When “The Handmaid’s Tale†was adapted for a television series, Executive Producer Bruce Miller spotted something more than acting ability in Elisabeth Moss.
“It was the way she played June to the camera,†Miller says. “She made you feel like you were seeing this show through her eyes so … she was basically directing it anyway.â€
Executive Producer Bruce Miller recognized Elisabeth Moss's talent as director early on. As a result, she was in front of the camera and behind it on 10 episode of "The Handmaid's Tale."
Over the course of seven seasons, Moss — who plays June, the rebellious handmaid in the dystopian story — directed 10 episodes and worked with Miller to craft each season.
“There’s more things she’s doing that she’s not credited for,†says Josh Charles, an actor who joined the final season. “Her involvement has been incredible to watch. She’s a true renaissance person. What it’s done is it’s created a very safe environment creatively and structurally. On a very basic level, the production runs very smoothly and she’s a huge part why.â€
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Josh Charles, here with Yvonne Strahovski, joined the series in its last season.
Co-star Madeline Brewer calls Moss “the blueprint of how to be an incredible actor, leader, friend, director, producer and mom. She falls into all those categories and gives them each an equal amount of true love and passion and time. I don’t know when she sleeps.â€
The “Moss appeal†of “Handmaid’s Tale†goes back to 2017 when Moss, a star of “Mad Men,†was cast as June Osborne, a woman who was assigned to a Gileadan commander to provide him with a child. The system emerged after fertility rates collapsed and the new totalitarian government forced fertile women to be handmaids.
Because she could telegraph so much just through her eyes, as Miller says, Moss was able to convey what author Margaret Atwood captured in her best-selling novel. The series clicked immediately and became the first streaming series to win the Outstanding Drama Series Emmy. Moss won Best Actress that first year, too, and because she was one of the series’ executive producers, got a second for the series win.
Like Brewer, co-star Max Minghella saw Moss, Bradley Whitford and others as role models. “I felt like a student coming to this set,†he says. “It really keeps you on your toes.â€
Max Minghella sings the praises of Elisabeth Moss as a director of "The Handmaid's Tale."
While Miller is preparing “The Testaments,†the “Handmaid’s†sequel as his next series, he realized he didn’t need to check boxes while wrapping up “Handmaid’s Tale.â€
“You sit down with a million ideas,†he says, “but the best thing you can do is throw them out and just look at the characters. What would happen next? What interesting thing happens in these people’s lives that I would want to see? Fortunately, the next time she opens her eyes, June is something interesting.â€
Miller says he followed Atwood’s lead when writing the final season. “The reason the ‘Handmaid’ style is so lasting is that the end of it is just like the beginning. Things happen to June when they happen to June.â€
As in the beginning, the final season has moments when women, clad in those striking red robes are assembled in large gathering places. Charles calls it “cinematic.†Brewer agrees.
“When you see the swarm of red robes, it’s truly a surreal thing because it’s so cinematic,†says Brewer. “To be part of the world is strange.â€
Amanda Brugel, who plays one of June’s allies, says she felt “at home†every year a season started.
Amanda Brugel stars in "The Handmaid's Tale."
And now, Brewer adds, “in a few months, we’ll be like, ‘Why am I not going back to hang out with my buddies?’â€
While the series served as a cautionary tale for many, it didn’t land at a time when it was needed most, Brugel says. “We needed this show 100 years ago. I’m just glad there are enough people and enough television sets so that more people get to see it and can be inspired.â€
Where it ends — and where “Testaments†starts — depends largely on the viewer, Miller says.
“You can spoon feed all you want if the curiosity is coming from the characters,†Miller says. “But I like the fact that when you get to the end you still have stuff to think about.â€
Elisabeth Moss, left, confers with Nicola Daley, director of photography, on "The Handmaid's Tale."
For Miller, the difficult part of saying goodbye is ending the collaboration with the actors and others. “You’re really working together to make a character. That’s what you miss — that collaboration, creating this third thing.â€
Putting the final touches on the last episode, Miller and Moss realized they were doing that they had done with other episodes — “moving little things around, trying to make it work better. And you realize the overwhelming thing is not looking back but stopping.â€
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