Y2K Icon Alexis Bledel Just Shared the Real Reason She Stepped Away From ‘The Handmaid's Tale'
If you ever felt emotionally wrecked after an episode of The Handmaid's Tale, you're not alone — so did its stars. Alexis Bledel, who played the fierce and haunted Emily, is finally opening up about why she quietly stepped away from the Hulu series in 2022 — and the reason will hit home for anyone who's ever had to walk away from something that felt too heavy.
The Gilmore Girls alum, who portrayed Emily Malek (aka Ofglen) on the Hulu drama from 2017 to 2021, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter a few days ahead of the series finale. And in the new interview, she didn't hold back about the lasting impact of Emily's brutal storyline.
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'It was deeply upsetting to even imagine Emily going through something like that — being captured, powerless, with no say over her body,' Bledel shared. 'I was actually offered the role and when I read the pilot script, I immediately said yes. Somehow, Bruce [Miller] just knew I had Ofglen in me.'
Emily, once a university professor and mother, is arrested for being in a same-sex relationship — a crime in the repressive, theocratic state of Gilead. Renamed 'Ofglen,' she becomes a Handmaid, forced to bear children for powerful Commanders. Her journey is one of the show's most tragic: from genital mutilation to exile in the Colonieas — a radioactive wasteland where prisoners are sent to die — to exacting violent revenge on Commander Waterford one of the series' most pivotal scenes.
In May 2022, Bledel confirmed she would not return, telling E! News, 'After much thought, I felt I had to step away from The Handmaid's Tale at this time.'
Bledel isn't the only cast member who's ready to get out of Gilead for good, even with the recently announced sequel The Testaments in the works. Moira, played by Orange is the New Black's Samira Wiley, is June's best friend from before Gilead, is a former Handmaid who manages to escape to Canada — where she becomes one of the series' most outspoken and emotionally grounded survivors.
While Wiley ultimately stayed, she made it clear she would return for the show's sequel. 'I'm not gonna tease and say maybe or nothing. Nope,' Wiley began. 'I am done with it. I am done with the trauma. I am. I mean it,' she explained to Parade at the Season 6 premiere back in April. 'Margaret Atwood, the way she writes these characters, the depth to all of it, I feel like I have played my part and my story is done.'
'I had to learn some techniques — meditation and mindfulness and all of those things — to consciously take myself out of the world of Gilead,' she said, later adding, 'I often tell people who binge watch the show like, please take care of your mental health.'
Now, with Season 6 marking the show's final chapter, Bledel is reflecting with gratitude. 'I am forever grateful to Bruce Miller for writing such truthful and resonant scenes for Emily,' she added.
The series finale airs May 27 — and it's sure to be an emotional end for fans and cast alike.
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