Madeline Brewer who plays Janine/Ofwarren
What was it like filming as Trump took hold?
Being on set in the world of Gilead – it was impossible not to draw some parallels. There’s a line in one episode that goes: “Better never means better for everyone. It always means worse for some,” and I feel like we see a lot of that in society and in government today. Someone is always getting screwed over.
Did the male cast members feel at all uncomfortable during filming? Was there a real sisterhood on set?
They weren’t uncomfortable – there was nothing but love on the set. But being part of the show has made me feel stronger in sisterhood with women in my real life. I’ve always identified as a feminist, it’s how I was raised, it’s who I am – but it’s instilled in me an even greater respect for sisterhood.
What did you find the hardest scene to play?
Being on the bridge preparing to jump. She was at her most vulnerable, all the walls taken down, but screaming, angry, so sad, and at the end of her rope. Literally close to the edge.
What were the most striking scenes for you when you saw the show in its entirety?
As an actor: every time Serena Joy is on screen. She is so evil, but also a woman, a woman who wants a child. And as a viewer: the scene where Alexis Bledel wakes up to find she’s had her clitoris chopped off, basically, and the moment Samira [Wiley, who plays Moira] escapes into the garage and wipes off the jeep’s licence plate and collapses when she realises she’s in Ontario. That gives me chills!
What reactions have you had?
I’ve been really lucky. Everyone I’ve spoken to, especially about Janine, has said how heartbroken they were for her, or how funny she was at times. Mothers have shared stories of their children, even of losing a child. They saw their world a little bit, reflected back at them. I feel that’s why we make and why we watch things – to feel connections.
What do you hope people take from the show?
I hope people feel able to take a step further into change in a larger sense, in society and in the world. Roy Moore [losing his senate seat] has been a wonderful upset. There is power in people understanding their power. I feel that the black men and women of Alabama understood they had power, used it and turned that election around. I’d love people to watch the show and say: “I have a voice! And I’m going to use it.”
Yvonne Strahovski, who plays Serena Joy
How did you find sympathy for – or empathy with – Serena Joy?
I saw her as a very broken woman, with a broken relationship where she no longer shared a strong connection with her husband. A husband who had betrayed her in the past and who continues to. A husband who fell victim to the skewed ways of Gilead, more than she did in some ways. She attempts human contact, even in the strange form of her handmaid, who she resents.
What was your favourite scene to play? To watch as a viewer? What was the hardest to play?
Favourite scene: I love any time I get to say, “Go to your room.” It’s become such an iconic Serena sentence. To watch: I oddly love watching the ceremony scenes. It is magical to see how awkward and horrific they are in the final edit. I get so uncomfortable watching them. Way more uncomfortable then how I felt when we shot it. The hardest to play: when Serena shows Offred Hannah from afar. And is totally void of any sympathy towards Offred when she begs to see Hannah. I just wanted to give Offred a hug instead.
Were you as surprised as viewers to discover that Serena Joy was (one of) the architects of Gilead?
I do feel that Serena Joy’s initial political movement started with some kind of a pure intention, regardless of how embedded she was (and is) in religion. It gets messy when you add in her specific religious point of view, and even messier when you add her to the mix of a people who are reconstructing society, based on their narrow viewpoint. Suddenly, you’ve found yourself in an extremist setting.
What was it like filming as real life, Trump-based events unfolded?
There was a huge element of this that I really grappled with. I saw so many parallels between what Trump stands for and the people he surrounded (and surrounds) himself with and Serena Joy. I don’t relate to a man like that and everything he condones and stands for. But what I did have to do, was relate to Serena, who condones and stands for things I don’t relate to either. There was a part of me that felt dirty doing that.
How do you see the show now?
Now? It seems we have become a symbol for strength and resistance and unity. And it feels good to be on that side of the narrative.
What do you think was Serena Joy’s lowest point? Emotionally? Morally?
I’d say showing Offred her daughter from afar, but not letting her near her. What a bitch. Everything is wrong about this. It is such a selfish act on Serena’s part for the supposed preservation of her “own” child and the preservation of her own survival in Gilead.
What’s the most memorable response you’ve had to the show?
It spoke to people on a level that was so real, became a warning sign for many, highlighted and articulated fears of people about where we are heading as a society and became a symbol of resistance. This is so above and beyond what I ever imagined I was signing up for.
