PaleyFest: THE HANDMAID’S TALE Team Teases Season 2

Praise be: THE HANDMAID’S TALE is almost back!

The Emmy-winning Hulu series made waves when it launched last year—both because of the quality of the adaptation of the Margaret Atwood novel and the impact it had on real-world protests—and it shows no sign of slowing down.

With the season 2 premiere a little over a month away, the drama was honored at PaleyFest on Sunday. Though much of what’s to come is top-secret, the cast and creative team had a few teases of what fans can expect when the show returns on Wednesday, April 25.

Janina (Madeline Brewer) and Ofglen (Alexis Bledel) start off the season in the colonies.
“It’s not Stars Hollow,” executive producer Bruce Miller joked, referring to Bledel’s former on-screen home. (Bledel, who guest-starred on the first season, is a series regular this year.)

The harsh realities of the colonies—the work animals are given protective gear; the women working aren’t—is a stark contrast with much of its outward appearance. “I feel like it’s so aligned with when I read the book, what I pictured,” Brewer praised. “Aesthetically, it’s [appears] really beautiful.”

Moira (Samira Wiley) and Luke’s (O-T Fagbenle) friendship deepens in Canada.
Outside of Gilead, Moira is free in Canada and “has reconnected with Luke, just because of their love for June,” Wiley teased.

After the actress joked that the duo are “falling in love”—they’re not—Miller acknowledged their bond in a unique one. “They have a relationship that is based on a common friend,” he said of their connection to June. “[They] do form a family.”

Meanwhile, Nick (Max Minghella), the father of June’s unborn baby, will be a bit more reckless than he should be. “Nick is constantly making decisions that negate his self-preservation,” Minghella teased.

Maternal Serena (Yvonne Strahovski)?!
With Serena anticipating the birth of her/June’s child, “the only thing that will make her life more tolerable…is this child,” Strahovski acknowledged. “She will hold on throughout this season.” But “the fact that [June] challenged her and left under weird circumstances…she’s pissed.” As for Serena and the Commander’s (Joseph Fiennes) marriage, “They’ve come to an incredibly, incredibly uneasy peace,” Miller previewed.

Strahovski shared she hopes the show eventually shows more of her character’s backstory. “It would be really interesting to know the kind of parenting style Serena received to make her the way she is now,” she noted.

The star-studded cast is expanding.
The sophomore season of the series is welcoming an impressive roster of guest stars: VEEP’s Clea DuVall will appear as Emily’s wife; Marisa Tomei pop ups in a mysterious role.

June’s (Elisabeth Moss) backstory will get a new layer in season 2 when the show flashes back to her time with her mother. “Cherry Jones is playing [the character, which was] a memorable part of the book for me,” Miller said. In the novel, June and her mother’s take on feminism differed. But looking back at that, especially through the prism of June’s pregnancy under her current circumstances adds new complexity. “June was a single child of a single mother…it was just the two of them,” Miller pointed out.

Additionally, Miller teased, Bradley Whitford “is playing a Commander, and Alexis Bledel is sent to his house.”

THE HANDMAID’S TALE, Season Premiere, Wednesday, April 25, Hulu

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