List of The Americans characters
This is a list of characters appearing in the FX drama The Americans.
Main characters
Elizabeth Jennings
Played by Keri Russell. Elizabeth (real name, Nadezhda) is a KGB agent and the "wife" (though they are not truly married) of Philip Jennings and the mother of Paige and Henry Jennings. In comparison to Philip, Elizabeth feels more strongly about her allegiance with the KGB and Russia and when Philip suggests defection, she strongly rebuffs. Early in her training, Elizabeth was raped by Nikolai Timoshev. Elizabeth had an affair with Gregory Thomas (Derek Luke) for fourteen years. Although she and Philip never fell in love in the early years of their partnership, Elizabeth has developed feelings for him and is now in love with him.
Philip Jennings
Played by Matthew Rhys. Philip Jennings (real name, Mischa) is also a KGB agent and "husband" of Elizabeth Jennings as well as the father of Paige and Henry Jennings. Although loyal to his cause, Philip has held little animosity towards the United States and has even considered defecting early in the series. Philip was hurt when he discovered Elizabeth's affair with Gregory Thomas, but he and Elizabeth managed to get past that. Philip is a good friend of Agent Stan Beeman, who coincidentally lives across the street from them. Philip has a mutual respect for Stan though they have been through rough spots during their friendship. Philip has multiple identities, one of which is named Clark, who has actually married to an FBI secretary named Martha Hanson (Alison Wright), whom he has used to get information. In season four, he is working to protect her from discovery.
Paige Jennings
Played by Holly Taylor. Paige Jennings is Elizabeth and Philip's daughter. In the past she had a troubled relationship with Elizabeth and was more comfortable with Philip. However now her relationship with both parents are strained, after being told that they are Soviet agents.
Henry Jennings
Played by Keidrich Sellati. Henry Jennings is Elizabeth and Philip's son. He is very intelligent and actually reflects his parents work but in a way kids act sometimes at that age (e.g., spying on neighbors, breaking into homes, etc.).
Stan Beeman
Played by Noah Emmerich. Stan Beeman is an FBI Counter-Intelligence agent and the Jennings' neighbor. He was married to Sandra (Susan Misner) and they have a son, Matthew. Stan spent time as an undercover agent for the FBI, with white supremacists, prior to the series. In the pilot episode, he moved in across the street to the Jennings' and quickly befriended them. Suspicious at first of Philip, he finally accepted them as normal neighbors. He and his ex-wife divorced after Stan began an affair with his KGB informant, Nina (Annet Mahendru). Stan was also great friends with his partner, Chris Amador. After Amador's death, Stan became so distraught that he sought revenge on the KGB by killing Vlad, an innocent man who is very close to Nina, they pick up and arrest one day. He is presently dating though has come to realize how much he misses Sandra, who is presently living with another man.
Nina Krilova
Played by Annet Mahendru. Nina is Stan's FBI informant and later, lover. Nina works at the Soviet Embassy. Stan blackmailed her to work with the FBI which eventually led to an affair. Nina turned on Stan in "The Oath" and became a re-doubled agent after realizing Stan killed her friend, Vlad. Her failure to obtain information from Stan led to her conviction of treason and she was sent to prison in the Soviet Union, where they made her a deal to spy on yet another man, Anton Baklanov, and report to them on what he is doing. Angry with Stan at one point, she began sleeping with Oleg as well. She has admitted to loving them both, even though she is still married to yet another man.
Martha Hanson
Played by Alison Wright. Martha is Agent Gaad's secretary, Clark's (Phlip's alias for her alone) informant and later Clark's wife. Philip used his relationship with Martha to keep an eye on things at Gaad's office. She was reluctant to perform some tasks, though she would eventually agree, though other times (through Philip's manipulation) would exceed his requests and provide more information than he thought she could obtain. When Martha was ready to stop doing things for him, Philip further manipulated her by asking her to marry him, which he did. After Stan and Gaad discovered a bug planted in Gaad's own office that Martha left there, Philp was forced to reveal that he was not who he said he was, he intimated that he was a spy and promised her he would protect her. He even admitted to killing another man for her.
Sandra Beeman
Played by Susan Misner. Sandra is Stan's ex-wife. After moving with him to Washington, she tried in vain to get their marriage back to where it was before his last FBI assignment, but Stan was not enthusiastic. She left him for another man, which made Stan realize too late that Sandra was lost to him. After admitting his affair to Nina and begging her for her forgiveness, Sandra refused to reconcile. She is a believer in a self-help support group which both Stan and Philip have attended. She has recently developed a friendly relationship with Philip, though strictly platonic. Stan raged when he wrongly suspected Philip of having an affair with Sandra.
Frank Gaad
Played by Richard Thomas. Frank Gaad is the FBI supervisor and Stan's boss. He allowed Stan to step over the line a number of times, but finally put his foot down when he discovered that Stan was plotting with Oleg, a Soviet analyst.
Arkady Zotov
Played by Lev Gorn, who was born in the Soviet Union. Arkady is the present Rezident, or KGB station chief, working at the Soviet Embassy. Though we know little about his past, he appears to be very caring of his own staff, so long as they keep him informed. He understandably becomes incensed when those working under him know about operations that he does not know about.
Oleg Burov
Played by Costa Ronin, who was born in the Soviet Union. Oleg is a very tall and intelligent young man who, like Stan, had an affair and fell in love with Nina. Oleg was willing to work with Stan to try to get Nina out of prison, but so far nothing has worked out. Oleg comes from a wealthy, high ranking family though he is not as interested in money and power as his family appears to be. He enjoys the United States and wants to stay, though his father is insistent that he return home for safety's sake. He has formally requested Arkady to keep him there, even though Arkady has been ordered to send Oleg home.
Chris Amador
Played by Maximiliano Hernández. Chris Amador was Stan Beeman's partner and friend who served in the Vietnam War. He dated Martha before Philip and when she rejected him he began stalking her. He confronted Philip one morning leaving Martha's home and in their ensuing fight, is stabbed by Philip. Despite Philip and Elizabeth's best attempts to keep him alive, he died in his sleep during season one.
Recurring characters
Claudia
Played by Margo Martindale. Claudia was Elizabeth and Philip's handler, whom Philip called "Granny". In "Trust Me", after Elizabeth and Philip are kidnapped and tortured by the KGB posing as the FBI, Elizabeth beats up Claudia after she reveals to them it was a ploy to find out if it was the Jennings who were the moles. Elizabeth and Philip have her transferred as their supervisor though she returns briefly after her replacement is killed and informs the Jennings of The Centre's intention to have Paige recruited into the KGB. She is replaced by Gabriel to whom she is great friends with. It is revealed that despite appearances, Claudia and Gabriel both care deeply for this family.
Gabriel
Played by Frank Langella. Gabriel is the current Jennings family handler. With a lifetime of experience that first spanned from the Russian Revolution, he was their first handler who worked with them for many years until he retired. Claudia replaced him, but the Jennings' didn't like her so Kate replaced Claudia and when Kate was murdered, Gabriel came out of retirement to work with the Jennings family again. His relationship with Philip is rather strained and he believes Philip to be the weaker of the two, but he is very close to Elizabeth.