Keri Russell denounces double standards in the “Mickey Mouse Club”

July 10, 2024

Keri Russell recently reflected on her time as a child star on “The Mickey Mouse Club” and her theory about her exit from the show is anything but magical.

During an appearance on Wednesday’s episode of the podcast “Dinner’s on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson,” the “Diplomat” actress mentioned that she appeared on the long-running show between the ages of 15 and 17 – making her a few years older than some of her other famous former acting colleagues such as Justin Timberlake, Ryan Gosling and Britney Spears.

When host Jesse Tyler Ferguson asked her if there was an age limit for cast members, Russell expressed her suspicion that there was a double standard.

“Yes, usually girls who look like they are sexually active” have to leave the show, she said. “I was probably one of the first.”

“They said, ‘She’s out!'” Russell added with a laugh.

The “Felicity” star then pointed out that some of her male colleagues, on the other hand, stayed on the show until they were 19, regardless of whether they were sexually active or not.

“I was like, ‘Um, by the way, I had sex with this person, so I know they had sex,'” she said, adding that “pregnant Mouseketeers are not on the list.”

Russell did not provide any further details about her departure from the series.

Disney representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Pregnant Mouseketeers are not on the list," said the former "Mickey Mouse Club" Actress Keri Russell, who had a successful career as an adult actress. — “Pregnant Mouseketeers are not on the list,” said Keri Russell, a former cast member of “The Mickey Mouse Club” who later went on to have a successful career as an adult actress.

Russell appeared in “The All New Mickey Mouse Club,” also known as “MMC,” which aired from 1989 to 1996. The series was one of many reboots of the original “Mickey Mouse Club,” which premiered in 1955.

The “Americans” actress spoke about her experiences in the “Mickey Mouse Club” in an interview with W Magazine last year.

She told the magazine that she was the “least talented” of the star-studded cast.

“I was there at a time when there were a lot of famous kids there. And I’ll be honest with you: I was literally the least talented kid there,” she said. “I’m not kidding. When I look at those kids, I’m like, why on earth did they pick me? Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake and Ryan Gosling and Britney Spears. It was wild.”

When asked if she had salvaged anything from her time on the show, Russell replied: “My sanity, my dignity. Not everyone got out alive.”