Elisabeth Moss revealed that the team behind her hit series The Handmaid’s Tale have major discussions about issues reflected in the show as so many have made comparisons to the dystopian Gilead and the United States in wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe V. Wade. Elisabeth opened up about the importance of having those discussions during an interview on The View on Monday, September 26.
Co-host Sara Haines pointed out comparisons that politicians have made to the series, as well as protesters dressing as the characters to show their feelings about the fight for reproductive rights. “In the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, the show is more relevant than other,” she said.
Elisabeth admitted that there were both “professional” and “personal experiences” that the show’s team brought when they made the Hulu series, which is now in its fifth season, and she revealed that they wished the show wasn’t quite so believable. “We wish this was a crazy sci-fi—just like, ‘I can’t believe this. This would never happen.’ That would be much more fun for us, and that would be much more fun to make and much more fun to talk about,” she remarked.
From the personal angle “as women and citizens and humans,” Elisabeth revealed that the crew has major discussions about issues while working on the show. “We’re telling this story through this woman’s lens, and this one character. There are a lot of different experiences from the people who work on the show, and so, of course we have those conversations,” she said.
In light of SCOTUS overturning Roe, Elisabeth has made similar comments about making the show following the decision. She revealed that the feelings on set were “somber” after the leaked draft decision to reverse the landmark case in a May interview with Vanity Fair. “It’s not something that gets us excited, when there are these parallels and when your character is used as an example of something that’s happening in real life,” she said. “I wish it would stop being so damn relevant.”