppola/Getty

Mike Coppola/Getty

Sewell and Benitez married on July 17, 2024, in a ceremony that she called “perfect.” Though the couple have made a few red carpet appearances, they mostly keep their relationship private.

Benitez occasionallyshares photos on her Instagramof their life together, including a series of images from a trip to Wales they took in 2022.

David Gyasi and Emma Gyasi

David Gyasi and Emma Gyasi.Tristan Fewings/Getty

Tristan Fewings/Getty

He may have a will-they-or-won’t-they thing with Russell onThe Diplomat, but in real life, David Gyasi has been in the same relationship since he was a teenager. In 2021, the British actor toldThe Standardthat he started dating his wife, Emma Gyasi, in sixth form — the final two years of secondary education in the United Kingdom — when she became pregnant with their daughter, Elena.

“Obviously, the 32-year-old David is very different from me at 19,” he said. “But I feel incredibly lucky that I’ve been allowed to change, and that my wife feels she’s been allowed to change.”

The couple later married and had another child, a son named Nathaniel.

Ali Ahn and William Jackson Harper

Ali Ahn and William Jackson Harper.Mike Coppola/Getty

Ahn met her boyfriend,The Good Place’sWilliam Jackson Harper, while they were both active in the New York theater scene. In 2012, they starred in an outdoor production ofRomeo and Juliet, and Harper told theLos Angeles Timesthat their relationship “just spiraled up into the sky from there.”

While the couple mostly fly under the radar, Ahnposted a series of Instagram photoswith Harper at the77th Tony Awardsin June 2024. She captioned the post: “So proud of @williamjacksonharper. An honor to be his date.” They also attendedThe Diplomat’s season 2 premiere together in October 2024.

Rory Kinnear and Pandora Colin

Rory Kinnear and Pandora Colin.David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty

David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty

One couple onThe Diplomateven exists off-screen.

Kinnear toldThe Guardianin 2017 that the couple share two children, Riley and Hope.

Michael McKean and Annette O’Toole

Annette O’Toole and Michael McKean.Mike Coppola/Getty

The Diplomat’sMichael McKean, who plays President William Rayburn, has been married toVirgin River’s Annette O’Toole for over 25 years. They first met in the 1970s and then reconnected on the set of the 1998 Lifetime movieFinal Justice. A year later, they were married.

“23 years ago, I married my best friend and it is working out beautifully,” the actorposted on X(formerly Twitter) in March 2022. “Thanks for saying yes.”

The couple, who are also musicians, have collaborated on shows likeBoy Meets WorldandSmallville. McKean and O’Toole were even nominated for an Oscar for songs they wrote for the 2003 comedy musicalA Mighty Wind.

source: people.com