Yvonne Strahovski rigorously 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 the same 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 have been thought-about lower than second hand residents, and those who have been fertile have been utilized by married Gilead {couples} as incubators for youngsters that have been a product of rape, amid a fertility disaster. Not solely did Serena help and encourage this life-style for her group, 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 kind of means— they got a human being, June Osbourne (Elisabeth Moss), often called Offred (Of Fred), to function their handmaid. Offred was pressured 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 have been delicately intertwined.
From the sequence premiere to the finale, these ladies went from being mortal enemies to discovering forgiveness. Serena turned 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 have been ripped from their arms. Within the remaining moments of the sequence, 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 part Noah would wish 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 Sequence.
Strahovski shares particulars about her character’s thoughts the second when every part modified with a daring and rebellious transfer, after discovering love once more with Commander Wharton (Josh Charles), beneath. Within the eighth episode of Season 6, “Exodus,” she deserted her new husband shortly after their nuptials following his surprising reveal that Serena was to welcome a handmaid into their residence. 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 pondering as she walked out the door?
YVONNE STRAHOVSKI: It’s so unhappy as a result of I don’t suppose she knew she had another selection however to return to New Bethlehem and tackle this function. I believe it’s her security internet. The extra public she turned, the extra security she had, which was vital 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 so much, 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 kind of a survival resolution slowly blossomed into one thing that might be pretty for her and work for her, genuinely, with real love, at the least in her thoughts. So to have every part all crumble on this one second is tragic and devastating, and she or he instantly didn’t really feel secure in any respect. Her whole 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 for the reason that 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 are 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 lots 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 suppose she ever anticipated to see this pink gown and what it represents in her own residence once more. There was a lot betrayal and battle from Serena’s standpoint in the case of that pink gown, whether or not it was June/Offred, or the handmaid that existed earlier than her, and every part that it represented.
DEADLINE: With every part she had gone via with Fred, and her believing how this time the wedding can be totally different, her devastation was palpable.
STRAHOVSKI: With the betrayal of Fred, initially, the mistrust of their relationship in thoughts, unexpectedly, there was this handmade there once more, originally of what was purported to be this wonderful relationship. I believe she simply flipped. I went with this whole 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 have been actually excessive. She had her child that she longed for along with her when she goes out in the course of winter not figuring out the place to go in such a harmful state of affairs. Even with that understanding, that selection was higher than current in a dynamic once more the place they must stay on this bizarre trio. She’d come to know it’s fully abusive, at the least to a degree. June personified that, satisfied her, and labored along with her to attempt to get her to see the sunshine of day, and I believe she did.
Yvonne Strahovski in ‘The Handmaid’s Story’s Sequence Finale
Hulu
DEADLINE: Why do you suppose Serena didn’t query Wharton additional about what their life can be like 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, they usually have been working rather well, sufficient for her to not query it. This all blindsided her as a result of they mentioned youngsters and wanting a giant household. It’s the worst assumption that she’s ever made, pondering he meant pure youngsters which can be organic solely to them, contemplating all the celebratory issues he stated about her, “I rejoice you as a spokesperson. I rejoice you as somebody who likes to learn, and it’s best to maintain studying, and it’s best to maintain writing, and ladies ought to have these rights.” He stated all the suitable 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 almost 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 all the time 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 bought to go someplace.
This interview has been edited and condensed for size and readability.
