Elisabeth Moss reveals she had initially rejected The Handmaid's Tale: Here’s why

Based on Margaret Atwood's bestselling novel, The Handmaid's Tale proved to be an instant sensation back when it first aired in 2017. Elisabeth Moss portrayed June Osborne with such perfection that it is now almost impossible to imagine anyone else in her place.

However, in a recently released interview with Deadline ahead of the release of The Handmaid's Tale Season 6 in May, Elisabeth Moss confessed to having passed over the role when it was offered to her for the first time. She also remarked that she eventually came around to take on the role and the rest is history.

Here's everything that you need to know.

Elisabeth Moss initially didn't want to be a part of The Handmaid's Tale

Speaking on The Jennifer Hudson Show, Moss had revealed her reluctance to join another long-running series such as The Handmaid's Tale right after her prolonged appearance on the legacy TV series Mad Men. She stated:

"Thank God that worked out the right way. I wasn’t quite sure if I was ready to make that commitment again, so I actually passed the first time they offered it to me. I know, it seems insane now. I’m so glad I’ve corrected that. And then they came back, and they very nicely offered it again, blah, blah, blah. Then the thing that clinched it was … they leaked it to me—obviously on purpose—who they were going to offer it to if I didn’t take it, and I was like, ‘Over my dead body."

Moss further explained:

"It was the thing that made realize that I needed to do it. I couldn’t stand the idea of anyone else playing that role, you know what I mean? That was the thing that made me realize how badly I wanted to do it.”

Elisabeth Moss opens up about The Handmaid's Tale Season 6

The upcoming sixth season of The Handmaid's Tale is supposed to be the last installment in the series. The story would then be taken forward by an adaptation of the follow-up book The Testaments, also written by author Margaret Atwood. Ahead of the final season's release, Moss sat down with Indiewire for an interview and shed some light on the upcoming season, which has seen her taking up the director's role. When asked about the elements that she wanted to highlight as a director, Moss answered:

"So much — like, with every character and every dynamic. But you have to be careful to not try to tie everything up with a bow — to bring everything to a satisfactory conclusion — because then it just feels like a finale episode, you know?"

She also explained:

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"I think that I really wanted to have the Luke-June-Nick dynamic explored more, and not necessarily in a way of she’s choosing this person or that person, but just getting to see more of Luke and June together, getting to see what was going to happen with Nick and June, and getting more into Nick and Luke’s headspace. And with Samira, as well, there was a real feeling of wanting to give her the stage a bit this season. I mean, I don’t write the show, but I know a little bit about how (the writers) felt, and I know how I felt."

The Handmaid's Tale is exclusively available on Hulu.

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