New York: Elisabeth Moss and Madeline Brewer reflect on scenes which they found emotionally difficult to film.
Some scenes in 'The Handmaid's Tale' can be difficult to watch—the handmaids are sexually assaulted in acts called "ceremonies" by the Gilead commanders, sometimes chained, and abused physically and mentally— remember when the handmaids were taken to the baseball field and had nooses placed around their necks? Or what about the time Janine, played by Madeline Brewer, had her right eye cut out for talking back to Aunt Lyida?
There are also those scenes when characters are sentenced to death by drowning or stoning. But it turns out some of the cast find it difficult to film some scenes as much as viewers may have trouble watching them.
"It's different for us because we see everything that goes into it and it looks much more fake when you're there and, you know, we've been involved in the writing of it and so it's different for us. We're not as objective about it. But there are definitely times when you see something visually and it looks too real and it's not fun to watch," said lead actress Elisabeth Moss, who plays June, also known as Offred.
"There was a hanging scene I think in episode seven or eight that takes place in the square and incredible actors and stunt actors did—they did an amazing job and looked very real and it was uncomfortable to watch."
The hanging scene stuck out to Madeline Brewer as well.
"There's a scene this season where there is a hanging," she said. "They've set it up so that the people who do the hanging, who ultimately pull the floor out from underneath—the people hanging are the handmaids. It's like they enforce this guilt on these women that kind of keep them oppressed and that one was heavy."
She went on to credit the writers and producers for creating that type of atmosphere.
Amanda Brugel, who plays Rita, one of the Marthas, also touched on how proud she is to be Canadian because of not only what the nation represents on the show, but the respect Americans give the neighboring country, especially in this political climate.
New episodes of 'The Handmaid's Tale' hit Hulu on Wednesdays.
With inputs from APTN
