Felicity actor Scott Speedman reveals his initial worry about Keri Russells character

Dear Sally, Scott Speedman is spilling the tea.The “Felicity” actor, 49, who played Ben Covington on the late ’90s drama, revealed he didn’t think his on screen love interest Felicity Porter should have been played by Keri Russell at first.“I remember meeting you at the read-through a couple days later, and I thought clearly you were miscast,” Speedman told Russell, 49, during Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series on Friday.“I saw you and I thought, [the character] was supposed to be this nerd.

And I was like, ‘The chick from ‘Malibu Shores’ is playing Felicity?’… How is that going to work?”“Felicity” ran for four seasons from 1998 to 2002 on the WB with Russell, Speedman, Scott Foley as Noah Crane, Tangi Miller as Elena Tyler and Greg Grunberg as Sean Blumberg.The series watched as Felicity decided to ditch premed life to follow her high school crush Ben to New York City.Along with the success of the show, the network also created a slew of other cult-classic teen dramas, including “Dawson’s Creek,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Charmed” and “One Tree Hill.”Two years prior to “Felicity,” Russell landed her breakthrough role on NBC’s “Malibu Shores.” The primetime soap aired for one season in 1996 and starred Katie Wright, Randy Spelling, Christian Campbell, and Michelle Phillips.During their sit down, Russell reflected on the Aaron Spelling drama getting canceled early on, quipping to Speedman: “That was a f–king good show.”And he agreed, stating, “It was a good show.”The pair also spoke about on how they landed their respective roles on “Felicity.”“I was living in my mom’s apartment, on her couch, in Toronto,” the “Grey’s Anatomy” star recalled.

“I sent a tape down and got a call after a couple of days.They had to figure out how to get me into the country legally.

Three days later I was in [the U.S.].”After touching down in America, Speedman met up with the show’s cr...