Keri Russell Says She Was ‘Lucky’ She Got Out Of Disney Show With ‘My Sanity, My Dignity’ | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the The Daily Wire. The author of this post is Katie Jerkovich.

    Keri Russell recently said she was "lucky" to leave "The All-New Mickey Mouse Club" with her "sanity" and "dignity" because others weren't as fortunate, without explaining further.

    The 47-year-old actress opened up about the early days of her career and being cast for the popular Disney show as one of the coveted Mouseketeers along with future superstars like Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, W Magazine reported.

    When pressed by the reporter if the actress saved "anything from your time on the show," Russell answered, "My sanity, my dignity. Not everyone got out alive."

    At one point, Russell admitted she was the "least talented" person in the cast of young stars.

    "Some of those people are still my best friends-Ilana [Miller] and Lindsey [Alley]. I was there at a time when there were a lot of famous kids there," the "Felicity" star said. "And I say this completely truthfully: I was literally the least talented one there. I'm not kidding."

    "When I look at those kids, I'm like, why in the world did they pick me?" she added. "Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake and Ryan Gosling and Britney Spears. It was wild."

    The "Waitress" star landed her role on the Disney show when she was 15, appearing on the hit from 1991-1994.

    Earlier this year, Russell praised her former Mouseketeer cast.

    "They were all very talented. Like, Christina and Britney and Ryan Gosling and Justin, all those kids were 12 when I was 17. So I was a little older," the actress said on "The Kelly Clarkson Show."

    "I mean, I could drive. I was cool. But they were wildly talented."

    In October 2021, Russell was one of the many stars who spoke out in defense of Spears amid her then-ongoing battle to get out of her conservatorship held by her father, Jamie Spears.

    "I just hope she's happy, whatever that means," Keri said at the screening for her film "Antlers."

    "I don't know if any of us really know how her life really is," she added. "But I just hope she's happy."