Russell graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and made his directorial debut with 1987's A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, which he also wrote. He followed this with The Blob (1988) and the iconic comedy The Mask (1994), starring Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz. His other notable works include Eraser (1996) with Arnold Schwarzenegger and The Scorpion King (2002), which marked Dwayne Johnson's first leading role.