Elisabeth Moss Explains Why She First Passed On ‘Handmaid's Tale' Role: 'It Seems Insane Now'
With The Handmaid's Tale coming to an end, Elisabeth Moss is reflecting on her time in Gilead over the past nine years.
The 2x Golden Globe winner said she's 'so glad I did' take the role of June Osborne after originally passing on the part in the Hulu series adaptation of Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel, which concludes its sixth and final season on May 27.
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'Thank God that worked out the right way,' said Moss on The Jennifer Hudson Show, explaining that she was hesitant to commit to another series right after her eight-season run on Mad Men (2007-'15).
Moss added, 'I wasn't quite sure if I was ready to make that commitment again, so I actually passed the first time they offered it to me. I know, it seems insane now. I'm so glad I've corrected that. And then they came back, and they very nicely offered it again, blah, blah, blah. Then the thing that clinched it was … they leaked it to me—obviously on purpose—who they were going to offer it to if I didn't take it, and I was like, 'Over my dead body.'
'It was the thing that made realize that I needed to do it. I couldn't stand the idea of anyone else playing that role, you know what I mean?' she explained. 'That was the thing that made me realize how badly I wanted to do it.'
Set in the dystopian society of Gilead, The Handmaid's Tale follows June (aka Offred) as she's forced to reproduce with a high-ranking commander, all while secretly plotting to overthrow the totalitarian government and reunite with the daughter who was taken from her.
As of last month, series creator Bruce Miller is in the casting phase of the upcoming sequel series The Testaments, based on Atwood's 2019 followup book.
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