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Joseph Fiennes: There’s ‘much more resistance’ in Handmaid’s Tale series three

The actor said the new episodes gave his character a ‘great arc’.

Published
EE British Academy Film Awards 2019 – Press Room – London

Joseph Fiennes has said the third series of The Handmaid’s Tale will feature “much more resistance” as the rebellion against Gilead continues.

The 48-year-old actor plays Commander Fred Waterford opposite Elisabeth Moss in the dystopian drama.

Fiennes said upcoming episodes would constitute a “great season” for Moss’s Offred character, whose campaign against the totalitarian state enters full flight.

Joseph Fiennes plays Commander Fred Waterford in the dystopian drama (Chris Radburn/PA)

He said: “I’m very excited. It’s a great season and it’s great for Offred – there’s much more resistance.”

The Handmaid’s Tale is a story about life in the dictatorship of Gilead, where women are treated as property of the state.

Moss plays Offred, a woman forced into sexual slavery to help repopulate their community, while Joseph’s character ruled the house where Offred was a handmaid.

The second series saw Offred escape and join the resistance.

Fiennes also spoke of his excitement at having the part of Waterford developed by the show’s writers.

He added: “There’s a great arc for the commander because in season one, rather like the book, it’s very thinly drawn.

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Elisabeth Moss plays Offred in the returning series (Ian West/PA)

“This is a great piece of feminist literature and it’s a woman’s story – it’s the handmaid’s tale – and so the antagonists like Fred quite rightly are not the focus.

“But what’s nice in season three for me is that this antagonist, Fred, gets a little bit of an arc.

“He has much more of a story through the series, rather than just being the face or the representative of a horrific patriarchal regime.”

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