Alexis Bledel shared her thoughts on The Handmaid’s Tale and the fate of her character as the series nears its finale.
Based on Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel of the same name, the story is set in a totalitarian society called Gilead, where women were stripped of their rights and assigned roles, including handmaids who were used for reproductive purposes.
The Gilmore Girls star, who played Ofglen/Emily in the first four series of the adaptation, offered a rare insight into her character’s harrowing journey.
“I was actually offered the role [of Emily/Ofglen],” Bledel told The Hollywood Reporter. “And when I read the pilot script I immediately said yes. Somehow, Bruce [Miller, the show’s creator] just knew I had Ofglen in me.”
The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants actress added, “It was deeply upsetting to even imagine Emily going through something like that being captured, powerless, with no say over her body.”
Her character, Emily, was a former professor whose name shifted to Ofglen to Ofsteven to Ofroy, and finally to Ofjoseph over the course of the story, a patronymic name assigned to handmaids based on the first name of the commander they serve.
Bledel even won an Emmy award for Outstanding Guest Actress for her performance in season one.
Ahead of the season finale which will reveal the final fate of June (Elisabeth Moss), Janine (Madeline Brewer), and the other rebels, the season six episode nine featured Taylor Swift’s Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor’s Version), a fitting track capturing raw emotions of all the handmaids.
After six gripping season, The Handmaid’s Tale will come to an end on May 27.
