Hulu's new series The Handmaid's Tale, based on the Margaret Atwood novel, depicts present-day America as a nightmare—see: coup d'état, theocracy, zero human rights—and its stars, Elisabeth Moss and Alexis Bledel, aren't taking it lying down.
Here, their take on an all-too-familiar dystopia.
Marie Claire: Let's start with the hellish future your characters inhabit.
Elisabeth Moss: It's a dystopian present, actually. A fundamentalist regime, called Gilead, has taken over the U.S. and is basically running things according to certain scriptures in the Bible. I play Offred, who is a "handmaid," a fertile woman who's been captured and sort of enslaved to be a breeder. [American women are victim to rampant infertility in Gilead.] Married couples who cannot have their own child get a handmaid. We have sex with the husband, while the wife is present, and hopefully get pregnant. And each handmaid has a partner—mine is Ofglen [played by Alexis Bledel]—because we're not trusted to leave the house by ourselves.
MC: How can Offred and Ofglen build any kind of friendship with so much distrust?
Alexis Bledel: The tension that charges every scene, because we're being policed everywhere we go, is the constant threat of being punished. That really influences the way that the handmaids speak to one another and what they are able to talk about. Those conversations are so loaded and they have to be so careful, and the fact that they break through to actually open up to one another is really telling about both characters.
MC: Offred and Ofglen share this intense yet quiet, almost invisible, strength. How do you survive in a world that is so horrible?
EM: That's what we do as humans. In the darkest of times, we find something we can believe in, and we find some light.
AB: Ofglen is definitely somebody who fights back. So many of the handmaids do in small ways every day, which is inspiring. Ofglen just decides to take it many steps further.
EM: It was important to me to play Offred as you or I or any woman who'd find herself in Gilead. She's a heroine, but she's a normal person. She isn't somebody you would believe could escape from this world, you know? She finds ways to survive that are very human. Over and over again throughout the season, Offred finds herself totally alone, but she still finds one person she can help or save. Margaret Atwood writes, "You can mean more than one. You can mean thousands." In the end, we're individuals, but grouped together, we can be thousands.
This article appears in the April issue of Marie Claire, on newsstands now.
Stay In The Know
Marie Claire email subscribers get intel on fashion and beauty trends, hot-off-the-press celebrity news, and more. Sign up here.
As deputy editor, Jen oversees Cosmopolitan's daily digital editorial operations, editing and writing features, essays, news, and other content, in addition to editing the magazine's cover stories, astrology pages, and more. Previously, Jen was a senior editor at Marie Claire. Before that, she worked at GQ.
-
I Work Out 5 Days a Week—These Are the Brands I Wear on Repeat
Sponsor Content Created With Nordstrom
By Emma Walsh Published
-
Princess Kate Will Be "Ready to Talk" About Her Absence When She Gets Back to Work, Source Claims
The Palace has released very few details about her illness and recovery.
By Iris Goldsztajn Published
-
Princess Kate Was Allegedly Spotted Looking "Happy, Relaxed and Healthy" at a Farm Shop This Weekend
Anonymous onlookers provided this description to 'The Sun.'
By Iris Goldsztajn Published
-
The Best Bollywood Movies of 2023 (So Far)
Including one that just might fill the Riverdale-shaped hole in your heart.
By Andrea Park Published
-
‘Bachelor in Paradise’ 2023: Everything We Know
Cue up Mike Reno and Ann Wilson’s “Almost Paradise."
By Andrea Park Last updated
-
Who Is Gerry Turner, the ‘Golden Bachelor’?
The Indiana native is the first senior citizen to join Bachelor Nation.
By Andrea Park Last updated
-
‘Virgin River’ Season 6: Everything We Know
Here's everything we know on the upcoming episodes.
By Andrea Park Last updated
-
The 60 Best Musical Movies of All Time
All the dance numbers! All the show tunes!
By Amanda Mitchell Last updated
-
'Ginny & Georgia' Season 2: Everything We Know
Netflix owes us answers after that ending.
By Zoe Guy Last updated
-
35 Nude Movies With Porn-Level Nudity
Lots of steamy nudity ahead.
By Kayleigh Roberts Last updated
-
The Cast of 'The Crown' Season 5: Your Guide
The Mountbatten-Windsors have been recast—again.
By Andrea Park Published