Yvonne Strahovski fastidiously navigated the darkish and the sunshine as Serena Pleasure in Hulu‘s critically acclaimed dystopian drama The Handmaid’s Story throughout six seasons, but it surely was when she was firmly between these realities that the Australian actress shone the brightest.
Very similar to Serena being pulled in two instructions concurrently, the followers typically discovered themselves in an identical place. Do they hate this character due to her beliefs and the way they influenced who she was so deeply, or was she deserving of redemption? On one hand, Serena was a part of this world the place ladies had been thought of lower than second hand residents, and those who had been fertile had been utilized by married Gilead {couples} as incubators for kids that had been a product of rape, amid a fertility disaster. Not solely did Serena help and encourage this life-style for her neighborhood, however she additionally practiced it herself.
When she was the loving and supporting spouse of Commander Fred Waterford (Joseph Fiennes)—completely in a Stepford Spouse sort of method— they got a human being, June Osbourne (Elisabeth Moss), often called Offred (Of Fred), to function their handmaid. Offred was compelled to have intercourse with Fred, with the “encouragement” of his spouse, till the act resulted in a being pregnant, a child that might by no means belong to the start mom. Early of their relationship, it was evident that Offred/June and Serena’s fates had been delicately intertwined.
From the collection premiere to the finale, these ladies went from being mortal enemies to discovering forgiveness. Serena grew to become an integral a part of the insurgent motion to destroy Gilead. Following the battle, Might Day secured Massachusetts’s survival to plan one other battle to weaken the abusers additional and for the previous handmaids to be reunited with the kids that had been ripped from their arms. Within the closing moments of the collection, Serena, now with son Noah in tow, catches a bus to a vacation spot and future unknown, with a bag packed by June with every little thing Noah would want for the journey.
For her efficiency as Serena, Strahovski was nominated for 2 Emmy Awards, one in 2018 and once more in 2021, for Excellent Supporting Actress in a Drama Collection.
Strahovski shares particulars about her character’s thoughts the second when every little thing modified with a daring and rebellious transfer, after discovering love once more with Commander Wharton (Josh Charles), under. Within the eighth episode of Season 6, “Exodus,” she deserted her new husband shortly after their nuptials following his stunning reveal that Serena was to welcome a handmaid into their dwelling. Realizing that is the other of what she had in thoughts for her future, she walks out into the freezing evening, by no means to be the identical once more.
Yvonne Strahovski as Serena Pleasure and Josh Charles as Commander Wharton
DEADLINE: Serena was at a turning level when she realized that what her new husband promised her, wasn’t how life would play out. What was she considering as she walked out the door?
YVONNE STRAHOVSKI: It’s so unhappy as a result of I don’t assume she knew she had another alternative however to return to New Bethlehem and tackle this position. I believe it’s her security internet. The extra public she grew to become, the extra security she had, which was necessary to her, not only for herself, however for her child. So when Wharton took an curiosity in her, I believe it’s real. Josh and I mentioned the connection quite a bit, and there’s a lot about it that’s real. They genuinely have emotions for one another. He genuinely adores her. He genuinely thinks far more of her than Fred did, and she or he believes that, and so does [Wharton]. What was initially form of a survival resolution slowly blossomed into one thing that might be pretty for her and work for her, genuinely, with real love, no less than in her thoughts. So to have every little thing all disintegrate on this one second is tragic and devastating, and she or he instantly didn’t really feel protected in any respect. Her total world got here crashing down once more, and she or he desperately didn’t need that to occur. She’d lived in a crashed world for thus lengthy, ever because the Waterford home burnt down. She’d been right here and there and all over the place, so this was devastating for her.
DEADLINE: To take a step again briefly, may you’re feeling Serena’s coronary heart break as Wharton launched her to their handmaid?
STRAHOVSKI: When she walked into the room, I used to be shaken and enraged by it. In fact, I’m feeling loads of what Serena is in anticipation of the scene, so these are my/Serena’s emotions. I hadn’t been in a Gilead family that’s mine for thus, so lengthy, and Serena had been rid of that. I don’t assume she ever anticipated to see this crimson gown and what it represents in her own residence once more. There was a lot betrayal and battle from Serena’s perspective about that crimson gown, whether or not it was June/Offred, or the Handmaid that existed earlier than her, and every little thing that it represented.
DEADLINE: With every little thing she had gone by with Fred, along with her believing that this time the wedding could be completely different, her devastation was palpable.
STRAHOVSKI: With the betrayal of Fred, initially, the mistrust of their relationship in thoughts, impulsively, there was this Handmaid there once more, initially of what was imagined to be this wonderful relationship. I believe she simply flipped. I went with this entire rage response, emotional outpouring of, “This isn’t going to work for me in any respect.” She was courageous sufficient to say this as a result of the stakes had been actually excessive. She had her child that she longed for along with her when she went out in the midst of winter, not figuring out the place to go in such a harmful state of affairs. Even with that understanding, that alternative was higher than present in a dynamic once more the place they should dwell on this bizarre trio. She’d come to know it’s utterly abusive, no less than to a degree. June personified that, satisfied her, and labored along with her to get her to see the sunshine of day, and I believe she did.
Yvonne Strahovski in ‘The Handmaid’s Story’s Collection Finale
Hulu
DEADLINE: Why do you assume Serena didn’t query Wharton additional about what their life could be earlier than the marriage?
STRAHOVSKI: I believe she didn’t let herself go there. There have been so many issues she so desperately needed to make work, and so they had been working very well, sufficient for her to not query it. This blindsided her as a result of they mentioned youngsters and wanting a giant household. It’s the worst assumption she’s ever made, considering he meant pure youngsters which are organic solely to them, contemplating the entire celebratory issues he mentioned about her, “I have fun you as a spokesperson. I have fun you as somebody who likes to learn, and it’s best to preserve studying, and it’s best to preserve writing, and girls ought to have these rights.” He mentioned all the precise issues, and I believe they believed them, then she assumed this different factor, however they weren’t on the identical web page.
DEADLINE: You’ve spent practically a decade enjoying Serena on this darkish and scary world, would you say you’re able to play in a comedy subsequent?
STRAHOVSKI: Oh my gosh, sure, I actually am. [Laughs] It could be be good to have some gentle hearted materials however I believe I’ll at all times be drawn to the intense, complicated stuff. I don’t know. I can’t appear to assist it. It provides us all a spot to place our darkness into, whether or not we’re watching it, enjoying it or making it. There may be darkness is on the market. and it’s received to go someplace.
This interview has been edited and condensed for size and readability.