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‘The Handmaid’s Tale’: Alexis Bledel Talks About Her Role In Hulu’s Original Series

Published on: May 11, 2017 at 11:03 AM
By Lindsay McCane

Hulu’s exclusive original series, The Handmaid’s Tale, has become an instant hit among viewers, and it has everyone talking. The series, based on Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel, follows a group of handmaids as they serve the political leaders in the futuristic country of Gilead. Alexis Bledel, who is probably known best for her role in Gilmore Girls, recently opened up to Entertainment Weekly about her character and her character’s resistance to the new world that has been created.

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Warning: If you have not watched the first five episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale, STOP reading. Possible spoilers ahead.

In the first few episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale , viewers are introduced to the main characters and the story’s plot. Offred (Elizabeth Moss) is the main character and the handmaid to The Commander (Joseph Fiennes) and his barren wife, Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski). Offred’s sole purpose, like all of the other handmaids in Gilead, is to bear children for her assigned couple due to the increasing infertility rates. Each handmaid is required to walk with a partner when they leave their posts, and at the beginning of the series, Offred is partnered with Ofglen (Alexis Bledel).

When the series starts, Offred and Ofglen basically tolerate each other. However, as time goes on, they learn to trust one another, leading Ofglen to open up to Offred about the secret resistance group that can find out information about what’s going on behind the scenes in Gilead. Ofglen also reveals that she was married to a woman, and the two had a son together. In Gilead, gays and lesbians are referred to as “gender traitors” and must be reported to the authorities. However, Offred decides to keep Ofglen’s confession to herself.

Despite Offred keeping the secret, “the eyes” find out about Ofglen’s sexuality and arrest her and her wife. The government kills her lover but spares Ofglen because she is still able to have children. Instead, they mutilate her genitals, so she no longer has “urges” to do “unnatural things.” Obviously distraught over what has happened to her, Ofglen returns to a new post and is now going by the name Ofsteven. She keeps to herself but reveals the name of the resistance group to Offred- Mayday. Near the end of the fifth episode, Ofsteven and the rest of the handmaids are at the market when she notices a government car door open. Impulsively, she jumps in and takes off, trying to escape the horror she now calls her life.

“It’s an impulse, it’s certainly not planned,” Bledel told EW . “She’s standing there, having experienced such a devastating loss. She’s still processing all that’s happened to her even though some time has passed. Then she sees this car door open, and she decides to jump in. She doesn’t know where she’s going or how far she’ll be able to go, but once she realizes the other handmaids are watching—and it’s making a statement to the guards—she decides to keep going as long as she can.”

Bledel continued: “She a member of Mayday and she’s always looking around, trying to find an opportunity for escape or to be able to take action,” she says. “What she does creates an example for the other handmaids. It’s a definite act of rebellion. She’s taken away, and you’re left wondering where she has gone. You can only assume the worst at this point.”

So, what’s next for Ofsteven? Bledel said she doesn’t even know but adds that her character is “capable of doing anything.

Have you been watching The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu? What do you think about the series so far? What do you think happens to Ofsteven? Leave your comments below.

[Featured Image by Vince Bucci/AP Images]

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