Elisabeth Moss has been steeped in the dystopian world of The Handmaid’s Tale for six seasons. But as Hulu’s Emmy-winning drama drew to a close, its themes got even more personal for the actor and producer—who welcomed a daughter of her own in 2024.
“I think it wasn’t until the end of the season that I really realized the effect that becoming a mom had on the season as a whole,” says Moss just before The Handmaid’s Tale airs its series finale. “I am not a writer on the show, so I don’t come up with the storylines. But I do think there’s an influence that happened because of this new chapter in my life.”
The series has expanded far beyond the events of Margaret Atwood’s seminal novel, which inspired season one in 2017. TV critics and fans of the show often bemoaned storylines that seemed cyclical—ones in which Moss’s June would escape the theocratic Gilead, only to decide to return there in order to fight back against its oppressive regime. This season, though, Moss was adamant that the show conclude on a note of hope.
“It’s not the first show I’ve ended,” says Moss, referring to other massive hits like The West Wing and Mad Men. “And it is impossible to make everyone happy. Look: When I see a show, I tend to buy into whatever the creators of the show put forward as their ending. I’m the type of person who is like, If that’s the way that they think this show ends, then that’s the way that it ends. I loved the ending of The Sopranos, of Breaking Bad, of Seinfeld. The ending of Friday Night Lights is amazing.”
If Moss had her way, she would have made two or three more seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale. Thankfully for her, and for fans of the Handmaid’s universe, Hulu is doing the next best thing—the streamer has ordered The Testaments, an adaptation of Atwood’s 2019 follow-up novel that takes place 15 years post-Handmaid’s. Showrunner Bruce Miller has been working with Moss for several years now on the sequel, which will follow a trio of women: Ann Dowd reprising her role as Aunt Lydia; Chase Infiniti as Agnes, the daughter of a Handmaid; and Lucy Halliday as Daisy, who grew up free in Canada.
The Handmaid’s Tale itself loaded many climactic moments into its penultimate episode—a cathartic battle in which Gilead’s oppressed finally got their revenge in gruesome, satisfying fashion, and the deaths of both June’s best frenemy, Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford), and her boyfriend, Nick (Max Minghella). The finale, by contrast, is quieter. We learn that Luke (O-T Fagbenle) has found his calling, helping Mayday in the fight against the regime, and that both he and June will work forever to bring their daughter, Hannah, home. Serena (Yvonne Strahovski) is off to another undisclosed location in order to raise her son safely, thanks to June’s help yet again. There’s a surprise return from Emily (Alexis Bledel), as well as a poignant moment in which June and her own mother (Cherry Jones) reach an understanding of what maternal love truly means.
The series’ ending scene is “honestly perfection,” says Moss. “And I would never have settled for anything less than perfection when it came to this ending. We return back to the beginning, to the first scene. She starts to record that book. The fact that this show started with a book and ends with the book is the only way it can end. Margaret has this quote: ‘A word after a word after a word is power.’ And I think that that is where June ends. She’s like, I am going to tell my story, because my story and these words have power. And I love that. She sits down, and she’s going to tell her story to Hannah. It’s for her.”
Below, Moss opens up about saying goodbye to a show she doesn’t want to let go of, finishing Handmaid’s as a new mom, and filming that very last scene.
Vanity Fair: As a new mom of a baby girl, I found that watching this season was, like, 10 times harder than it ever was in the past. And it was already hard. As a new mom of a baby daughter, did it also feel harder for you?
Elisabeth Moss: Yeah, I think so. I mean, I don’t know if it felt super different watching it, just because I’m so inside of it that it is difficult for me to be objective in that way. But I think the acting side of it definitely felt different. I felt like the emotion just came a lot quicker and was more visceral. If you play a detective or something, you have to imagine you’re a detective. So you’re slightly stepping back from it. But being a mom, and really feeling like I had someone specific to think about when I was doing those scenes—yeah, I did feel different.
There’s a line in the second-to-last episode, where June is talking to Commander Wharton (Josh Charles) about Gilead. She says ,“It’s a horror show run by men twisting his words. You’re frauds, all of you. It’s never been about piety; it’s always been about power.” That line felt like something you’d hear in or about America right now.
This material has had that kind of relevancy for so long. It was relevant in 1985, when Margaret wrote the book; it was all from real life, whether in this country or another. And I feel like it has just continued that way. I think that’s why people responded to the book and then the show—because it’s always felt very close to home. It has been a unique experience, that’s for sure. But it’s definitely not been something that we revel in by any means.
Most of the time, the show feels like watching a near-future documentary.
We approach it as, This is the story that we’re here to tell. And it feels honest and true, both about the personal side of things and the political side of things. And that’s all we’ve ever tried to do. We don’t have any agenda or some lesson that we’re going to teach each week. We always just try to be true to the story and true to the characters. I think that people forget that most of the scripts were written in 2023, early 2024. We have known what was going to happen on the show for so long, and then it comes out a year and a half to two years later, and the relevancy is something people feel very deeply. But we were just trying to tell the right story and be honest.
This season had a few more comic moments—dark, gallows humor—than past seasons. Was that intentional?
It was absolutely intentional. I’m super glad to hear you say that. We are very aware of what the perception of the show is. It’s not like we make it in a vacuum and don’t care what anyone thinks—we don’t make it for ourselves; we make it for the audience. So we’re very aware that the show is dark, and sometimes that is something people don’t want to see, especially if they’ve had a dark day. We wanted to inject as much positivity and hope and a little bit of humor when possible. Even if it is, like you said, a gallows humor.
We wanted to try to have that as much as possible to make it watchable, and to make it also true to life—because life isn’t necessarily all doom and gloom all day, you know? And at the same time, we have to be loyal to the tone of the show. I think if we had gone too far in that direction, people would be like, What is this? Like, much to my disappointment, there is no musical episode this season. Although I would have been way too excited about that. [Laughs] So we had to draw the line. But it felt possible to go a little bit further with the humor.
Serena and June have always been so intertwined. But this season felt like their relationship was brought to a whole new level.
Yeah. We had to. There was a tremendous amount of passion with so many of the characters, because you have this one final chance to take them to wherever you want them to end up. And I feel like that has been building with Serena and June since season three, when they were at the Lincoln Memorial.
I feel like their relationship is the centerpiece of the show. It is the love story of the show. They’re the heroes and the villains of the show, and they often trade places in those roles. So we really wanted to leave it all out on the dance floor, for lack of a better way of saying it—to give these two characters as much opportunity as possible to go as far as possible. The opportunity to have that last scene between them and have it be exactly what it should be—which is Serena asking for forgiveness, and June giving it after all these years—was just so delicious.
I did keep wondering just how many times can June possibly save Serena. And for her then to offer her forgiveness—why was that a “delicious” moment for you?
Well, number one: It’s not for Serena; it’s for Noah. June knows that Serena does need that forgiveness, and June is big enough to give it. She’s a pretty great person. I admire her very much, and she has many wonderful qualities. And one of them is the capacity to say that to Serena, because she knows that Serena will be a better person having heard it, and she will be a better mom to Noah. And that’s what matters the most to June. Serena needs to move on and give Noah the best life possible, and in order to do that, she needs that forgiveness from June. And June knows that. It’s as simple as that. Now, whether or not she really forgives her—probably not. It doesn’t even really matter. It’s not what June needs. How do you ever forgive somebody for the things that Serena has done? But it’s kind of not about that, though.
Speaking of motherhood, June’s own mother, played by Cherry Jones, also returns. And that felt really cathartic.
It wasn’t my idea to have [Holly] come back, but there was a leaning into that, or an exploration of that story, that became very prominent. It was my idea to make sure she came back [in person], because it was supposed to be a phone in episode 10 [where they reconnect].
For me, this season is about motherhood in all kinds of ways—the motherhood that Aunt Lydia gives to her girls, the generosity of arranging for Naomi to give Charlotte back to Janine. Naomi becomes a mother when she [does that]. There are so many different ways that you can be a parent, or a parental figure, or a mother figure.
It was an interesting choice to make Ann Dowd’s Aunt Lydia sympathetic in the end. Though I guess that was necessary, considering the storyline of The Testaments.
Yes. Margaret wrote The Testaments, and there were a couple of things in that sequel that we then have to follow. One of them is Hannah not getting out, and the other is this turn for Lydia. Now, I will say that Margaret wrote it after we started filming [the first season], and I know Lydia is very cruel, and there’s a lot not to forgive. But I do think there are elements of Ann’s performance in the beginning of this show that allows for the possibility of making that turn. Any good actor will deliver a multidimensional performance, and any good actor will make sure that you see both sides of something. Like Yvonne [Strahovski] has too.
And you’re working on The Testaments, yes?
Yes. I’m an executive producer—been producing it from the beginning. But a little thing called The Handmaid’s Tale got in the way.
Right. Not only did you produce this show and star in it, but you also directed the first two and the last two episodes of this season—all while being a new mom. Why?
[Laughs] That’s a question from a new mom, that’s for sure! Out of all of the interviews I’ve done for months and months and months now, you’re the first person to ask why. So I appreciate that. Thank you.
Going back [to work] at three months [postpartum] was not easy. But how do I put this? There was no way I was going to stop any of those paths, really. And they all happened at the same time. This show isn’t a job for me—it’s been my life for the past nine years. I had this opportunity to direct, and be a massive part of it in a different way than producing or acting. Directing is just different than anything else. And I was lucky enough to be asked to do it. I knew I’d regret it if I said no.
Absolutely no part of me is going to say it was easy, though of course I will also say I come from a very privileged position of having a lot of help—there are women who do a lot more with a lot less, and I am in awe of those women. But that said, it wasn’t a walk in the park. Part of my thought process was that in a way, it’s very meta of the show. And this final season is very meta, and the last episode is very meta. June has to make a choice to do something that she feels like is the best thing for her children. And in a small way, I hope one day my daughter watches, and I hope that she’s proud [of me]. Like, “Look what my mom did when I was just a few months old.” I hope that it’s an example for her of the power of womanhood, and of being a working mom and how incredible that is. Looking back, I’m like, Wow, I can’t believe I did that. But I’m glad I did. I have no regrets.
What were some things about the last two episodes that, as the director, you wanted to make sure to do or portray to close out the series?
There were three things. First, I wanted that revolution. I wanted Mayday to be able to actually attack and actually have some real change. Of course, it’s a battle that was won, not the war, but we really wanted that satisfaction for the audience.
The second thing was the relationships—making sure that we honored these incredible characters in the relationships they had formed. You only have two hours to do that in, and after nine years and six seasons, that is really hard. We could have done an entire episode on every single character’s ending. But we couldn’t. We had to focus on June’s point of view
Even if it was getting all those women together and having that karaoke scene, giving them that as their final moment, it felt important to do that.
The final thing was ending it on a note of hope. We wanted to end it on a note of, “This isn’t over.” June has a story to tell, and is going to tell it for her daughters. She’s going to fight for their future and for the future of the next generation.
I know that it’s just a set, but what was it like to sit in June’s—Offred’s—room again?
I remember watching the final take of the final shot, and it’s the one we use in the episode—it’s the only time I cried on set. I turned to my DP, and I had tears in my eyes, and I said, “That’s how this series ends.” Sitting in that room, it felt very sacred. I closed the set that day. Normally, we only close the set when there’s an intimate or particularly sensitive scene. But I wanted, as a director, to protect my actor—who was me. And I wanted to be able to feel like it was only me in that room, to feel super safe and like I didn’t have a lot of eyes on me. The other cool thing was, you would’ve thought this crew was painting the goddamn Sistine Chapel that day. You have never seen people so focused. It was the sweetest thing, this crew—props, dolly grip, lighting, everyone. It was as if they were finishing their masterpiece. They wanted everything to be perfect, and it was a very moving thing to be a part of.
How do you say goodbye to something like this?
I don’t think I have yet. We just did the final mix on episode 10 last week. We’ve been literally working on the show this whole time. There are still effects that aren’t approved yet. So, to be totally honest, we’re kind of still working on it. It doesn’t feel like it’s done, and I don’t feel like I’ve had to say goodbye. There’s The Testaments, so it does feel like it’s not over, like the story is continuing. I don’t know if I have to say goodbye, which is good, because I don’t really want to.
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