Scott Speedman initially thought Keri Russell was miscast for ‘Felicity’

Today, teen TV lovers know Ben Covington and Felicity Porter as one of the best on-screen couples of all time. But when Scott Speedman first got the job playing Keri Russell’s love interest on the WB’s Felicity back in 1998, he thought producers had cast the wrong actress in the titular role.

Speaking with Russell as part of Variety‘s “Actors on Actors” series, Speedman recalled first laying eyes on his costar after being cast by creators J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves. “I remember meeting you at the read-through a couple days later, and I thought clearly you were miscast,” said Speedman. “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?”

Two years before Felicity premiered, Russell had her breakthrough role in Malibu Shores, a short-lived (but deeply loved by those of us who watched it) primetime soap on NBC. (“F—ing good show,” Russell notes.) Watch their full interview below:

Of course, Speedman was wrong about Russell being miscast. Felicity — which followed the life and loves of Russell’s ingenue after she moved to New York for college — went on to become a hit. The drama also helped build the WB network, home to Dawson’s Creek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Charmed, into a teen-TV powerhouse.

During an interview in Entertainment Weekly’s 2015 Reunions Issue, Russell recounted how she nearly bombed her first audition.

“There were so many girls waiting to audition, I was like, ‘Can I leave?’ I got a couple of callbacks and then had a screen test and choked,” she said. “I’m such a bad auditioner… So I left, and J.J. and Matt chased me down and said, ‘What happened? You have to come back in — you’re too nervous.’ I was like, ‘Welcome to moi. [Laughs] Welcome to a life of this!’ They pulled me into this copy room — because it was the WB I remember there were all these Wayans Bros. posters — and J.J. told me jokes and calmed me down. I still don’t think I did amazing, but they let me have the part.”